The social representation of success in IT projects

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to unveil the perception of information technology (IT) professionals in Brazil regarding the success of IT projects. Design/methodology/approach By using the social representation theory and the words evocation technique, data were collected from IT professionals in Brazil, being subsequently processed so as to identify the central nucleus of the social representation of the success of IT projects for IT professionals in Brazil. Findings IT professionals in Brazil perceive the central core of the social representation of the success of IT projects as formed by “satisfaction” and “scope.” Furthermore, while a considerable amount of IT professionals in Brazil still consider cost, quality and time as relevant factors for the success of IT projects, they do not consider them the most important factors. Moreover, these professionals overlook the financial dimension of the success of IT projects. Research limitations/implications Errors of inference may have been made during the categorization of the words evoked. Furthermore, the sample adopted refers exclusively to IT professionals in Brazil, which limits the universality of the work. Practical implications Organizations and project management associations must take into account the utmost importance of customer satisfaction for the success of IT projects. Besides, these associations must develop IT project success criteria that account for the financial, business and strategic impact of the success of IT projects in organizations. Originality/value IT project success is perceived by IT professionals in Brazil merely from the adherence to scope and customer satisfaction dimensions, leaving aside the importance of project profitability and the strategic impacts of same in the performance of organizations, as well as their future.