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Project success and critical success factors of construction projects: project practitioners’ perspectives

Open Access
|May 2023

Figures & Tables

Respondents’ profiles, including geography and projects handled_

S. No.ItemRespondent 1 (PD)Respondent 2 (PM)Respondent 3 (PD)
1QualificationMasters in scienceDegree in engineeringMasters in geology
2Total experience (years)151533
3Present project
3.1Project typeAirportNuclearRoad, building
3.2Project locationSaudi ArabiaFranceAlgeria
3.3Role in projectPDPMPD
3.4Project cost (tentative)Project 1 – US$ 9 billion (construction cost)Project 2 – US$ 100–200 million (construction cost)€ 35 billion (construction cost)Project 1 – € 110 million (consulting fee)Project 2 – € 40 million (consulting fee)Project 3 – € 8 million (consulting fee)
3.5Present progressConstruction stageConstruction stageProject 1 – closure stageProject 2 – ongoingProject 3 – closure stage

Top five CSFs for construction project success – respondents’ reactions_

S. No.RespondentExample quotes
1Respondent 1‘Fifth one … uh … you can say …’
2Respondent 2‘Fifth one … a … what can I say …’
3Respondent 5‘I don’t have any idea for the fifth one. But if I have one, if it comes in the interview later, I will tell you’
4Respondent 6‘Fifth one is … I can’t think of anymore.’
5Respondent 7‘... and in five what I would say is, during execution phase, I think we have to get very good relationships with the contractors.’
6Respondent 8‘And, I guess, …’

CSFs identified in previous studies_

CSF dimension/scale itemIdentified scientific contributions
Project management factors dimension
Development of a good project planChan et al. 2004; Toor and Ogunlana 2010; Gudienė et al. 2013a; Ihuah et al. 2014; Maghsoodi and Khalilzadeh 2017; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019
Adequate use of communication among project participants/communicationPinto and Slevin 1987; Sanvido et al. 1992; Cheng et al. 2000; Nguyen et al. 2004; Phua and Rowlinson 2004; Fortune and White 2006; Andersen et al. 2006; Espinosa et al. 2006; Yu et al. 2006; Jha and Iyer 2007; Toor and Ogunlana 2008; Tabish and Jha 2012; Cserháti and Szabo 2014; Cheong and Mustaffa 2017; Langston et al. 2018; Sinesilassie et al. 2019; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019; Moradi et al. 2020
Clarity of project goal to the project teamAshley et al. 1987; Pinto and Slevin 1987; Chan et al. 2004; Dvir et al. 2006; Yu et al. 2006; Toor and Ogunlana 2008; Cserháti and Szabó 2014; Langston et al. 2018; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019; Jitpaiboon et al. 2019
Effective project monitoring and control system/monitoring and feedbackAshley et al. 1987; Pinto and Slevin 1987; Chua et al. 1999; Chan et al. 2004; Iyer and Jha 2006; Jha and Iyer 2007; Toor and Ogunlana 2008; Jha and Chockalingam 2011; Tabish and Jha 2011; Gudienė et al. 2013a; Hwang and Lim 2013; Cserháti and Szabó 2014; Ihuah et al. 2014; Maghsoodi and Khalilzadeh 2017; Langston et al. 2018; Sinesilassie et al. 2019; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019; Moradi et al. 2020
Project team-motivationChua et al. 1999; Hwang and Lim 2013; Kog and Loh 2012; Inayat et al. 2012; Gudienė et al. 2013b; Hwang and Lim 2013; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019
Effective partnering among project participants/working relationship among stakeholders/maintaining good relationships between partiesNicolini 2002; Chua et al. 2003; Chan et al. 2004; Nguyen et al. 2004; Jha and Iyer 2006; Toor and Ogunlana 2008; Nguyen et al. 2004; Tabish and Jha 2011; Meng 2012; Cheong and Mustaffa 2017; Sinesilassie et al. 2019; Negash and Hassan, 2020
Awareness of and compliance with rules and regulationsBelassi and Tukel 1996; Cheung et al. 2012; Tabish and Jha 2011
Clear project aims and objectivesMorris and Hugh 1986; Pinto and Slevin 1987; Pinto and Prescott 1988; Belassi and Tukel 1996; Dvir et al. 1998; Clarke 1999; Qiao et al. 2001; Westerveld 2003; Nguyen et al. 2004; Fortune and White 2006; Toor and Ogunlana 2008
Clear objectives and scopeChan et al. 2001; Nguyen et al. 2004; Yu et al. 2006; Toor and Ogunlana 2008; Elwakil et al. 2009; Inayat et al. 2015; Kog and Loh 2012; Hwang and Lim 2013; Asgari et al. 2018; Sinesilassie et al. 2019; Moradi et al. 2020
Continuing involvement of stakeholders in the project/stakeholder involvementNguyen et al. 2004; Bourne and Walker 2008; Andersen et al. 2006; Aaltonen et al. 2008; Chinyio and Akintoye 2008; Frodell et al. 2008; Olander and Landin 2008; Ward and Chapman 2008; Gudiene et al. 2013; Maghsoodi and Khalilzadeh 2017; Langston et al. 2018; Hasan and Jha 2019; Jitpaiboon et al. 2019; Moradi et al. 2020; Negash and Hassan, 2020; Anilkumar and Banerji 2021
Planning/carefully planning and scheduling project implementationAshley et al. 1987; Barry and Randholph 1988; Sanvido et al. 1992; Belassi and Tukel 1996; Clarke 1999; Tam 1999; Levy 2002; Dvir et al. 2003; Chan et al. 2004; Nguyen et al. 2004; Yang 2006; Toor and Ogunlana 2008; Inayat et al. 2015; Kog and Loh 2012; Hwang and Lim 2013; Langston et al. 2018; Moradi et al. 2020; Negash and Hassan, 2020
Conflict was resolved quickly by project participants/conflict resolutionCheng et al. 2000; Yang et al. 2009; Yang et al. 2006; Tabish and Jha 2011; Zuo et al. 2018
Goal settingPinto and Slevin 1988; Songer and Molenaar 1997; Lim and Mohamed 1999; Nicolini 2002; Nguyen et al. 2004; Fortune and White 2006; Toor and Ogunlana 2010; Cheong and Mustaffa 2017
Supervision levelLangston et al. 2018; Negash and Hassan, 2020
Project management practices/methodologies/methods/toolsJugdev et al. 2013; Joslin and Müller 2015; Langston et al. 2018; Jitpaiboon et al. 2019; Langston et al. 2018
Client responsivenessGhanbaripour et al. 2018
Human factors dimension
PM’s competency/PM’s technical and administrative competencyPinto and Slevin 1987; Barry and Randolph 1988; Sanvido et al. 1992; Belassi and Tukel 1996; Munns and Bjeirmi 1996; Dvir et al. 1998; Chua et al. 1999; Lim and Mohamed 1999; Qiao et al. 2001; Kog and Loh 2012; Chua et al. 2003; Westerveld 2003; Chan et al. 2004; Nguyen et al. 2004; Fortune and White 2006; Jha and Iyer 2006; Iyer and Jha 2006; Yang 2006; Yu et al. 2006; Toor and Ogunlana 2008; Toor and Ogunlana 2010; Inayat et al. 2015; Kog and Loh 2012; Tabish and Jha 2012; Gudienė et al. 2013a; Hwang and Lim 2013; Cserháti and Szabó 2014; Davis 2014; Ihuah et al. 2014; Mavi and Standing, 2018; Rolstades et al. 2014; Taherdoost and Keshvarzsaleh 2016; Maghsoodi and Khalilzadeh 2017; Misic and Radujkovic 2017; Tsiga et al. 2017; Asgari et al. 2018; Langston et al. 2018; Mavi and Standing 2018; Sinesilassie et al. 2019; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019; Moradi et al. 2020; Negash and Hassan, 2020
Project team members’ competencyPinto and Slevin 1987; Sanvido et al. 1992; Belassi and Tukel 1996; Chua et al. 1999; Nicolini 2002; Belout and Gauvreau 2004; Chan et al. 2004; Nguyen et al. 2004; Fortune and White 2006; Toor and Ogunlana 2008; Toor and Ogunlana 2010; Gudienė et al. 2013a; Ihuah et al. 2014; Moradi et al. 2020
PM’s leadershipFortune and White 2006; Hyväri 2006; Müller and Turner 2007; Müller and Turner 2010; Ahadzie et al. 2008; Cserháti and Szabó 2014; Ihuah et al. 2014; Andersen et al. 2006; Langston et al. 2018; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019; Ahmed et al. 2021
Project participants’ commitments in meeting the project goalIyer and Jha 2006; Yu et al. 2006; Jha and Iyer 2007; Tabish and Jha 2012; Hwang and Lim 2013; Cserháti and Szabó 2014; Langston et al. 2018; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019; Jitpaiboon et al. 2019
TroubleshootingPinto and Slevin 1987; Toor and Ogunlana 2010; Gudienė et al. 2013b; Ihuah et al. 2014; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019
Good coordination between project participants/coordinationBelassi and Tukel 1996; Chan et al. 2004; Jha and Iyer 2007; Tabish and Jha 2012; Gudienė et al. 2013a; Cserháti and Szabó 2014; Ihuah et al. 2014; Asgari et al. 2018; Langston et al. 2018; Sinesilassie et al. 2019; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019; Moradi et al. 2020; Negash and Hassan, 2020
Top management supportNguyen et al. 2004; Belassi and Tukel 1996; Iyer and Jha 2006; Jha and Iyer 2007; Tabish and Jha 2012; Cserháti and Szabó 2014; Gudienė et al. 2014; Ihuah et al. 2014; Asgari et al. 2018; Langston et al. 2018; Sinesilassie et al. 2019; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019; Jitpaiboon et al. 2019; Moradi et al. 2020; Negash and Hassan, 2020
Decision making effectivenessFortune and White 2006; Iyer and Jha 2006; Gudienė et al. 2014; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019; Jitpaiboon et al. 2019
Procurement factors dimension
Comprehensive contract documentationSanvido et al. 1992; Chua et al. 1999; Nguyen et al. 2004; Toor and Ogunlana 2010; Alzahrani and Emsley 2013; Cserháti and Szabó 2014; Maghsoodi and Khalilzadeh 2017; Langston et al. 2018; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019
Competitive procurement processChan et al. 2004; Li et al. 2005; Cheung et al. 2012; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019; Negash and Hassan, 2020
Transparency in procurement processChan et al. 2004; Li et al. 2005; Gudienė et al. 2013a, b; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019; Negash et al. 2019
Appropriate risk allocation and risk sharingLi et al. 2005; Kog and Loh 2012; Gudienė et al. 2013b; Hwang and Lim 2013; Ihuah et al. 2014; Maghsoodi and Khalilzadeh 2017; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019
Awarding bids to the right designer/contractorNguyen et al. 2004; Toor and Ogunlana 2008; Maghsoodi and Khalilzadeh 2017; Sinesilassie et al. 2018
Project characteristics factors dimension
Project size and valueCannon 1994; Belassi and Tukel 1996; Chua et al. 1999; Dissanayaka and Kumaraswamy 1999; Chan and Chan 2004; Chan et al. 2004; Andersen et al. 2006; Dvir et al. 2006; Fortune and White 2006; Hyväri 2006; Ademiluyi 2010; Inayat et al. 2015; Kog and Loh 2012; Alzahrani and Emsley 2013; Gudienė et al. 2013a; Carvalho et al. 2015; Li et al. 2005; Maghsoodi and Khalilzadeh 2017; Tsiga et al. 2017; Langston et al. 2018; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019; Moradi et al. 2020; Negash and Hassan, 2020
Complexity and uniqueness of project activities
The type of project (new, existing, maintenance)
The urgency of project outcome
Density of a project
Project environmental factors dimension
Physical environment/natural climatesChan et al. 2004; Phua and Rowlinson 2004; Park 2009; Tabish and Jha 2012; Gudienė et al. 2013a; Amade et al. 2015; Tsiga et al. 2017; Gunduz and Yahya 2018; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019
Project environmentTaherdoost and Keshvarzsaleh 2016; Rodriguez-Segura et al. 2016
Economic and/or financial problems such as price, local currency value/economic and financial situationQiao et al. 2001; Iyer and Jha 2005; Li et al. 2005; Chan et al. 2010; Yong and Mustaffa 2013; Alzara et al. 2016; Ameyaw and Chan 2016; Duryev et al. 2017; Maghsoodi and Khalilzadeh 2017; Langston et al. 2018; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019; Negash and Hassan, 2020
Bureaucratic interferenceNguyen et al. 2004; Phua 2004; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019
Unexpected geological condition, unexpected prices raise for labour and materialChan et al. 2004; Gunduz and Yahya 2018; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019
Late delivery of materials and equipmentDoloi et al. 2011; Akogbe et al. 2013; Aziz and Abdel-Hakam 2016; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019.
Shortage of labourUgwu and Kumaraswamy 2007; Ogwueleka 2011; Alzahrani and Emsley 2013; Altarawneh and Samadi 2019
Project funding factors dimension
Adequate funding throughout the project/adequacy of fundingNguyen et al. 2004; Phua and Rowlinson 2004; Fortune and White 2006; Inayat et al. 2015; Kog and Loh 2012; Gupta et al. 2013; Hwang and Lim 2013; Liu et al. 2016; Maghsoodi and Khalilzadeh 2017; Asgari et al. 2018; Langston et al. 2018; Maqbool and Sudong 2018; Moradi et al. 2020; Negash and Hassan, 2020
Other factors
Proper emphasis on past experienceSanvido et al. 1992; Nguyen et al. 2004; Alzahrani and Emsley 2013; Langston et al. 2018
National culture, demographic profile of the respondentsPark 2009; Al-Tmeemy et al. 2011; Martens et al. 2018; Chidambaram & Tamilmaram, 2020
Organisation structureBelassi and Tukel 1996; Chua et al. 1999; Andersen et al. 2006; Chileshe et al. 2005; Young and Samon 2008; Gupta et al. 2013; Misic and Radujkovic 2017; Tsiga et al. 2017; Moradi et al. 2020
Qualified and experienced project managementMaghsoodi and Khalilzadeh 2017
Ongoing consultation with the project employerMaghsoodi and Khalilzadeh 2017
Regulations and political or economic and social issuesMaghsoodi and Khalilzadeh 2017; Negash and Hassan, 2020
Pre-project planning and clarity in scopeTabish and Jha 2011; Sinesilassie et al. 2019; Jitpaiboon et al. 2019
Good quality controlPinto and Slevin 1987; Chan and Kumaraswamy 1996; Lim and Mohamed 1999; Love et al. 2000; Qiao et al. 2001; Chua et al. 2003; Chan et al. 2004; Nguyen et al. 2004; Yang 2006; Alaghbari et al. 2007; Toor and Ogunlana 2008; Nguyen et al. 2009; Keng and Hamzah 2011; Tabish and Jha 2011
Up-to-date technology utilisation/advanced technologies/use of IT toolsChan et al. 2004; Nguyen et al. 2004; Toor and Ogunlana 2008; Gupta et al. 2013; Kang et al. 2013; Cheong and Mustaffa 2017; Negash and Hassan, 2020; Cheng et al. 2021
Approved technology usedChua et al. 2003; Westerveld 2003; Yang 2006; Le-Hoai et al. 2008; Toor and Ogunlana 2008; Nguyen et al. 2004
Owner’s competenceIyer and Jha 2006; Asgari et al. 2018
Favourable working conditionsIyer and Jha 2006; Langston et al. 2018; Negash and Hassan, 2020
Contractor’s company characteristics, technical and professional ability/competence and experienceAlzahrani and Emsley 2013; Asgari et al. 2018; Langston et al. 2018; Negash and Hassan, 2020
Design expertise design efforts/variations in designs and drawingsSanvido et al. 1992; Chan et al. 2001; Chua et al. 2003; Le et al. 2008; Langston et al. 2018; Moradi et al. 2020; Negash and Hassan, 2020
Identifying and analysing possible conflicts and coalitions among stakeholdersCheng et al. 2000; Chan and Chan 2004; Yang et al. 2009
Fast and effective problem solvingPinto and Prescott 1988; Sanvido et al. 1992; Belassi and Tukel 1996; Cheng et al. 2000; Chan et al. 2001; Chan et al. 2002; Levy 2002; Chua et al. 2003; Chan et al. 2004; Chan and Chan 2004; Yang 2006; Le et al. 2008; Toor and Ogunlana 2008; Nguyen et al. 2009
Availability of resourcesNguyen et al. 2004; Alzahrani and Emsley 2013; Maghsoodi and Khalilzadeh 2017; Sinesilassie et al. 2019; Negash and Hassan, 2020
Education and trainingNegash and Hassan, 2020
Formal dispute resolution processToor and Ogunlana 2008; Inayat et al. 2012; Kog and Loh 2012
Legal environment/legal expertiseLangston et al. 2018; Negash and Hassan, 2020
Material and equipmentNegash and Hassan, 2020
Mutual trust among project stakeholdersLangston et al. 2018
No major changes in scope of work during constructionBajari and Tadelis 2001; Broome and Perry 1995; Sinesilassie et al. 2019
Project cultural fitLangston et al. 2018
Regular quality control and quality assurance systemsLangston et al. 2018; Sinesilassie et al. 2019
Issues on project (client/customer specific, cost/quality, personal, industry related, etc.) and resolution mechanismJha and Iyer 2006; Gudienė et al. 2013a; Davis 2016; Hasan and Jha 2019; Ahmed et al. 2021
FlexibilityShahu et al. 2012; Langston et al. 2018
TeamworkMoradi et al. 2020
Political environmentChan et al. 2004; Phua and Rowlinson 2004; Andersen et al. 2006; Fortune and White 2006; Tsiga et al. 2017; Maqbool and Sudong 2018; Moradi et al. 2020
Accurate and reliable estimates of project costsMaghsoodi and Khalilzadeh 2017
Skilled workersLangston et al. 2018; Negash and Hassan, 2020

Recent studies documenting a large number of success factors (SFs)_

S. No.PaperJournalAuthor nameYearTotal No. of SFs listed
1Can artificial intelligence be a critical success factor of construction projects?: Project practitioners’ perspectivesTechnology Innovation Management ReviewKumar et al.202164
2The competence of project team members and success factors with open innovationJournal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and ComplexityOh and Choi202031
3Factors influencing the performance of architects in construction projectsConstruction and Economics BuildingMarisa and Yusof202023
4Critical success factors for sustainable construction project managementSustainabilityGunduz and Almuajebh202040
5Critical success factors for large building construction projects – perception of consultants and contractorsBuilt Environment Project and Asset ManagementMathar et al.202091
6PLS-SEM approach for predicting the success of public–private partnerships in construction projects: Indian contextIranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil EngineeringChidambaram and Tamilmaran202057
7The relationship between critical success factors and success criteria in construction projects in the United Arab EmiratesInternational Journal of Advanced and Applied SciencesAltarawneh and Samadi201933
8Critical success factors for project manufacturing environmentsProject Management JournalPacagnella et al.201938
9Critical success factors for different components of construction projectsJournal of Construction Engineering and ManagementKog and Loh201267

Theme and sub-themes_

ThemeSub-themes
Theme 1CSFs(1a) Top five CSFs
Theme 2Project success(2a) Define project success.
(2b) What makes a project successful?
(2c) Project success and Iron Triangle
(2d) Complexity/complex construction project

Top five CSFs – interviewee results_

RespondentCSF1CSF2CSF3CSF4CSF5
Respondent 1PlanningSkilled resourcesProcurement strategyGood communicationCost-control and contract
Respondent 2Human factor/common goalPlanningConvincing stakeholdersAccess to IT technologyFlexibility in contract
Respondent 3Good proposalGood organisationPMTeam compositionPartner relationship with the client
Respondent 4Capacity/infrastructureTime schedule (planning)BudgetFunctionalityEnvironmental issues
Respondent 5Common objectiveEfficiency in taking decisionsGood relationships within and outside teamStakeholder involvement-
Respondent 6PlanningProject teamProject equipmentSoftwareCommunication
Respondent 7Cost (budget)PlanningResourcesGood relations with clientGood relations with contractors
Respondent 8Client satisfactionPartner relationship with clientTechnical expertiseProject marginsTeam competence and pleasure
Respondent 9Identification of right resources (manpower)PlanningGood relations with clientGood relations with contractorsTimely and contractual resolution of issues

Project success – interviewee results_

Sub-themePDDPDPMOMSub-sub-themeExample quotes
Define project success3141 ‘Project success is when you complete it on budget and on time, I thinkand also the client satisfaction’‘Success project for me is the success of the project and you win (the) trust of the client and award (a) new contract with him’‘I guess the success is a project deliverable is a way to satisfy the project and the client’,
What makes a project successful3141 ‘The people’, ‘when there is a good environment and the people have compromise and have the enthusiasm’to understand the cultural difference so that you can communicate properly to make the success of the project’‘The project manager personality and his relationship intelligence, organization on the project, the way you search or place positions in place’‘if (the) client is satisfied by our work by the way the project is managed’‘It’s if after the end of the project the clients come back to us and ask us torepeat to another, another project for him and this is (the) proof (that) we reached (achieved) the success with the previous project, yes’
Project success and Iron Triangle3141Sufficiency‘You need more parameters’‘with the more parameters that you take in the equation to have the better approach’‘It’s not sufficient’‘It’s efficient I don’t think so’‘I think they are still the core of the success in a project.’‘... in a very simple project in which you can use just the three …’
Project success and Iron Triangle3141Extra perimeters required‘You need to add risk on that because (the) risk is a factor (that) will make you able to choose between the three factors’‘Environmental issues or you can say exterior issues’‘Ten-knowledge areas, focus areas need to be considered in the assessment of the success of the project’‘Ten knowledge areas (scope, time, cost, resources, stakeholders, quality, risk, procurement, communication and integration) So, all these must be, in my opinion, be taken into consideration, evaluation, and assessment of the success’‘you need all of these soft skills and leadership and stakeholder management’‘… I think in a very complex project then potentially yes, you would need to add in more factors …’
Complexity/complex construction project3141 ‘Complexity is not only linked to the technique, aspects, technical aspects but also to (the) uncertainty of the project’‘I think complexity is totally split with the technical issues, it’s not technical issues that makes a complex project, it’s much more, how you manage your project’‘What is more complex for the project manager and complex project it’s more that you have to manage all these people for same working together to achieve (the) same goal’‘A complex project for me something that involves many different elements including many different stakeholders or many different finances, how is it in terms of finance, many different elements of the project itself’‘so an overall complex project for me is something that involves many different elements which don’t all work together and you got to try to make them fit together to get the end results’
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/otmcj-2023-0001 | Journal eISSN: 1847-6228 | Journal ISSN: 1847-5450
Language: English
Page range: 1 - 22
Submitted on: Oct 9, 2022
Accepted on: Apr 16, 2023
Published on: May 30, 2023
Published by: University of Zagreb
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2023 Virender Kumar, Amrendra Pandey, Rahul Singh, published by University of Zagreb
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.