Systematic review of software project success criteria from future software practitioners’ perspective

Are software projects evaluated using software teams’ success criteria? A systematic literature review

Purpose In today’s complex and rapidly evolving project environments, leadership competencies are increasingly recognised as a critical factor in achieving project success. This paper explores the core leadership competencies project managers need and examines the enablers that support as well as the barriers that limit, their effective application. Design/methodology/approach Following PRISMA 2020, 43 peer-reviewed studies published between 2005 and 2025 were identified through systematic searches of leading academic databases. Studies were assessed for relevance, quality and alignment with project leadership and success criteria. Findings The findings show that emotional intelligence, communication skills, strategic thinking, adaptability and empowerment consistently contribute to project success across sectors. These competencies enhance collaboration, stakeholder engagement and decision-making in uncertain contexts. Enablers such as supportive organisational cultures, effective communication and empowering leadership behaviours strengthen their application, while barriers including an overemphasis on technical skills, rigid cultures and limited use of competency-based frameworks continue to undermine effectiveness. Research limitations/implications The results emphasise the importance of a holistic approach to project leadership that develops behavioural, emotional and strategic capabilities alongside technical expertise. They also underline the need for deeper investigation into how leadership competencies shape success across diverse project types and contexts. Practical implications Organisations are encouraged to institutionalize leadership development practices and adopt adaptive frameworks to enhance leadership impact in real-world project environments. Originality/value Insights from 43 practical studies are consolidated, offering a comprehensive understanding of both enablers and barriers of project leadership competencies. The study provides actionable directions for organisations and future research on how leadership competencies drive project success.

Understanding the relationship of conflict and success in software development projects

In this paper, we describe our investigation of the motivational differences between project managers and developers. Motivation has been found to be a central factor in successful software projects. However the motivation of software engineers is generally poorly understood and previous work done in the area is thought to be largely out-of-date. We present data collected from 6 software developers and 4 project managers at a workshop we organized at the XP2006 international conference.

Successive Public Housing Building Project (PHBP) attempts have been unsuccessful due to a number of reasons. Among these is the lack of clearly defined success criteria which guides and measures PHBP success from inception to closure. The adoption and application of project management practice and project success criteria is to deliver projects successfully, attain enhanced output, develop framework to help track key project results and to enable the appropriate allocation of resources. This paper aimed to establish critical success criteria for PHBPs in Ghana. A questionnaire survey was employed to elicit the views of experienced professionals on 13 project success criteria identified from literature. Mean score analysis and factor analysis were conducted on the data collected. The results showed that PHBP practitioners perceive ‘cost of individual houses’ and ‘extensive use of local materials’ as the most critical success criteria with ‘risk containment’ emerging as the least critical criteria. It also revealed the following as the major underlysing factors for critical project success criteria for public housing projects in Ghana;‘Time, Cost and Quality Management’, ‘Satisfaction, Health and Environmental Safety’, ‘User Affordability and Design Consideration’ and ‘Cost of Individual Units and Technology’. These two findings are essential for developing a framework which will enable project managers involved in PHBPs in Ghana to channel appropriate efforts and behaviours towards ensuring the attainment of success on their projects.

The software development industry or organizations increasingly emerging day by day have adopted global software development (GSD) practices due to the large significance of outsourcing. These industries face many challenges due to a lack of understanding customer perspective in the GSD environment. For any organization, the customer is the major stakeholder, and customer relationship management (CRM) plays a vital role in customer satisfaction with software development projects. These challenges create serious risks for any software development project’s success. Thus, CRM is a crucial challenge in the success of software projects in the GSD environment. This research study aims to address the factors that negatively influence CRM implementation in the global context and proposes a conceptual model based on the identified factors for enhancing software product quality. The systematic literature review (SLR) phase investigates the potential barriers to CRM implementation in GSD. Based on identified barriers, an initial conceptual model is developed. The proposed conceptual model is validated using a questionnaire survey of the GSD industry and CRM practitioners of Pakistan. Statistical analysis and several suitable tests are also performed to develop the final conceptual model for CRM implementation in the GSD environment. This research is performed from the client’s perspective. The results are promising and accommodating to avoid any software project failure due to customer-related issues in a GSD environment.

Software engineering researchers have, over the years, proposed different critical success factors (CSFs) which are believed to be critically correlated with the success of software projects. To conduct an empirical investigation into the correlation of CSFs with success of software projects, we adapt and extend in this work an existing contingency fit model of CSFs. To archive the above objective, we designed an online survey and gathered CSF-related data for 101 software projects in the Turkish software industry. Among our findings is that the top three CSFs having the most significant associations with project success were: (1) team experience with the software development methodologies, (2) team’s expertise with the task, and (3) project monitoring and controlling. A comprehensive correlation analysis between the CSFs and project success indicates positive associations between the majority of the factors and variables, however, in most of the cases at non-significant levels. By adding to the body of evidence in this field, the results of the study will be useful for a wide audience. Software managers can use the results to prioritize the improvement opportunities in their organizations w.r.t. the discussed CSFs. Software engineers might use the results to improve their skills in different dimensions, and researchers might use the results to prioritize and conduct follow-up in-depth studies on those factors.

Project success criteria are dependent variables that measure the successful outcome of a project, while project success factors are the independent elements of a project that can increase the likelihood of success. In other words, success criteria are used to measure success whilst success factors facilitate the achievement of success. The purpose of this paper is to systematically record and identify project success criteria as well as critical success factors found in the literature and published in academic journals in order to form an effective and widely accessible framework to measure project success. Time - schedule, cost - budget, user satisfaction, quality-performance, business and commercial performance are the most frequently used success criteria, followed by technical specifications and requirements, stakeholders’ satisfaction, strategic goals/objectives and competitiveness, functionality, project team satisfaction and safety. Some researchers also refer to contractor satisfaction, future perspective and environmental impact, while handful are those that support that effectiveness and suppliers’ satisfaction can influence project success. The critical factors influencing the success of projects are identified and commonly related to the following areas: project (e.g. clear goal, realistic schedule, adequate funds, resources, size, complexity), project manager and leadership (e.g. leadership, management of changes, effective conflict resolution, communication), project team members (e.g. communication, technical background, qualified team), organization (e.g. top management support, responsibility and authority chart) and external environment (client, technological environment, political environment, social environment, physical environment).

A research about software development project revealed that only 31% projects were successfully conducted and the entire was challenged. On the other report, 62% IT projects failed in terms of delivery time, 49% over the cost, and 47% projects obtained higher maintenance cost. In the era of the machine learning also digital intelligence as now, e-commerce located in Indonesia competes to win a market acquisition by giving recommended products through the digital intelligence approach. But this key objective has a challenge in terms of the deliverable process. Study case from an e-commerce in Indonesia stated that given seven projects, only one projects or system still being used until the end, two projects were decommissioned, and also a project was halted due to facing a lot of issues. Hence, this applied research was initiated to identify the rank of success factors in the field of machine learning projects. Qualitative combined by quantitative methods were used sequentially to get the critical factors and measure the rank based on hierarchical analytics using AHP. Six projects' success criteria and fifteen success factors criteria evaluated by the four experts on high level position both developers and project managers. The highest rank of the projects' success criteria is user's satisfaction by 27.7%, meet the quality standard by 22.8%, and meet the time by 18.8%. In terms of critical success factors, the top three are clarity on the project's goal and objective by 15.25%, project manager's capability by 9.37%, and followed by clear communication by 8.82%.

Aims: The study determined, the causes of stress among final year students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The study further determined coping strategies used in managing stress among final year students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
 Study Design: Descriptive survey research design
 Place and Duration of Study: Final year students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria, between 2019/2020. 
 Methodology:Stratified disproportionate random sampling was used to select 360 final year student’s 2019/2020. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled causes of stress and coping strategies questionnaire. Cronbach alpha formula which yielded correlation coefficient of 0.70. Out of 360 copies of the questionnaire administered, 351 were correctly filled and returned giving a percentage return rate of 0.98. Data collected was analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The criterion mean was set at 2.50 and above as agree and below 2.49 as disagree.
 Results: results presented in Table 1 reports that out of 11 causes of stress listed, respondents rated all the items agreed with mean score ranging from 2.74 to 3.77. Similarly, the grand mean score of 3.16 indicates that final year students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria agreed that the items listed are causes of stress among students. The standard deviation is heterogenous, this implies that the respondents’ scores are widely apart from the mean rating scores. The study further revealed that that out of 11 items listed on coping strategies used in managing stress, the respondents agreed that items 12, 15, 16, 17. 20 and 21 are coping strategies for managing stress while they disagreed on five items as coping strategies used in managing stress. The grand mean score of 2.56 indicates that final year students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria agreed that majority of the items listed are coping strategies used in managing stress. From the standard deviations scores recorded, there is homogeneity in respondents’ ratings.
 Conclusion: In conclusion, stress exist and is caused by so many factors such as academic pressure, social problem, family stress, financial burden, management skills, uncomfortable classroom, adjustment to new environment among others. It is also concluded that students adopt and employ various coping strategies in managing stress. These strategies range from going for sporting activities when stressed, listening to music, and hanging out with friends and relatives for extra social activities.

This article presents a thorough framework for project communication while examining the critical role that communication plays in managing multinational projects. Examining existing research on global project management success criteria, the study highlights contemporary global communication concepts and obstacles. The study suggests using cross-cultural communication practices to reduce miscommunication with a complete overview of the project communication life cycle, which includes planning, initiation, execution, monitoring, and closing. Developing an organizational structure and developing a plan are necessary before starting a project's communication. Environmental analysis, communication objectives, stakeholder identification, communication channels, information format, guidelines, resources, and project ethos are all included in the strategy. By identifying methods, designing content, and doing stakeholder analysis, project communication planning promotes alignment with project goals. Project communication implementation places a strong emphasis on communication skills, delivery methods, and information sharing. It's important to keep up communication skills, and having a specific channel for project information makes it more accessible. Monitoring adherence to communication management techniques, spotting deviations, and putting corrective measures in place are all part of controlling project communication. Robust document control, including identification, versioning, owner assignment, approval, distribution, retention, and security, is necessary for administrative closure. Cultural obstacles, language barriers, time zone differences, technical barriers, organizational hierarchy, and a lack of in-person engagement are some of the unique communication issues encountered in multinational initiatives. The pros and cons of various communication models—such as technology-driven, agile, interactive, transactional, cultural, and linear—are compared. The study offers a comprehensive framework, integrates multicultural features, explores problems, and suggests communication cycles, all of which greatly improve project management and communication in global projects. The significance of communication culture and recommendations for high-performing businesses are highlighted. According to recognized success criteria, the research emphasizes the importance of communication in project success. With all factors considered, it offers scholars and professionals insightful information as well as useful recommendations in the ever-changing field of international project management.

The Project Management strategies in the current corporate scenario are not helping towards successful project management. Project scope is one of the major project management knowledge areas in software industries. However, with existing techniques of project management, it is yet a challenge to effectively manage the scope creep. However, function point analysis is deemed to be one of the popular factors that modulate the project management. This paper therefore aims at analysing the impact of scope creep in terms of function points towards realization of project success. Projects from two widely developed domains namely ERP and Financial are studied to comprehend above said aim. The investigation results indicate existence of transitivity relation between scope creep, function points and project success. This knowledge further enables the project manager to accordingly plan for the generation of expected success level of projects during software development process.KeywordsProject ManagementScope CreepFunction PointsSoftware EngineeringSoftware Quality

Project managers often find it a challenge to successfully manage construction projects. As a result, understanding, evaluating, and achieving project success are critical for sponsors to control projects. In practice, determining key success factors and criteria to assess the performance of construction projects and forecast the success of new projects is difficult. To address these concerns, our objective is to go beyond the efficiency-oriented project success criteria by considering both efficiency- and effectiveness-oriented measures to evaluate project success. This paper contributes to existing knowledge by identifying a holistic and multidimensional set of project success factors and criteria using a two-round Delphi technique. We developed a decision support system using the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) to forecast the success of mid- and large-sized construction projects. We gathered data from 142 project managers in Australia and New Zealand to implement the developed ANFIS. We then validated the constructed ANFIS using the K-fold cross-validation procedure and a real case study of a large construction project in Western Australia. The forecasting accuracy measures R2=0.97461, MAPE = 2.57912%, MAE = 1.88425, RMSE = 2.3610, RRMSE = 0.03149, and PI = 0.01589 suggest that the developed ANFIS is a very good predictor of project success.

Background: Software Product Management (SPM) plays a vital role in the success of many software projects by aligning customer needs with their business objectives and ensuring a seamless and effective software product lifecycle. SPM is established as a collection of tools, techniques, and practices that help an organization accomplish its objectives and enhance the predictability and profitability of software product development. However, despite its significance, SPM research has been fragmented into specific topics having limited SPM literature reviews. This research study addresses this gap and discusses the status of the SPM domain in a more holistic spectrum. Objective: The study aims to review recent literature on SPM, focusing on the alignment of SPM with software engineering concepts, a product manager’s role, the existing framework, ontologies, and best practices that support ensuring the success of a product manager’s role. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted using SCOPUS, IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, ScienceDirect, and ProQuest Central as databases. 71 articles were selected following a rigorous screening process as per the PRISMA 2000 statement. Results: Integrating SPM and SE is crucial in delivering value-driven software solutions. Available theoretical models and frameworks can help with this integration; however, implementing these frameworks often has challenges. Even though product managers play a vital role in the software lifecycle, they lack sufficient organizational support to enrich their skills and knowledge. Other major challenges are the lack of knowledge to use emerging technologies such as AI for data-driven decision-making processes and the tendency to replace humans with such technologies. Conclusion: Aligning strategic vision with agile flexibility is important to integrate SPM with SE practices. To improve decision-making and ensure better alignment of SPM with business objectives, organizations have to enhance product managers’ capabilities by leveraging emerging technologies. Research can focus on developing adaptable and user-friendly SPM frameworks that match both medium-scale and large-scale organizational expectations. Keywords: Organizational Value, Product Manager Role, Software Engineering Integration, Software Product Management, SPM Challenges, SPM Frameworks

This paper presents a systematic literature review analyzing the intersection of intelligent technology and project management through empirical studies encompassing 53 peer-reviewed articles published between 2018 and 2024. The research aims to identify key themes, geographic distribution, author contributions, and future research directions in the field. The thematic analysis reveals five predominant categories: project complexity and theorizing, project governance and management, digitalization and technology, inter-organizational projects and networks, and agility and innovation. The geographic analysis indicates that Europe, particularly the United Kingdom, leads in research contributions, while North America and Asia show emerging but limited involvement. The author's contribution analysis highlights notable scholars who emphasize governance, sustainability, and digital transformation. Future research is expected to focus on intelligent technology-driven risk management, the integration of agile methodologies, and sustainability practices within project management frameworks. The findings underscore the transformative potential of intelligent technologies in enhancing project outcomes, emphasizing the need for robust governance and adaptability in project management practices. The study identifies critical gaps, particularly in the areas of public-private partnerships and cultural dynamics, suggesting avenues for future research to optimize the integration of intelligent technologies in project management. Overall, this review contributes to the understanding of how intelligent technology can reshape project management, providing a conceptual framework that integrates independent, dependent, intervening, and moderating variables to enhance project success in an increasingly complex environment.