IT project management resources
and capabilities: a Delphi study
Pierre Hadaya, Luc Cassivi and Chahinaze Chalabi
Department of Management and Technology, E
´
cole des Sciences de la Gestion,
Universite
´
du Que
´
bec a
`
Montre
´
al, Montreal, Canada
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the most important IT project management resources
and capabilities, and rank them according to the extent to which they are valuable, rare and inimitable.
Design/methodology/approach – Using a Delphi methodology, the data collection process was
conducted with the collaboration of members of academia and professionals with expertise in IT
project management.
Findings – The top ten most important resources/capabilitiesin IT project management were identified,
the majority of which were capabilities; 80 per cent of the identified resources/capabilities were the same in
the panel comprised of members of academia and the panel of professionals. Results showed that the two
most valuable, rare and inimitable IT project management resources/capabilities were: the capability to
understand and manage the needs, expectations, priorities and interests of project stakeholders; and the
firm’s capability to align IT projects to the strategy and business objectives of the organization.
Practical implications – This research guides managers in the development of key IT project
management intangible resources/capabilities.
Originality/value – By simultaneously identifying a bundle of important IT project management
resources/capabilities, evaluating the extent to which each resource/capability is valuable, rare and
inimitable as well as displaying coherence between the results from the different steps of the Delphi
method, the resources/capabilities identified in this study are likely to be those few that actually can
influence the competitive advantage of the firm. Also, by demonstrating the less important role played
by IT resources/capabilities, this study demonstrates that project management is a field of its own.
Keywords Organizations, Project management, Information technology, Resources,
IT project management, Delphi, Capabilities
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Project management is a key component in the success of information technology (IT)
in organizations (Stewart, 2008). Some authors have also argued that in certain
situations, IT project management can also become a source of competitive advantage
(Basu and Muylle, 2007; Ross et al., 2006). Nonetheless, despite its critical role,
the literature also reveals that many IT projects still fail or do not reach completion
while IT expenses continue to increase (Jeffery and Leliveld, 2003). Furthermore, to this
day, there is still no consensus in the literature as to what are the critical success
factors of IT project management. The objective of this research is hence to address
this gap in the literature. More precisely, this study, anchored on the resource-based
theory of the firm (RBT) and the Delphi methodology, aims to:
(1) identify the most important IT project management resources and capabilities; and
(2) rank them according to the three characteristics proposed by Barney (1991) and
Barney et al. (2011) to assess whether a resource/capability can improve the
firm’s performance and competitive advantage.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1753-8378.htm
IJMPB
5,2
216
International Journal of Managing
Projects in Business
Vol. 5 No. 2, 2012
pp. 216-229
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1753-8378
DOI 10.1108/17538371211214914