Project Success and Customer Satisfaction: Toward a Formalized Linkage Mechanism*

Abstract

The successful strategic management of projects is based on an organization’s understanding that an effective project is only as good as its capacity to satisfy customer requirements. In an increasingly competitive international marketplace, successful firms are typically those that have worked to establish a cooperative relationship with their clients, based on their desire to provide better service. This sense of better service typically refers to the willingness of these companies to evaluate their project management practices in terms of external, client demands along with the more traditional and internally-focused efficiency measures such as schedule and budget adherence. Through this use of Value-Chain Analysis, organizations are able to compete more effectively through understanding how best they can bring value to their customer’s business activity cycle. This chapter reports on the results of a series of efforts by Aker Rauma Offshore Oy to develop a customer-based project success measure to ensure positive long-term relationships with customers. Among their findings is the need to differentiate among various stakeholder constituencies within the same client organization and develop service strategies to address each sub-group’s needs.

Portions of this chapter appeared as “Customer-based project success: Exploring a key to gaining competitive advantage in project organizations,” Project Management, vol. 4 (1), 6–11, 1998. Used with permission.