Analysis of perceived value of international organization for standardization 10006 standard and total quality management on project success

The problem under study was that although many organizations involved in project management (PM) have adopted total quality management (TQM) to improve business performance, most do not utilize the guidelines within the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 10006 Standard in the management of projects to ensure success. The purpose of the study was to gain further knowledge of the perceived value of TQM on project success and to identify potential reasons for the limited use of ISO 10006 in improving project success. The theory of constraints and systems theory framework were applied to address factors that prevent organizations from taking advantage of TQM and from utilizing the benefits of ISO 10006. A survey-based quantitative comparative approach of selected members of the Project Management Institute and American Society for Quality, along with the multivariate analysis of variance method, was used to test the differing impact of TQM tenets and quality management principles of ISO 10006 on measures of project success. Results of this study revealed that cooperation among internal and external stakeholders of the originating and the project organizations and employee involvement have a significant positive impact on project success. In addition, it was found that when individuals involved with projects focus their efforts on satisfying internal and external customers while taking a factual approach to decision making throughout the project cycle, improvement in project success follows. Organizations with a recognized TQM program that have not realized its full potential and that of the ISO 10006 Standard can use the results of the study to improve various PM processes to improve their PM practices and project success.