Project Management: Success Criteria, Stakeholder Perspectives, and Constraints

This report provides a critical examination of the statement that project success is a matter of opinion, taking into consideration project stakeholders’ perspectives and the influence of project constraints. It discusses project management, project success, perspectives of stakeholders, and influence of project constraints.

Running head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Discussion..................................................................................................................................2
Project Management...............................................................................................................2
Project Success.......................................................................................................................3
Perspectives of Stakeholders..................................................................................................4
Influence of Project Constraints.............................................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
References................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Project management can be defined as the proper practice for the initiation, planning,
execution, control as well as closing of the work of the project for achieving all the goals and
objectives of the project and thus gaining success for the project (Kerzner & Kerzner, 2017).
There are specific criteria of success in the project and within a specific time constraint. A
project is the temporary endeavour that is eventually designed for producing unique products
or services. The goals as well as the objectives of this project completely depend on the
various project constraints either primary or secondary (Burke, 2013). These specific goals of
the project are responsible for bringing out all the beneficial changes or alterations in the
project. The business operations of any particular business are permanent, repetitive or even
semi permanent activities of functions for producing the results.
The following report outlines a brief discussion on the popular statement that “Project
success is a matter of opinion”. This report eventually provides a critical examination of this
statement after taking into consideration of the project stakeholders’ perspectives and the
various influence of the constraint of project.
Discussion
Project Management
The discipline of utilizing various established principles, policies and procedures for
successfully managing and controlling any specific project right from the conception stage to
the completion stage is known as project management. It substantially oversees all the
planning, organization and implementation of any project (Larson & Gray, 2013). The project
is the undertaking that comprises of a distinct starting and an ending parameter, which is
solely designed for producing a definite outcome like a brand new computer system. This

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project is completely different from the all other ongoing processes like the programs of asset
management and governance.
The plan of the project management is supposed to efficiently and promptly guide
every aspect of the project from the starting point to the finishing point with project goals to
deliver the product on time and within budget (Schwalbe, 2015). The plan of any project
usually starts with a project charter. This plan is thus expected in the successful identification
of all the potential challenges and also handling of every constraint for keeping the project on
time and budget. The project manager is responsible for making the project successful and
there are few steps in a project (Fleming & Koppelman, 2016). The steps mainly include
definition of project goals, outlining steps for achieving the project goals, identification of the
resources that are needed for the accomplishment of the steps, determination of the time and
budget needed for the steps, overseeing real implementation as well as execution of the
project and finally delivering the project result.
The project managers are responsible for implementing controls for assessing the
progress and performance against the decided objectives, budget and schedule that are parts
of the project plan (Walker, 2015). All these together are termed as project scope. The
primary challenge of the project management is the achievement of each and every goal of
the project within provided time and budget.
Project Success
The success of any project refers to all the factors that have made the project
successful or is helping the project to become successful. The project success criterion
depends on the facts that whether the project would become successful or not (Harrison &
Lock, 2017). It is completely dependent on various important factors like stakeholders’
perspectives or the influence of all the project constraints. This success of the project is

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completely a matter of opinion as several authors have demonstrated several factors or
theories on this.
The complete success of project does not depend on any one factor and rather a series
of factors are responsible for the successful completion of the project (Heagney, 2016). The
critical success factors or the CSFs of any project can be mainly depicted as the success of
the market, morale of the organization, technological reputation with all the clients,
perspectives of the stakeholders, influence of the project constraints, risk recognition or
identification in important segments, proper risk management, image in the financial markets,
margins of the profit, performance to the budget of the project and many more. The success
of the project also depends on the technical performance, personal growth, managerial
implications, organizational implications, and efficiency in execution, manufacturability
performances and even the business performances (Snyder, 2014). The success of the project
can also be assessed by various groups of interest like managers, clients, stakeholders,
stockholders, employees, staff members and many more.
The project management success also focuses on the process of project and the proper
accomplishment of time, cost or any other quality objectives. It even takes into consideration
the manner through which the process of project management is conducted. Solving the
problems or the risks associated with the project is also responsible for the successful project
result (Mir & Pinnington, 2014). These are the key factors of success only to focus on making
the significant difference in the project management effectiveness. The project plans should
be upgraded regularly so that the project is completely properly.
Perspectives of Stakeholders
The stakeholders are the most important factors in any specific project. These
stakeholders are referred to any person or individual associated with the project (Turner,

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2016). They can either be an accountant, a group, an organization, members, or even the
system that is affected by the execution of the project or rather the project becomes
successful with the help of the stakeholders. The project stakeholders are the group of
members or individuals who directly affects or manages the project. The project goals or
objectives are set by these stakeholders or the goals and objectives of the project are set for
the benefit of the stakeholders (Hwang & Ng, 2013). Even the policies and procedures of the
project are affected and set by the stakeholders of that particular project. There are some of
the major and significant examples of stakeholders in any typical project. They are the
creditors, directors, governments, agencies, owners or the shareholders, unions, suppliers and
also the employees of the project. Even the communities from where the project is getting all
of its resources fall under the category of project stakeholders. The client of any project is
entitled to trading practices that are absolutely fair. Each and every decision of the project is
taken by the stakeholders of the project and without their permission; no change or alteration
is done within the project (Kerzner, 2018). The example of the negative impact on the
stakeholders is the moment when the project owner cuts off the costs and expenses of the
project and thus plans a typical round of layoff. This negativity or the negative impact on the
stakeholders strongly affects the workers community, who are working in the project and
hence the budget of the project is affected.
The complete success of the project depends of the perspectives of the stakeholders or
how the stakeholders are behaving during the project duration. The stakeholders of the
project can either be inside or can be outside of the organization (Binder, 2016). They have
the following tasks:
i) Sponsoring of the project: The entire project is sponsored by them and the even the
budget is decided by them.

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ii) Interest in the Project: They have an interest in the project and want the project to
be successful.
iii) Positive as well as Negative Influence: The stakeholders might have a positive or
a negative influence on the project (Pemsel & Wiewiora, 2013).
The examples of the project stakeholders are given below:
i) Project Leader
ii) Senior Management
iii) Project Team Members
iv) Project Clients
v) Resource Managers
vi) Line Managers
vii) Project Testers
viii) Project Subcontractors
ix) Project Consultants
x) Project Groups
The above mentioned project stakeholders’ perspectives are thus extremely vital and
important for the successful completion of the project (Martinelli & Milosevic, 2016). These
stakeholders play the most vital role in the success of the project and project management.

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Influence of Project Constraints
Project constraints can be defined as the problems or barriers that stop any particular
project to reach to its success points. These barriers or constraints often become major
problems in the success route of the project and thus the project might face significant losses
(Kerzner, 2018). There are various types of constraints in any specific project. Following are
the six important constraints of a particular project.
i) Project Risk: This is the first and the foremost project constraint in any typical
project. There is always a high chance of risk in any project and this can bring out the most
dangerous situations within the project. There is a lot of uncertainty that when and where the
project can fail and how that failure could be overcome (Binder, 2016). If this project risk is
not properly managed with the help of the risk management techniques, the project risk can
bring out major problems within the project and the project can turn out to be a failure.
ii) Project Scope: This is the second important project constraint in any project. The
scope refers to the future outcome or future result of the project. The expected outcome of the
project is again one of the most significant constraints in any project. If the project scope is
not clear in the beginning, it is evident that the project could become a major failure in future
(Turner, 2016). All the members of the projects should have a clear view of the project scope
during the entire period of project.
iii) Project Quality: The third important constraint in any project is the quality of the
project. If the quality of the project is hampered in any aspect, the entire project would be at
stake (Snyder, 2014). The client will not like the project and thus the project would be a
failure.
iv) Project Cost: Another significant constraint in the project success is the cost or
expenses of the project. Before any project is started, a fixed plan or budget is set for it. If the

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project does not follow the previously planned budget, there is a high chance that the project
would incur huge costs and the client would be facing losses and lack of resources (Walker,
2015). Thus, project cost should be maintained throughout the project so that the project does
not incur any extra expense.
v) Project Resources: The fifth important constraint of a successful project is the
project resource. Various resources are required in a project and if any of them are not
present in the project, it would turn out to be a major failure (Schwalbe, 2015). Therefore, the
project should be executed according to the list of project resources.
vi) Project Time: The final constraint in the path of a successful project is the
scheduled time. An estimated time is mentioned to the client before the project is started.
When this time exceeds, extra cost is incurred (Burke, 2013). Project time has significant
influence on the success of the project.
Thus, the above mentioned six constraints clearly depict that they have important
influence on the success of any project.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion it can be concluded that, project management is
the proper and significant practice or procedure for the successful beginning, planning,
completion, management and even closing the team work of any project to achieve each and
every objective and goal of that particular project and hence obtaining success in the project.
Several important success criteria within the project are present and the project is to be
completed within a given constraint of time. Any project is a temporary attempt, which is
eventually calculated for the production of various unique services and products. The distinct
objectives as well as goals of the project significantly are dependent on several constraint of a

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project irrespective of the fact that they primary or secondary. These significant objectives of
a project are absolutely responsible to bring out each and every advantageous alterations or
changes within the project. The longevity of the various operations of business of any
specific business is long and they are repetitive, permanent, or semi permanent actions of
functionalities to produce significant results. The above report has outlined a detailed
discussion on the very famous statement of “Project success is a matter of opinion”. This
report has eventually provided the critical examination of the above mentioned statement
when the project stakeholders’ perspectives are considered. Moreover, the several project
constraints are also taken into consideration while describing this particular statement.

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References
Binder, J. (2016). Global project management: communication, collaboration and
management across borders. Routledge.
Burke, R. (2013). Project management: planning and control techniques. New Jersey, USA.
Fleming, Q. W., & Koppelman, J. M. (2016, December). Earned value project management.
Project Management Institute.
Harrison, F., & Lock, D. (2017). Advanced project management: a structured approach.
Routledge.
Heagney, J. (2016). Fundamentals of project management. AMACOM Div American Mgmt
Assn.
Hwang, B. G., & Ng, W. J. (2013). Project management knowledge and skills for green
construction: Overcoming challenges. International Journal of Project
Management, 31(2), 272-284.
Kerzner, H. (2018). Project management best practices: Achieving global excellence. John
Wiley & Sons.
Kerzner, H., & Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. (2013). Project management: The managerial process with MS
project. McGraw-Hill.
Martinelli, R. J., & Milosevic, D. Z. (2016). Project management toolbox: tools and
techniques for the practicing project manager. John Wiley & Sons.

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Mir, F. A., & Pinnington, A. H. (2014). Exploring the value of project management: linking
project management performance and project success. International journal of project
management, 32(2), 202-217.
Pemsel, S., & Wiewiora, A. (2013). Project management office a knowledge broker in
project-based organisations. International Journal of Project Management, 31(1), 31-
42.
Schwalbe, K. (2015). Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.
Snyder, C. S. (2014). A guide to the project management body of knowledge: PMBOK (®)
guide. Project Management Institute: Newtown Square, PA, USA.
Turner, R. (2016). Gower handbook of project management. Routledge.
Walker, A. (2015). Project management in construction. John Wiley & Sons.