ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is mainly to investigate the criteria for measuring the success of a project and the key factors of project successes, which practitioners can make use of to minimise or eliminate failures and thus improve project success.
Project success criteria are ‘a definition in measurable terms of what must be done for the project to be acceptable to the client, stakeholders and end-users who will be affected by the project’ (OGC, www.ogc.gov.uk, accessed 11/10/08). The success factors of a project are the elements or activities required for ensuring the success criteria of the project (Wateridge, 2002). Grude, Turner and Wateridge (1996) emphasise that project success criteria and success factors are inextricably linked to the definition and application of project quality and performance. In agreement with Grude, Turner and Wateridge (1996), it could be argued that the use of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), for example, would provide the project with objective criteria against which it could be measured, and indeed KPIs are in the domain of quality management. Likewise success factors, as reviewed later, could be considered as components of quality assurance to guarantee success criteria. The literature on project success factors, surprisingly, outweighs that on project success criteria. Turner and Muller (2005) identify four periods for the variations in the definition of project success. The authors argue that in the 1970s, project success focused on implementation, time, cost and functionality improvements. During the 1980s and 1990s, the quality of the planning and handover was considered more important. More recently the success criteria appear to be stakeholder-dependent and involve interaction between project supplier and project team.
