Project Management can be implemented in all types of industries. This topic of the paper will concentrate on implementation of critical success factors of Project Management in the technical industries by referring the journals pointing out critical success factors across various technical domains. We will focus on studies involving big data, ERP, IT Service Management, Software Project Success and International Development Project. We will also go through studies involving technological innovation and Knowledge Management.
This case study will aim at comparing the implementation of critical success factors (CSF) of Project management amongst various technical domains. We will find out and highlight the similarities and/or differences of implementing the critical success factors of Project Management across these domains. We will work on determining the most critical factor along with the least critical factor to achieve success in any technical project. We desire to predict a model for analyzing the order and/or importance in which critical success factors should be implemented in technical world to achieve targeted goal on time and higher level of financial and customer satisfaction.
Big Data Domain
Big data forms the backbone of dynamic technical world with growing demand and supply for maintenance of data along with privacy. Big data adoption has been successful in variety of industries. We will focus on adoption of big data in virtual reality. Case study on Magazine Luiza (Félix, B. M., Tavares, E., & Cavalcante, 2018) has proven massive success of big data adoption. The factors relevant for successful big data adoption project in virtual reality can be analysed with respect to strategic alignment, top management involvement, compatibility with organizational processes, information sharing, cultural change for data orientation and experimentation, overcoming the talent gap, structure and functions for implementation and expectations management (Félix, B. M., Tavares, E., & Cavalcante, 2018).
Implementing these factors lead a project to meet the targeted goal of hundred percent big data adoption from traditional structured data storage and maintenance which is costlier in terms of time and resources. The successful adoption of big data in techie world is possible due to various factors mentioned above. Some of them have challenges in way of being implemented and others have challenges of being contributing to success of Project Management. However, the overall success factors include organizational strategy, the involvement of top management, the importance of communication, and the use of agile methods for projects development (Félix, B. M., Tavares, E., & Cavalcante, 2018).
In my working experience, I have seen data analysis using Big Data is up to 70% faster compared to traditional approaches of excel and other structured database (Oracle, mySql, postgres, etc.) language analysis. This statistic is derived by the application I worked on in my technical career. The response time for fetching data has been reduced from one minute to 200 milliseconds after adoption of big data. This remarkable Project Management success was possible due to factors such as organizational strategy, the importance of communication, and the use of agile methods for projects development. The Project Management team keenly implemented agile methodology combined with recurring meeting invites to ensure proper communication. This makes it conclusive that the involvement of top management, the importance of communication, and the use of agile methods for projects development are most critical success factors in big data adoption.
ERP Domain
ERP is a data management platform which helps big industries to maintain their data at a single layer. It helps efficient data processing and easy maintenance and retrieval across various business units like supply chain management, human resources, sales, finance, etc. Implementing ERP solution has not been always a successful Project Management. Hence, it is important to analyse the factors of the ERP implementation projects.
We will focus on ERP implementation in healthcare industry. ERP implementation involves restructuring of the existing systems and understanding the existing systems in-depth from the subject matter experts (SME). These tasks require proper communication across all levels of organization starting from higher authorities in position. The important factors in implementation of ERP solution include top management involvement, user training, technological competence, process delineation, project planning, change management and PM (Garg, P., & Agarwal, D., 2014).
Pareto graph was used to analyse which success factors form the top of the chart with respect to criticality by Garg, P., & Agarwal, D. in their research paper on critical success factors on implementing ERP in healthcare. They identified that Top Management Commitment (TMC), User involvement (UI), Business process reengineering (BPR), Project management (PM) and ERP teamwork and composition (TWC) are the top five critical success factors in ERP implementation and conducted study to analyse these on implementing ERP in healthcare.
ERP implementations are projects spread over the organization across multiple business units and domain (Garg, P., & Agarwal, D., 2014). Hence, it is very important that the top management belonging to various departments and business units interact with each other and within their teams to smoothen the knowledge transition of existing system. Top Management Commitment (TMC) enables a flawless process.
Building and implementation of every Project Management involves adhering to the user requirements since they will be using the system after successful delivery (Garg, P., & Agarwal, D., 2014). Hence, it very much important to involve users into the design and development phase to get clear use cases defined and implemented. User involvement (UI) enables a high customer satisfaction and acceptance rate.
Business process reengineering (BPR) aims at redesigning the existing business process of any organisation to achieve greatest enhancements (Garg, P., & Agarwal, D., 2014). This helps to reduce the cost and work-force. Using BPR in ERP implementation enables redesigning to get reward in terms of savings and easy data management.
Project management (PM) is needed to manage the contributions from the business units, suppliers, vendors and consultants working on the project (Garg, P., & Agarwal, D., 2014). A manager is required to take care of certain aspects like cost, milestone, deliverables, etc. Detailed documentation of these aspects will enable successful implementation of the project.
ERP teamwork and composition (TWC) is very important because the best team always gives the best results. It is important to have a cross-functional team (Garg, P., & Agarwal, D., 2014). ERP implementation concentrates on organisation-wide business process and technical specifications. Hence, ERP teamwork and composition enables proper communication and successful implementation.
IT Service Management Domain
IT Service Management ensures best customer service by making sure that all the requirements are met at all the phases of Project Management Lifecycle. Analysis of various success factors confirms that Senior Management Support, Relationship with Vendors, Change in Corporate Culture, and Project Governance and Execution are the critical success factors in IT Service Management Implementation. (Tan, W., Cater-Steel, A., & Toleman, M., 2009).
In my personal professional career experience, I have been a part of successful IT Service Management implementation. I have witnessed that senior management involvement always motivates the team which in turn increases the productivity and quality of work. It also enables smooth communication at a cross-functional distribution. Other factors of Relationship with Vendors, Change in Corporate Culture, and Project Governance and Execution equally contribute in successful Project Management since they form an essential part in success of every Project Management.
Development Domain
Intellectual capital, sound project case, key manpower competency and effective stakeholder engagement are the critical success factors in International Development projects (Yitbarek, T. B., & Getachew, K. T., 2016). Software engineering and Business strategy form a part of critical success factors in Software Development projects (Bytheway, A. J., 1999).
Conclusion
Reviewing the studies of CSF in Project Management of various technical domains emphasizes that Top Management and Communication form the top most amongst all the CSF for Project Management.
