Evaluating the quality of project planning: a model and field results

Faulty planning will result in project failure, whereas high-quality project planning increases the project's chances of success. The paper reports on the successful development and implementation of a model aimed at evaluating the quality of project planning. The model is based on both the abilities required of the project manager and the organizational support required for a proper project management infrastructure. The model was validated and applied by 282 project managers in nine organizations, where strong and weak planning processes were identified and analysed

Benchmarking of project planning and success in selected industries

Purpose - To identify the industry in which projects are best planned and executed and use it as a benchmark for improving project planning in other industries. Design/methodology/approach - Based on data collected from 280 project managers, project success and quality of project planning were evaluated and analyzed for four industries - construction and engineering, software and communications, services, and production and maintenance. Findings - Quality of project planning was found to be the highest in construction and engineering organizations and the lowest in manufacturing organizations. This is a result of a few factors, among them the intensive organizational support which is offered to project managers working in construction and engineering organizations. The other three industries limit their support mostly to tactical aspects, such as the purchasing of project management software. The high quality of project planning in the construction and engineering organizations resulted in their ability to complete projects by almost half the cost and schedule overruns, as compared to organizations belonging to the other industries. Finally, results of the industries in Israel and Japan are compared and analyzed. Research limitations/implications - Findings are limited to the four industries included in the study. Practical implications - If organizations, not belonging to the construction industry, wish to improve the probability of success in project planning and execution, they should follow methodologies commonly used in the construction industry. Originality/value - This paper introduces a valid field study, exploring project management practices in four industries and identifies the one which may be used as a benchmark for the others. It also identifies specific strengths and weaknesses in project management within the explored industries

From critical success factors to critical success processes

After myriad studies into the main causes of project failure, almost every project manager can list the main factors that distinguish between project failure and project success. These factors are usually called Critical Success Factors (CSF). However, despite the fact that CSF are well-known, the rate of failed projects still remains very high. This may be due to the fact that current CSF are too general and do not contain specific enough know-how to better support project managers decision-making. This paper analyses the impact of 16 specific planning processes on project success and identifies Critical Success Processes (CSP) to which project success is most vulnerable. Results are based on a field study that involved 282 project managers. It was found that the most critical planning processes, which have the greatest impact on project success, are "definition of activities to be performed in the project", "schedule development", "organizational planning", "staff acquisition", "communications planning" and "developing a project plan". It was also found that project managers usually do not divide their time effectively among the different processes, following their influence on project success