Factors Impacting the Adoption of Project Management Techniques in Small Businesses

Abstract

Small organizations play a significant role in the social as well as economic development. The adoption of project management by small businesses has mounted to new prominence as projects are being considered critical to public and private sectors. The chief reasons of small businesses expanding their dimensions to project-based work include challenging environment as well as opportunities accompanied by advancements in technology, dynamic market conditions, the shifting boundaries of knowledge, and alterations in the environmental regulations, increased complexity as well as scope of inter-organizational relationships and the shift towards shorter product life-cycles. In the view of the fact that the projects are being extensively implemented by the small organizations; it is hence, essential to identify the factors that contribute to successful adoption of project management methodology. Achieving high-levels of project success is challenging for the small business since they have few resources when compared to large organizations. Therefore, they are required to identify the right project management method and the factors that influence its adoption. Hence, the fundamental aim of this particular study is to identify the factors that lead to successful adoption of the project management methodology by small businesses. In this specific study, the analyst had utilized mixed study design that was executed through surveys and interviews. The survey was conducted with 50 participants who were the part of small businesses. On the other hand, the interviews were performed with project managers. To enhance the understanding of the topic under consideration, the research additionally performed secondary research. In which the information was obtained from online journals, articles and books. . The review of the literature identified 12 factors that impact the adoption of project management methodology. The factors top management support, organizational adaptability, acceptability of project management, leadership style, commitment to planning and control, personnel, training, troubleshooting, project management improvement initiative attributes, communication and influence, inner context and outer context. The outcomes of the survey and interviews also put forwarded that these factors impact of project management adoption in small businesses.