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Identification and Evaluation of Success Criteria and Critical Success Factors in Project Success

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Abstract

Project success is one of the widely discussed issues inside Project Management field in the last decades. Success criteria (SC) and critical success factors (CSFs) constitute the two fundamental components of project success. The aim of this paper is the identification and evaluation of the SC as well as the CSFs in project success in theory and practice. A detailed literature review and content analysis are used to identify the frequency of reference of SC and CSFs, while an extensive questionnaire survey in individuals and organizations with experience in construction projects in Greece is performed to investigate their importance in project success. Regarding the relative importance, according to respondents’ perceptions, cost/budget, time/schedule, client/user satisfaction, and quality and technical performance are the most important SC, while project finance/funding and economics, project team/team members ability/competence and effectiveness, and project manager/team leader ability/competence and relative/past experience are the most important CSFs. The first four SC present similarities in terms of citation frequency in the literature review and relative importance provided by the respondents, while the ranking of the rest SC and CSFs presents several deviations. The Spearman correlation coefficient is used to investigate the possible relationships among the SC and the CSFs. 5 out of 17 SC and 11 out of 26 CSFs present low or moderate correlations (rs < 0.5) respectively. The present research can serve as the basis for developing either a mathematical model or performance index for evaluating success of construction projects.

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  1. Department of Spatial Planning and Development, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Athanasios Lamprou & Dimitra G. Vagiona

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  1. Athanasios Lamprou
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  2. Dimitra G. Vagiona
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Correspondence to Dimitra G. Vagiona.

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Lamprou, A., Vagiona, D.G. Identification and Evaluation of Success Criteria and Critical Success Factors in Project Success. Glob J Flex Syst Manag 23, 237–253 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40171-022-00302-3

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