Improving IT Project Outcomes With the Deming Management Method

Abstract

Introducing technological change into an organization is a difficult undertaking, so it is not unexpected that firms struggle in their pursuit to achieve the desired level of quality for IT project outcomes. The purpose of this research is to examine the Deming management method to determine if its theories about quality management can be applied to IT projects. Survey data was collected from 168 IT professionals and analyzed. The results provide strong empirical support for the application of the Deming management method to address this persistent problem. In particular, the results support all hypothesized relationships among the quality management concepts comprising the Deming model, while at the same time the Deming model provides strong predictive ability for both customer satisfaction with IT project deliverables and meeting project performance goals of budget, schedule, and system functionality.