Program management

Engineering

Project portfolio management

Project management triangle

Systems engineering

Computer science

Management science

Business

Process management

Sociology

Project management

Knowledge management

Engineering management

Extreme project management

Engineering ethics

Project charter

OPM3

Project Management Journal

This article highlights the characteristics of articles on project success published between 1986 and 2004 in the Project Management Journal (PMJ) and the International Journal of Project Management (IJPM). The analysis covers references, concepts like project management success, project success, success criteria, and success factors; features of the samples, data collection, and analysis techniques used; and professional disciplines. The results show that research on project success is characterized by diversity except in epistemological and methodological perspectives. The article suggests a shift to project, portfolio, and program success and concludes with a discussion on the traditional state of the research, criticizes its assumptions, and offers alternative metaphors and recommendations for future research.

Project Success as a Topic in Project Management Journals