The Impact of Project Culture and Project Knowledge on Business IT Project Success Level

Abstract

Information technology (IT) is inevitable in any business in modern days. Therefore, a considerable amount of funds is committed to IT projects yearly. However, according to the available literature and reports, globally, these projects' success level is considerably low. In Sri Lankan context, it is hard to find the studies on measuring the success level of IT business projects from clients' perspective. Therefore, this research's main objective is to measure the success level of IT business projects in Sri Lanka from the client's perspective. Managing project Knowledge is one of the main factors which affect to the project success level. Project culture is believed to be affecting project knowledge management. A quantitative research approach was used with a partial least square structure equation model as the analysis tool. Data were collected from 87 IT projects completed within the last two years in the telecom and banking industries in Sri Lanka. The results revealed a low project success level for IT projects completed within the telecommunication and finance industries. Further, management leadership and trust between project managers affect domain knowledge and knowledge sharing. Domain knowledge positively affected the project success level, but knowledge sharing did not affect the project success level.