Learning from Practice

This section of the book offers in-depth interviews with leading-edge chief information officers from various public and private organizations. These interviews allow the reader more insight into the nature of the critical success factors, as well as offer practical application of such factors relative to successful projects. Each of the CIOs has provided comprehensive answers to a series of questions about IT projects, successes, failures, and the roles of the critical success factors. There is also information about the nature of each CIO’s organization, its size, and the size of the IT departments, so that comparisons to reader interests can quickly be discerned.

Data Analysis and Results

In an attempt to underline the importance of critical success factors in public and private sector organizations, a survey of randomly selected chief information officers was conducted. The survey population was generated from the Leadership Library database, which includes Yellow Books for corporate and government officials. Approximately 285 chief information officers were selected by random number generation to be included in the data set. Of the 285 individuals, 96 chief information officers responded (a response rate of 33.7%). The resulting data set was analyzed with respect to the perceived influence and actual organizational performance on the 14 critical success factors. Given the relatively small n of the sample, the data offered in this section are exploratory in nature and are not considered to be representative of the population of public and private sector chief information officers. However, it does offer background information and a snapshot of how CIOs perceive the various critical success factors, which can further enhance the points articulated in the expert interviews found in Section II.

Theoretical Justification of Critical Success Factors

The ability to more rigorously predict successful projects is critical in the wake of massive technology failures in both private and public settings. These failures, and the trepidation they cause, must be balanced with the new mandate, fostered in both public and private sectors, that organizations operate within new transparent and accessible structures, which are precipitated by Information Technology. These new structures require crosscutting services, which require improved communication and interaction across traditional organizational lines. These new requirements, which fundamentally alter the nature of the organization, are made possible through the strategic use of Information Technology. While idealistic, the fundamental changes in organizations are not easily achieved due to conflicting values, preferences, and objectives. As such, the identification and enactment of critical success factors associated with IT implementation becomes essential in order to mitigate the high failure rates commonly found in public and private sector IT initiatives (see Standish Group, 1995).

Chief Information Officers

Information Technology has fundamentally altered many aspects of daily life, including interactions with public and private sectors. The role of the Internet continues to increase as more citizens use it to find pertinent information, purchase goods and services, and to participate in virtual communities. By capitalizing on the Internet revolution, governments can create new channels of communication and new methods for participation via e-government. The changing environment, coupled with citizen and business demands, encourages government involvement in e-government initiatives and related uses of information technologies.

Conclusions and Implications

The intended goal of this research is to illustrate the various factors that are critical to IT project success in the public and private sectors. Section I uses extant literature to summarize the importance of the 14 critical success factors, reviews the role of the chief information officer within the organization, and offers empirical data to attest to the hypothesized critical success factors. The concept of critical success factors was introduced by Daniel (1961) and popularized by Rockart (1978). In much of the literature, critical success factors refer to those few items that can make or break a project. Accordingly, the literature also indicates the relative importance of various critical success factors. By empirically testing an assortment of findings, this book offers a listing and ordering of 14 of the factors.