The effects of organizational culture and environmental pressures on IT project performance: A moderation perspective

•Organizational culture and environmental pressures affect IT project performance.•Exploring moderating variables in project management research is important.•Data from the U.S. and China was use to empirically test the research model.

In this study we examine the impact of culture and environmental pressures on IT project performance. Specifically, the current study examines four dimensions of organizational culture (i.e., institutional collectivism, results orientation, positive work environment, leadership risk tolerance) and environmental pressures that are competitive and regulatory in nature. Within the context of these variables this study examines the moderating effect of environmental pressures (i.e., levels of competitive and regulatory pressure) on the relationship between organizational culture and IT project performance. The model was empirically tested with data from the United States and China. These two countries were chosen due to their very distinctive characteristics related to organizational resources and environmental factors.Results support the theory that the relationship between organizational culture and IT project performance is moderated by environmental pressures. These results should aid project managers when making decisions pertaining to the designing and carrying out of project management practices.