Examining Project Success Factors and Success Criteria in a Company from the Perspective of Project Leaders

Abstract

Within the project management literature, there is a decades-long history of interpreting and investigating the success of projects, and of uncovering the details behind the success of projects. The present project success research study covered the project leaders of a pharmaceutical development and manufacturing company in the corporate sector in Hungary. The aim of the study was to identify and evaluate the success factors and success criteria of projects with the help of using the results of the relevant project management literature and the relevant project success research. A questionnaire survey was used as a quantitative research method to assess project leaders' perceptions of success factors and success criteria. The questionnaire survey investigated what success factors project leaders consider important in achieving project success and what success criteria they use to judge the success of projects. The study shows that the understanding of project success often goes beyond the classic project triangle (time, cost, quality) and the human factors, including stakeholder satisfaction, play an important role. The results of this research can contribute to a deeper understanding of project management practices and can also support the development of a project culture at organizational level.