how the skills of the project manager affect the
success of IT project outsourcing

Langer et al. (2008) conducted a study on how the skills of the project manager affect the
success of IT project outsourcing. Two objectives drove the project. The first objective of the
study was to find out how, how hard skills affect the success of IT projects, and the second
objective focused on the impact of soft skills on the success of the IT project. Moderating factors
of the study included; familiarity and complexity of the project and the characteristics of the
project manager and the project. The geographical scope of the study was India, and the study
targeted. The study used both qualitative and quantitative research design.
The study collected data from leading vendors of outsourcing IT projects that deal with
complex projects. The study collected data from 530 IT projects for a period of four years from
the year 2002 to the year 2006. The study targeted 209 project managers as respondents. The
study collected critical incidents and archival data. Archival data consisted of allocation and
level of project finance, the data concerning personnel involved with the project, and the
characteristics of the project. The data allowed the researcher to measure the size of the project
in terms of the size of the team and the functionality of the project.
The study also collected incidental critical data that was used to measure both soft and
hard skills applied in the management of the project. The data was collected using a panel of
experts at the site of research. The study had a 100% response rate as all the 209 project
managers responded to the panel of experts. Project success was measured using a financial
approach, outsourcing, in which maintaining clients is important, and feedback from the clients.
Data were analyzed using hierarchical regression.

CASE STUDY ONE 3
The result of the study indicated that soft skill is critical in determining the success of IT
project outsourcing. The results from the study indicated that soft skills significantly improve
cost performance and satisfaction of the client. According to Al-Khawaldah (2017), soft skills is
more critical when compared to the experience of the project manager. The impact of soft skills
on cost performance and client satisfaction is higher compared to hard skills. Additionally, soft
skills are important in moderating factors, such as the complexity of the project. Soft skills can
also substitute hard skills in situations where the project manager is not familiar with the project
task, client, or project team. According to Gulati et al. (2020), it is critical for the manager to
apply soft skills in project management if he or she wants to be successful. Blaskovics (2016)
states that there should be no disconnect between critical success factors and the success of the
project; this means that the relationship between the success of the project and soft skills is
critical.

Challenges faced by the Study

Even though the study targeted vendor for data collection, data was only collected from a
single vendor. To overcome this challenge, the researcher collected data from IT projects that
fairly represented IT projects outsourcing that was being executed. The single-site, therefore,
played a critical role in the identification of a model that can explain the relationship between the
variables. The results can, therefore, be applied in large vendor IT outsourcing companies.

CASE STUDY ONE 4

References

Al-Khawaldah, A. S., (2017). The Impact of Project Managers’ Competencies on Project’s
success. Retrieved from https://meu.edu.jo/libraryTheses/5900522c26900_1.pdf
Blaskovics, B., (2016). The Impact of Project Manager On Project Success – The Case of ICT
Sector. Retrived from http://unipub.lib.uni-corvinus.hu/2372/1/SE2016n2_Blaskovits.pdf
Gulati, R., Reaiche, C., & Baroudi, S., & Gunawan, I., (2020). The Contribution of Project
Managers' Soft Skills to their Project Success. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338763112_The_Contribution_of_Project_Man
agers'_Soft_Skills_to_their_Project_Success
Langer, N., Slaughter, S., & Mukhopadhyay, T., (2008). Project Managers' Skills and Project
Success in IT Outsourcing.. 147. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221599120_Project_Managers'_Skills_and_Pro
ject_Success_in_IT_Outsourcing