Structural Equation Model (SEM) for Evaluating Factors Affecting ICT4D Project Success

Abstract

Information Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) enables organizations to transform and evolve. Despite the contributions of methodologies and models for project management, the number of failed ICT4D projects remain high; as a consequence, researching crucial success factors of ICT4D projects remains an important matter for practitioners and researchers. Studies and researches on factors impacting ICT4D projects' success are various, fragmented and have used different methods to explore the relatedness between various variables. Structural Equation Modeling approach (SEM) has attracted very little attention in the definition of critical factors affecting ICT and ICT4D projects' success. From this standpoint, we as author of this study have applied the SEM approach and built an empirical model that identifies and justifies the topmost factors that impact the best outcome of ICT initiatives and projects conducted for development. In this regard, we reviewed relevant literature to compile and synthesize important success factors in ICT4D projects. The results obtained revealed that there isn’t an agreement on ICT4D project factor success. Our work consisted of consolidating the ICT4D success factors and developing a quantitative approach using smart-PLS version 3.3.3 to test and verify the proposed conceptual model. Particularly, we undertook this study to highlights the correlation between “Leadership and Governance”, “Project Management”, “Quality Management” and “Foundations and Requirements” factors and how these correlated to the outcomes of the ICT4D project. The results indicate that the R Square value of the model attained 0.84 which reveals that the latent constructs previously mentioned justified 84% of the variance in project success. This study lays out the contours of the existing literature concluding the critical success factors and coming up with a framework for decision-makers, researchers, practitioners and organizations intending to initiate and implement an ICT4D project.