Title: Leading factors and root causes of delay and cost overrun of IT and construction projects in the retail industry in Chile

Authors: Nicolás Munizaga; Yakubu A. Olawale

Addresses: Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), The University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK ' Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), The University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK

Abstract: Despite project management practice and training gaining popularity in organisations, many projects continue to suffer delay and cost overrun. Literature has focused mainly on identifying factors causing delay and cost overrun with limited focus on the root cause of these factors. Additionally, the focus of many of these studies have been in relation to construction projects or information technology/systems (IT/IS) projects individually. This study aims to fill this gap by identifying the root causes of delay and cost overrun of construction and IT/IS projects in the retail industry of Chile. It was found that the root causes of delay and cost overrun were actually internal organisational factors and not internal project factors as it may initially appear. Therefore, this study recommends the correct application of the lessons learned approach to identify and establish countermeasures that reduce the impact of these factors in order to improve the performance of projects.

Keywords: delay; cost overrun; retail project; IT projects; construction projects; Chile; five whys; root causes.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPOM.2022.125881

International Journal of Project Organisation and Management, 2022 Vol.14 No.3, pp.283 - 327

Received: 06 Feb 2021
Accepted: 12 Apr 2021
Published online: 03 Oct 2022 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article