Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the relationship between project-specific intellectual capital (IC) and project success in the context of information technology (IT) projects. Design/methodology/approach – Using data collected from surveys of 603 IT professionals across a variety of projects, the authors constructed a structural (structural equation model) model in AMOS to examine the relationships between three dimensions of project-specific IC (project team, project customer and project process) and project success. Findings – The empirical results support the proposition that IC has a positive impact on project success, and thus may be a good indicator of future projects’ performance. More importantly, the authors found out an important mediating role of a project’s structural capital (process) in exploiting its human (team) and relational (customer) capital for realising project success. Research limitations/implications – Interpretation of current results should be considered in light of the following methodological limitations: convenient rather than systematic sampling, use of previously untested measures and prevailing European subjects. Practical implications – These results suggest that project-based organisations need to invest heavily in their project workforce talent and then translate it into superior project practices in order to produce successful IT projects. They also need to maintain close relationships with their project customers and involve them during the entire project process. Originality/value – The current empirical evidence extends the understanding of the role of IC in improving project success and thus helps project-based organisations create and maintain competitive advantage in emerging economies.

A contingency perspective of knowledge management recognises the need for a fit between knowledge management solutions (KMS) and decision making contexts which they support. In order to determine the best fit, a field survey was carried out to investigate the impact of two different types of KMS (technical and social) on decision makers' behaviour and performance in different decision contexts (simple and complex). The results provide partial support for the contingency view. As expected, the study identified social KMS as the best fit for complex contexts, based on subjects' superior performance from comparable adoption of both KMS. In contrast, the study identified that both KMS were an equally good fit for simple contexts, based on similar levels of subjects' performance, but social KMS was preferred in terms of adoption. These findings contribute to much needed empirical evidence for research and provide useful guidance for practice. However, their limitations warrant further study.

This paper defines project success factors and aspects that are significant for successful project performance and outcomes, in the context of Information Technology (IT) projects. The list of total 38 factors is obtained through the qualitative content analysis of data collected via survey of 108 IT professionals, through one open-ended question. Detected factors are grouped into five categories: project team, project customer, project planning, project execution and project control. The results extend and support findings of the former quantitative study and the resulting project success model. They emphasize the significance of project team and project control activities for successful project outcomes.

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