The Role of a Project Management Office (PMO) in Reducing IT Project Failure in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

As many IT projects continue to fail or remain in the area of challenged projects, the requirement to implement a Project Management Office (PMO) will continue. IT project failure is a real issue to many organisations in Saudi Arabia. In literature that deals with IT project failure, there is a shortage of studies that highlight why IT project fail in Saudi organisations and the influence of the implementation of a PMO on IT projects.The main objectives of this empirical research in Saudi Arabia are to: a) identify IT project risks, b) help to identify when an IT project is considered successful, c) suggest a way to calculate the actual project duration and cost compared to the authorised project duration and cost, d) test how the independent variables of IT manager, organisation and PMO can affect an IT project, e) look at the difference between the organisations that have established a PMO and other organisations that have not, f) identify the roles of a PMO, and g) look at the main obstacles to establishing PMOs.A literature review on IT project failure and PMO was conducted to formulate research questions and research hypotheses. To achieve research objectives, this study adopted a multiphase mixed method design using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The data gathered were analysed using thematic analysis for the critical incident technique study and interviews and SPSS for the questionnaire survey.The main findings of the research show that some poor project management activities throughout IT project execution were responsible for project failure. The study identified 18 risk factors: 13 risk factors in the managerial theme, 3 in the technical and only 2 in the financial theme. There was significant difference between organisations that establish a PMO and organisations that do not establish a PMO in Saudi Arabia relative to eight variables: 1) English language, 2) industry area, 3) total number of employees, 4) number of IT employees, 5) average size of IT project, 6) average IT project team size, 7) intended supplier, and 8) using project management methodology. As a main contribution, this study built a model of IT project outcomes testing that helps project managers and PMOs to convert challenged projects into successful or failed projects by estimating Time Error Project Correction (TEPC). Based on practitioner views, an additional contribution was providing empirical evidence on the situation of a project management office in Saudi Arabia.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2015
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Margaret Emsley (Supervisor)