Factors Affecting the Project Performance of Information Systems Development: Comparison of Organizational Cultures

Abstract

Researchers have found that approximately 70% of information systems (IS) development projects in Japan have failed, thus increasing the demand for solutions that will increase expected project success rates. One study that explored the identification of factors that affect project performance found that six factors of organizational culture influence the project outcome for information technology (IT) vendors. This study uses those results to determine several unrevealed points of knowledge that contribute to reducing project failure rates by identifying differences in organizational culture based on an organization's size. Analysis of variance demonstrated that project performance and project planning show positive results in large organizations. Further, the three factors of "organizational policy toward project performance," "IS development process," and "project manager skills" show positive results in large organizations, and one factor, "information sharing within organization," shows a positive result in small organizations. The other factors, "senior manager involvement" and "trust between senior manager and project manager," do not show differences based on the size of the organization. Given these results, we proposed several organizational solutions for organizations of each size.