The relation of requirements uncertainty and stakeholder perception gaps to project management performance

Researchers consider requirements uncertainty as a problem to be addressed during information system development by choosing an appropriate strategy to mitigate the uncertainty. However, this strategy avoids addressing issues present at the start of a project. Those include differences in perception between two prominent stakeholders: users and developers. The problems caused by this perception gap are demonstrated to be at least as significant as components of requirements uncertainty. A model is developed and empirically tested that shows a good portion of residual performance risks in a project are explained by perception gaps. These gaps present a new opportunity to address difficulties in a project before the development efforts begin.