Alignment, project management methodology and organisational maturity in information technology project management
Creators: name: WRIGHT, Deni
Publisher: name: RMIT University
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 350303
subject: Business information systems

description: Projects are unique by nature. They vary according to various characteristics, including the environment in which they operate and their stakeholder base. Complex Information Technology (IT) projects are an integral part of business transformation today. There is an increasing level of acknowledgement that the challenge associated with the management of complex IT projects and the need to apply management methodologies appropriate to the context for the project at hand, is enormous. Traditional project management methodologies have evolved from international standards to become industry practice, assuring high success rates in projects in general. In recent years more flexible project management methodologies have emerged, presenting less formal and quicker time to market opportunities and therefore significant growth in popularity.

Understanding the suitability of the project methodology selected for the type of project at hand, and the impact the chosen methodology has on project success, is vital. Even though a significant amount of research has been carried out in the area of project success and failure, many of the studies have concentrated on traditional project management methodologies. Whilst new and more flexible non-traditional methodologies have grown in popularity due to their agility and adaptability, and the emerging ratification of hybrid approach, which combines traditional and agile, one question that keeps arising is ‘should the project management methodology applied be aligned to the project type?’ In answering this question, the concepts of project type and project management methodology also needed to be defined. In an economically driven society where businesses are expected to deliver more with less, knowledge of the factors that influence project success is more relevant than ever. This research aspires to ascertain the applicability of different project management approaches, specifically the influence they have on project performance.

The study reports on the results of a global survey involving 538 respondents who self-identified as IT project managers. The instrument used was internally valid for the proposed framework, as well as for the testing of alignment of project type against project management methodology in IT projects. The research used quantitative methodology approach. Data analysis was carried out using IBM SPSS Statistics version 25. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to analyse the data based on the correlational design which was completed using descriptive statistics. Hypotheses testing was done with multiple linear regression, logistics regression and Chi-Square tests. 

The results from the analysis showed no evidence that aligning project management methodology to the project type increases the chance of project success. However, the results, in line with prior research, did confirm that organisational maturity plays a positive role in both project methodology selection and project success. It also confirmed that projects, when managed using a project management methodology, are more likely to be successful. These findings make a valuable contribution to the project management body of knowledge. For project managers it confirms that methodology alignment is less significant for project success and that, in fact, aiming to accomplish well-defined requirements and goals for a project would better increase their chances of project success. For organisations this research reaffirms prior research that found improving organisational maturity increases an organisation’s chance of project success.