Understanding the Links between Project Success and Technology Usage via Work Function Characteristics

More than 200 capital facility projects from across the U.S. have been assessed on the issue of technology usage at the work function level and overall project cost and schedule success. Work functions (WFs) that may leverage project cost and schedule performance were identified. The analyses suggested that degrees of technology used in executing these project performance-leveraging work functions may have a significant impact on project cost or schedule performance.

This paper explores the links between technology utilization and project success in further detail. The techniques used for analyzing the associations include cost performance sensitivity, schedule performance sensitivity, and analysis of Work Function Characteristics (WFCs). Cost and schedule performance sensitivity analyses of project performance-leveraging work functions are employed as a way to gain greater understanding of the connection between technology usage and project performance. In addition, WFCs were investigated as an additional basis for gaining deeper insights into how technology usage may impact project success. The analysis results indicate that information & data intensive, human resource involved, and management-related WFCs can positively influence project cost and schedule success.