Do project managers practice what they preach, and does it matter to project success?

Organizations increasingly use projects to achieve business objectives but report that results often fall short of goals. A number of formal standards for managing projects have been developed intending to improve such project outcomes. However, research examining this assumption is scarce and has yielded mixed results. This paper presents the development and use of a set of metrics for assessing the use of project management (PM) practices in an empirical assessment of the relative use of different practices, and the link between the use of those practices and project success. Our analysis shows widely varying usage of different PM practices and differences in use depending on the context of the project. Further, our study indicates that the level of use of PM practices is indeed related to project success. Finally, the results suggest that the PM practices that make a difference may not be the most frequently used. 2009 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.