The Effect of Organizational Commitment on Project Outcomes under Common Agency

Abstract

This research was undertaken to look at possible ways to broaden the definition of project management success beyond the tradition measures of time, cost, and scope. The research was designed to determine if the human organization comprised of layers of relationships and governance would or could change and reduce the high failure rate attributed to IT projects. The human aspect of conflicting organizational goals, those established by the information technology principal and the business unit principal with the project manager acting as agent, was the foundation for the study. The study expanded project management theory as it related to three variables: organizational commitment, project governance, and complex agency relationships. This was accomplished through a survey distributed to 403 information technology project managers in the United States designed to measure the three variables against the dependent variable project success. The results indicated that governance, organizational commitment, and the effects of common agency on a project manager's performance in meeting what might be conflicting success criteria do have a positive correlation. This research could provide new directions for researchers, project management practitioners, and strategic corporate planners when establishing project success criterion.