Identification of variables that impact project success in Brazilian companies

• A survey of 336 professionals in the field of project management.
• Project management maturity is significantly related to all success dimensions.
• Top management support has significant impact on the time success dimension.
• Dedicated project manager has significant impact on the time success dimension.
• The study suggests focus on efficiency aspects rather than effectiveness aspects.

This research aims to analyze the relation between project management maturity and the project success. Moreover, the moderating effect of top management support and the assignment of a dedicated project manager were analyzed. The methodological research approach was a survey of 336 professionals in the field of project management conducted in Brazilian organizations. The results show that project management maturity is significantly related to all vertices of the iron triangle (time, cost and technical performance) dimensions of success. However, it is not related to the customer satisfaction dimension. The two moderate variables, top management support and dedicated project manager, have significant impact on the time success dimension but not on customer satisfaction. It suggests focus on efficiency aspects rather than effectiveness aspects.