J. Varajão et al. Gledišta bitna za uspjeh u upravljanju projektom: sličnosti i razlike između građevinske i softverske industrije ISSN 1330-3651(Print), ISSN 1848-6339 (Online) UDC/UDK 658.5.012.2:[624+004.42] CRITICAL SUCCESS ASPECTS IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE CONSTRUCTION AND THE SOFTWARE INDUSTRY João Varajão, Caroline Dominguez, Pedro Ribeiro, Anabela Paiva Original scientific paper Project success is highly dependent on the project management process, and there are several aspects that need to be carefully considered. This article aims at responding to the research question: are there similarities in different industries in what concerns the critical aspects for the success of project management? Throughout a comprehensive survey applied to medium and large companies of the construction and software industries, we came to the conclusion that the two currently most important project management success aspects are common to both industries: "project planning" and "well defined objectives and requirements". The "project manager efficiency" is also in the top of the critical success aspects. On the other hand, other aspects show major differences in the studied industries. Keywords: aspects, construction, project management, software, success, survey Gledišta bitna za uspjeh u upravljanju projektom: sličnosti i razlike izmeu graevinske i softverske industrije Izvorni znanstveni članak Uspjeh projekta uveliko ovisi o procesu upravljanja projektom i nekoliko je gledišta koja treba pažljivo razmotriti. Cilj je ovoga članka odgovoriti na pitanje: ima li sličnosti u raznim industrijskim granama u onome što se odnosi na gledišta bitna za uspjeh upravljanja projektom? Opsežnom anketom provedenom u srednjim i velikim kompanijama građevinske i industrije računarskih programa, zaključili smo da su dva, trenutno najvažnija gledišta za uspjeh upravljanja projektom zajednička za te dvije industrijske grane vezana uz "planiranje projekta" i "dobro definiranje ciljeva i zahtjeva". "Učinkovitost voditelja projekta" se također nalazi pri samom vrhu. S druge strane, postoje bitne razlike u odnosu na druga gledišta. Ključne riječi: anketa, gledišta, građevina, računarski program, upravljanje projektom, uspjeh 1 Introduction Construction projects are commonly criticized for their delays, budget deviations, low productivity and low product quality [1]. These problems are largely due to the fact that project management is a complex activity which often leads to a high degree of uncertainty. That is particularly true in the construction industry since uncontrollable aspects, like meteorological conditions for instance, may result in significant changes in the execution of the project regarding the original plan. Therefore, a very cautious management of several aspects is necessary for the global success of the project. This paper aims at responding to the research question: are there similarities in different industries in what concerns the critical aspects for the success of project management? Aiming to answer this question, we carried out a survey applied to project managers of construction companies and to project managers of software development companies. The results were then compared, analysing similarities and differences between them. This allowed us to compare companies from a traditional engineering industry, in which project management practices are supposed to be well consolidated, with a more recent one. In the next sections the work that was done is described and the main results achieved are presented. In Section 2, based on a literature review, the main concepts and common success aspects of project management are presented and discussed. In Section 3, the research methodology is described and the study is characterized. In Section 4, the results are presented and discussed. Finally, in Section 5, a global analysis is carried out and the main results obtained are summarized. 2 Background 2.1 Projects According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), a project is a set of defined activities assigned to create a result with a clear beginning and end date [2]. It is a temporary endeavour planned to generate a product, service [3] or other result. A project is based on the development of something different from what is being produced, and all projects are unique. Although there are similar aspects from one project to another, at the end there is a product or service that differentiates itself from previous ones. Each project life-cycle phase follows a timeline order of events, and entails the work to be performed and the necessary resources. It is characterized by the delivery of a specific and assessable outcome (deliverable). Project stages may vary according to the project itself or with the concerned activity sector [4]. Nevertheless, in the majority of cases, the project life-cycle follows these usual stages [2]: starting; planning; execution/monitoring; and closure. All stages are linked by processes that must be integrated. 2.2 Project success Project success has several definitions and various aspects can influence it. According to Kerzner [5], the correct definition of project success is the one that assesses both primary and secondary factors. Primary factors include meeting deadlines, budget limit and the level of expected quality. The secondary factors consist, for instance, on the agreement and acceptance of the client to provide his name as a reference [6, 7, 8], the Tehnički vjesnik 21, 3(2014), 583-589 583