Measuring the Impact of Risk Factors Associated with Project Success Criteria in Early Phase

A survey was conducted in order to collect empirical data about the frequency of occurrence of several risk factors associated with success criteria. On the basis of the statistical correlation we may conclude that there are four risk factors in the initiation phase that, if occurring, will lead to the occurrence of risk factors in the implementation and evaluation phase. These risk factors are; 1) Failing to identify all success criteria due to lack of knowledge about stakeholders, 2) Having conflicting or competing criteria in order to accommodate the multiplicity and diversity of stakeholders, 3) Use of optimistic or pessimistic targets in the formulation of success criteria, 4) Use of ambiguous/soft criteria that might be interpreted differently. These factors affect all aspects of management and evaluation. The presence of these factors is also found to be contribute to the occurrence of other factors such as 1) lack of organizational commitment, and top management support 2) poor alignment to success criteria in the performing organization, 3) Subjective assessment of the project outcome during evaluation phase.