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Where is the data on project failure?

In second series article on project successes and failures, Alan Stretton laments the lack of data on project failure, calls for more research on the topic

8 January 2015 – Dallas, London, Sydney – According to the introduction to Alan Stretton’s latest series article, “This is the second article of a series on project successes and failures. The first article (Stretton 2014j) looked at varying criteria currently being used for project successes / failures, and at the very meager data on success / failure rates. The available data gave partial coverage of software projects and mega-projects success / failure rates, but next-to-nothing on any other project types or application areas… It was concluded that it was vitally important for the project management community to establish and agree on success and failure criteria which are widely applicable; and for project researchers and practitioners to join forces to begin developing comprehensive success / failure data covering all significant project types and project management application areas… This second article extends the range of the first article by looking at some published causes of project failures. It attempts a classification of these causes which might be useful in helping improve success rates at the three success levels discussed in the first article.”

To read this paper now in the PM world Library, go to the author’s showcase page at https://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/alan-stretton/ and click on the title. Must be a logged in library member to access after 7 February 2015.

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