Investigating the relationship between project success and entrepreneurial perfomance

Abstract

Change, innovation and entrepreneurial action form the ethos of a Fourth Industrial Revolution organisation, which requires a relevant and successful transformation of resources to ensure the organisation’s survival in turbulent economic times. To this end, this study was conducted to provide project and entrepreneurial managers with knowledge relevant to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Because most organisations use project management practices to realise their strategic and business objectives, the success of these projects is fundamental to their performance since projects convert goal-directed action into forceful motion. Project-oriented organisations, such as engineering, IT, innovation projects, new product development and professional services, experience increased complexity in their projects. Therefore, to stay competitive, they must pay more attention to increasing the success of these projects. However, success means different things to different stakeholders. This research interpreted project success in the context of efficiency, impact on the customer, impact on the team, business and direct success, and preparation for the future. This approach allows organisations to assess the project’s success in a broader context than time, cost and quality. Entrepreneurial performance represents the degree and frequency of an organisation’s activities. This study evaluated performance against company and decision-making characteristics and new product, service and process introductions. These aspects of entrepreneurial performance allow the organisation to develop and evaluate actions that will result in a competitive advantage. Contemporary literature has yet to definitively study the relationship between entrepreneurship and project practice. Therefore, this study contextualised project success’s formative power and investigated entrepreneurial performance from a different, more dynamic perspective. Success and performance are approached differently, suggesting that project success directly affects an organisation’s entrepreneurial performance. Based on this premise, a conceptual model was developed to test this hypothesis. Project risk was also presented as a moderator of the relationship between project success and entrepreneurial performance. The success of a project is greatly determined by the level of risk and how risk affects an organisation’s performance. Through quantitative research, a survey method was used to collect data, and a sample of 369 participants was obtained from project-oriented organisations. The hypothesised relationships between constructs were tested through structural equation modelling to explain the variance in the dependent variable (entrepreneurial performance). The main research results indicated a positive relationship between project success and entrepreneurial performance. A significant contribution of this study is to narrow the gap between project practice and entrepreneurship in the interdisciplinary research literature.