Conference of Informatics and Management Sciences
ICTIC 2013
The Analysis of IT project management in the
Primorsko - goranska County
Bojan Meštrović, Sanda Martinčić - Ipšić
Department of Informatics
University of Rijeka
Rijeka, Croatia
bojan.mestrovic@uniri.hr, smarti@inf.uniri.hr
Abstract — The aim of this study was to analyze the situation in
the field of IT project management in the Primorsko - goranska
County (Croatia). More specifically, the purpose was to identify
the similarities and differences in project management between
companies in which IT is the primary activity and those in which
it is a secondary activity and serves as a support to the main
business processes. The research focused on two phases of project
management: planning and control.
The survey was conducted through a web questionnaire and was
filled out by employees of 25 companies situated in Primorsko -
goranska County, 14 of which have IT as the primary activity
and 11 which have IT as a support to the main business
processes. Through the survey, the demographic data, basic
characteristics of IT projects and data related to project
management, specifically to planning and control were collected.
The survey results were analyzed by descriptive statistics and
suggest that the methodology of project management is present in
certain areas, but the use of standardized project management
methodology is rather limited. The survey indicates there is room
for improving the level of usage of project management in
Primorsko – goranska County and also, consequently, the success
of IT projects.
Key words - project management, planning, control, Primorsko
– goranska County (Croatia), costs, execution
I. INTRODUCTION
By the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) definition,
project management is the application of knowledge, skills,
tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet the
project requirements [1]. In today's business world, project
management is of great importance. Although it was once
thought that it has a lot more disadvantages than advantages, it
is now proven that a systematic approach to project
management optimizes business. Its usefulness can be viewed
through the prism of planning, cost control, human resources
and the usage of equipment during the project. The successful
implementation of project management is likely to result in the
success of projects. IT projects are in a way specific because of
their dynamic and the fast-changing environment.
This study was conducted because of the significance of
project management in today’s business world and the lack of
information on the application of project management in the
Primorsko – goranska County (Croatia).
In a related study, several Serbian researchers characterized
project management as crucial for the IT projects. Marinović
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Ljerka Tomljenović
Polytechnic of Rijeka
Rijeka, Croatia
ljerka@veleri.hr
has suggested that IT projects are much more difficult to
complete than other projects for several reasons: it is difficult
to define project requirements and the desired quality of the
end-product; rapid changes in technology mean rapid change in
resources used; projects usually involve several departments,
all of which have different goals and views on how the project
should be performed [2]. Raković sees IT projects as specific
and argues that for a successful performance, it is essential to
have project management methods implemented from the very
beginning of the project [3].
The study “Bad Practices in Complex IT Projects” offers
solutions on how to eliminate bad practices in managing
projects and how to perform them in the best way. Visković,
Varga and Ćurko offer three key-points: increase the level of
care in managing projects; improve communication between
the project participants; increase the attention in working on the
project methodologically correct [4].
Michael Smith examined the importance of project
management in South Africa in a study “Assessing the
Effectiveness of Project Management Practices in the South
African Communications Industry”. The goals of his study
were to determine whether the project management methods
that are considered the most advanced are used, and whether
the methods of planning and executing projects are effective.
Smith concluded that in most cases project management
methods are being used, but only to a certain degree; e.g. risk
identification in the planning phase is one of the functions
which is not performed on a sufficient level and has a great
possibility of improving [5].
In the next section, methodology of the research and its
limitations are presented. In Section 3., most important results
are presented and discussed. Finally, conclusions and
suggestions for future work are given in Section 4.
II. RESEARCH AND METHODOLOGY
The main goal of this research was to analyze the state in
the field of IT project management in Primorsko – goranska
County. In addition, the study analyzes the differences in
project management between companies in which IT is the
primary activity and those in which it is a secondary activity
and serves as a support to the main business processes. More
specifically, the aim of the research was to answer the
following questions:
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1. To which extent is the project management
methodology used in companies operating in the
Primorsko – goranska County?
a) How is the planning phase performed?
b) How is the control phase performed?
2. Which segments have similarities and differences in
the use of project management in companies operating
in the Primorsko – goranska County, considering the
type of IT activity (IT as a primary or secondary
activity)?
Considering the descriptive nature of the research,
quantitative data were collected through a web survey. The
survey consisted of 13 questions (49 items) and three types of
information (demographic data, projects’ characteristics, data
related to project management) were collected with it. A Likert
scale, which allows measuring the level of agreement or
disagreement, was used for this. The survey was based on the
theoretical assumptions of project management, with a
particular focus on the project phases of planning and control.
The use of web survey proved practical for several reasons:
 the respondents were able to access it at the time that
best suited them,
 it made the collection and processing of the data easy
 it eliminated the possibility of avoiding answering
certain questions.
It is also important to mention the limitations of the
research:
 a relatively small number of respondents participated
in the research,
 the answers are based solely on the personal opinions
of the respondents,
 the respondents are people at different positions
(managerial or lower positions) in their respective
companies and, therefore, they may have different
perspectives on certain issues.
The survey was completed by one employee from 25
companies from the Primorsko – goranska County (25
respondents in total; one respondent per company), 14 of which
(56%) had IT as a primary activity, while 11 (44%) had IT as a
supporting activity to the main business processes.
For the companies which have IT as a primary activity,
38.5% of the respondents were managers, while others were IT
experts at lower positions. As for the companies with IT as a
secondary activity, 54.5% of the respondents were managers
and 45.5% were IT experts at lower positions.
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TABLE I. EXAMPLE OF A SET OF QUESTIONS USED IN THE
SURVEY
Please answer the following set of questions using the given
TABLE I. scale: 1 – never; 2 – sometimes; 3 – often; 4 – always; I do not
know.
1 2 3 4 I do not know
Milestones are used for projects.
Main goals are specified by sub-goals.
The beginning and ending of each activity are
defined.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Before presenting the results, it is important to emphasize
that the companies involved in this research that have IT as a
primary activity are very diverse. The range of their work
differs largely: from design, implementation and maintenance
of information systems and computer networks, computer
maintenance, software, services, IT consulting, education and
training of users, production and sale of office machinery and
computers, to web design.
Due to such variety, the types of projects are very diverse
and it would be a difficult task to pinpoint how an average IT
project in Primorsko – goranska County should look like. The
IT projects in the companies which have IT as a supporting
activity also differ, which is understandable because of the
diversity of their primary activities.
Planning
One of the goals of the study was to describe the situation
in the planning phase in the IT project management. The focus
was on the following elements of planning:
Specifying sub-goals - if they are specified by the SMART
principle (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-
limited), they will facilitate the realization of major, general
goals [6].
Defining activity schedule – relates to the definition of the
order and duration of activities and development of the entire
schedule by which the activities will occur.
Defining responsibilities – ensures the resolution of all
doubts that the project team may have about the execution of
activities [1].
Cost planning - it is essential to be able to determine the
total cost of the project and to make an assessment whether the
project can be performed at all, or how much benefit it can
bring [7].
Planning in companies in which IT is the primary
activity
Although it is important to specify sub-goals to facilitate
the achievement of the principal objectives, and thus the entire
project, it is interesting to note that the respondents answered
that it always takes place in only 35.71% of projects (Fig 1.).
This might suggest that the usage of the standardized project
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management is limited, but it could also arise from the fact that
the activities performed by the IT companies are very different,
and thus the types and scopes of their projects as well. For
example, the development of software is performed through
several phases, while servicing or sales imply simpler projects
that do not require a specific methodology.
Defining schedule, or rather, specifying the sequence of
activities and their beginnings and endings, is essential for the
project team members to fully understand the project plan. It
allows tracking the progress of the project and ensures
compliance with the deadlines. It also helps in identifying the
need for adaptation (changes in the duration of the project
activities, reallocation of resources). It is surprising that only
28.58% of respondents answered that activities are always
time-defined, while slightly fewer (21.43%,) responded that it
only happens sometimes.
Defining responsibilities ensures a better understanding of
individual assignments of the project team members. If
everyone on the team knows what their assignments are, it
increases the likelihood of achieving the sub-goals of the
project. The results show that in 71.43% cases it is always
defined who is responsible for each activity. This suggests that
the hierarchy within the IT companies is well defined, but it
does not necessarily mean that they have well-organized
activities. In other words, given that the survey was completed
by employees at different levels (managers, lower levels), their
perspectives probably differ. It is unlikely that employees at
higher levels are familiar with the responsibilities for every
activity, just like the employees at lower levels are not familiar
with the complete business management.
place within the company, which allows them to determine the
sub-goals more easily. On the other hand, outsourcing projects
can lead to the communication problems between the client and
the contractor.
Time definition is very important for every project, but it
can be said that for the companies which have IT as a
secondary activity, it is even more important, because their IT
projects are directly linked to the other processes within the
company. In a well-organized company, there is a large
interdependency between the processes. Therefore, the results
according to which the beginnings and endings of activities are
often (54.55%) or always (36.36%) defined, are not surprising
at all.
According to the results for the defined responsibilities at
companies where IT is a secondary activity, in almost all cases
(90%) it is known who is responsible for performing each
activity. Most of these companies have a clearly defined
hierarchy, which is transferred to the IT departments as well.
Because of interdependencies between the processes in these
companies, planning is more detailed and includes defining
responsibilities, as one of its main features.
Most of the respondents answered that the costs are often
(45.45%) or always (36.36%) planned by phases, and the
similar results have been obtained for planning the costs by
every single activity - often (36.36%) or always (36.36%).
These results indicate the usage of project management to a
certain degree. However, the reason can also be that IT
departments have limited budgets, because of which the cost
planning needs to be performed to the detail.

Good cost planning is essential for projects for two reasons.

First reason is starting the project once the project plan is
confirmed by the feasibility study, and the second is the
ultimate success of the project if the budget does not require
too big deviation while performing the project. Although a high
percentage of the respondents answered that the costs are
planned by phases, in 21.42% of cases it still occurs only
occasionally, and in 14.29% of cases never. The reason for
such responses may be the lack of use of project management,
but it can also mean that it is not really necessary because of
the nature of projects (i.e. servicing and sales). This conclusion
arises from the fact that costs are sometimes planned for each
project activity in 64.29% cases. It can also be explained by a
large number of short-term projects – 28.58% of the projects
performed by the IT companies have a duration of less than
three months. However, all these results suggest that the use of Figure 1. MAIN GOALS ARE SPECIFIED BY SUB-GOALS
the standardized project management methodology in IT
companies is limited.
Planning in companies in which IT is the secondary
activity
The survey results indicate a high level of use of specifying
sub-goals in companies where IT is a secondary activity. In
54.55% cases, specifying sub-goals occurs always (Fig 1.). A
possible explanation for such a result are frequent large and
long-term projects within the companies of this type. Also,
their projects are internal and derived products are intended to
serve as a support to the primary business. Employees of the IT
departments more easily understand the processes that take

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Control
Another goal of this research was to describe the situation
in the control phase in managing the IT projects in Primorsko –
goranska County. The focus was on the following elements of
control:
Cost control – controlling whether the costs per phases
correspond to those planned before the start of the project [7].
Performance control – ensures that a project is executed by
the quality standards set earlier and has a function of reporting
on the progress of the project.
Time control – checking whether the activities and phases
are being performed by schedule set in the planning phase [8].
Control in companies in which IT is the primary
activity
Cost control is important because projects have limited
budgets. According to the results, 64.28% of respondents
reported that projects are finished within the set budgets. This
result suggests good planning of the costs, and is supported
with the result by which 71.43% of respondents think that the
invested financial resources are effectively utilized. 57.15% of
respondents think that the labor costs are proportional to the
work done. This might be explained by the fact that 38.46% of
respondents are managers at their companies. The reason for
general satisfaction might also be found in the amount of
average salary in the IT sector in the Croatia, which according
to the Central Bureau of Statistics from February of 2012 is at
the very top with 11275 HRK (1505 EUR).
Performance control is used to ensure that project reaches
the set goals. Results indicate that 71.43% of respondents
believe that the projects are completed at the desired level of
quality. It is important to state that the questionnaire had not
defined the term quality, which could have affected
respondents’ understanding of the concept. Still, this result is
interesting considering that the respondents answered that
complexity of the projects is very high in 50% of the cases. A
possible reason for this is working on projects which require
new and innovative solutions.
The obtained results suggest that the performance control is
at a high level and that reacting to the problems is timely.
Contrary to such effective implementation of those aspects of
control, research has shown that the execution of the project is
always done through monthly comparison of planned and
achieved in only 21.43% of cases. For the use of milestones in
projects (Fig 2.), the results are evenly spread between options
rare, often, always. The main cause for this might be a variety
in the complexity and scope of the projects, but also the fact
that some of the activities that are done by IT companies (i.e.
servicing and sales), do not require special planning.
Time control ensures that the projects phases and the
projects in whole are being finished within the deadline. This is
very important with high-priority projects or the ones which
have pre-established penalties for not following the deadlines.
Results show that most of the projects (63.64%) in IT
companies are finished within the deadlines, a reason for which
might be sensible planning of the time needed for a certain
activity or phase. It is also possible that the projects are not too
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complex or that the internal and external factors do not have
much impact on their execution.
However, if the projects are not finished within the time
planned, in most of the cases (64.29%), the deadline is simply
delayed. This is accomplished by the integrated change control
processes which serve to coordinate the changes in the whole
project.
Control in companies in which IT is the secondary
activity
Cost control is very important in the IT departments in
companies in which IT is the supporting activity, because their
budgets are most likely even more limited due to the
organizational complexity of companies.
Result suggests that 81.82% of projects are finished within
the set budgets. The same percentage of respondents think that
the invested financial resources are effectively utilized. A
reason for this might be good cost planning, but it could also
mean that the projects are not of high complexity, so there are
not many unforeseen problems. In companies in which IT is
the secondary activity, only 27.27% of respondents agree with
the statement that labor costs are proportionate to the work
done, which could be explained by the fact that 54.55% of
respondents are at managerial positions in their companies.
As a part of performance control, 81.82% of respondents
believe that the projects are completed at the desired level of
quality. This is consistent with the results linked to cost
control, and also confirmed with the results linked to monthly
comparison of planned and achieved – 54.55% of respondents
answered that it is always done, while additional 18.18%
answered that it is done often. For the use of milestones in
projects (Fig 2.), the results indicate that they are used always
(36.36%) or often (45.45%). This implies a continuous and
detailed application of the project management principles.
Results also show that a very high percentage (72.73%) of
projects in companies in which IT is a secondary activity is
finished within the deadlines. A reason for this could be the
interdependence of processes within the company, which
requires compliance to time constraints and efficiency in
executing of projects. If the projects are not finished within the
time planned, in most of the cases (63.64%), the deadline is
simply delayed.
Figure 2. MILESTONES ARE USED FOR PROJECTS
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Similarities and differences in project management considering the type
of IT activity
The final goal of the research was to compare the use of
project management in companies operating in the Primorsko -
goranska County. The following tables show the perceived
similarities and differences:
TABLE II. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN PROJECT
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERING THE TYPE OF IT ACTIVITY (IT AS
PRIMARY OR SECONDARY ACTIVITY) – PLANNING PHASE.
TABLE II. PLANNING PHASE
 Cost planning per phases is done to an equal extent in both
types of companies
Similarities
 Major goals are specified by sub-goals in most cases
 Responsibilities for each activity are well defined
 Cost planning for each activity is applied much more
frequently in companies in which IT is the secondary activity
Differences  Although in many cases the beginnings and endings of each
activity are defined, the results for this are much better for
the companies in which IT is the secondary activity
TABLE III. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN PROJECT
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERING THE TYPE OF IT ACTIVITY (IT AS A
PRIMARY OR SECONDARY ACTIVITY) – CONTROL PHASE.
TABLE III. CONTROL PHASE
 Projects are finished within the deadlines in most cases
(72.73%)
 Projects are finished within the set budgets in most cases
(81.82%)
Similarities
 Projects are finished at the desired level of quality in most
cases (81.82%)
 Invested financial resources are effectively utilized in most
cases (81.82%)
 Milestones are much more often used in companies in which
IT is the secondary activity
 More than half of the respondents from the companies in
which IT is the primary activity think that labor costs are
proportionate to the work done, while less than the
Differences respondents from the companies in which IT is the
secondary activity think the same
 Monthly comparisons of planned and achieved are done in
more than half of cases in companies in which IT is the
secondary activity, while they are done in less than 20% of
cases in companies in which IT is the primary activity
IV. CONCLUSION
This research analyzed the situation in the field of IT
project management in the Primorsko - goranska County
(Croatia). It tried to identify the level of systematic use of the
methodology of project management. The emphasis was put on
determining the extent of use of planning and control, the two
being the key phases of project management. Also, the research
enabled a comparison of use of project management between
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the companies which have IT as a primary activity and those
that have it as a secondary activity.
The obtained results show that in companies in which IT is
the primary activity, there is no standardized usage of project
management. Although in certain segments reported data
shows that project management is applied to some extent, the
room for improvement is evident. For example, according to
theoretical assumptions, if major goals are set, it is essential
that they are further specified with sub-goals to ensure their
achievement. Also, if all the activities are defined, their costs
should be defined as well, so that feasibility of the whole
project can be determined. Furthermore, the implementation of
control is very important because it enables the discovery of
possible threats and provides a window for timely reaction with
corrective measures.
The results related to the companies in which IT is the
secondary activity show that these companies have somewhat
higher level of usage of project management. A reason for this
might be found in the interdependencies between the various
processes within those companies, which require more detailed
planning of costs, time and responsibilities of project activities.
It is possible that the workers there better understand the
companies’ processes, as opposed to the workers on an
outsourced project, because of the communication problems.
These research findings are consistent with the theoretical
framework given in [4]. The vague definition of project’s goals
can cause serious risks in successful completion of projects,
which is why a good project definition should be one of the
main focuses of the project team.
The data obtained in this research can further be explored
through the usage of classification trees or other statistical
methods. Further research could also include the increase in the
number of questions, as well as broadening the base of
respondents to the whole country, to get a more complete
picture of IT project management in Croatia.
REFERENCES
[1] “A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge”, North
Carolina: PMI Publishing Division, 2000.
[2] M. Marinović, “Risk Components Impact on IT Project - One of the
Methods“, Beograd, Serbia, 2010.
[3] R. M. Raković, “Management of ICT Projects – Importance And
Specifics“, Beograd, Serbia, 2009.
[4] D. Visković, M. Varga, and K. Ćurko, “Bad Practices in Complex IT
Projects”, Cavtat, Croatia, 2008.
[5] M. Smith, “Assessing The Effectiveness Of Project Management
Practices In The South African Communications Industry.“ PhD. diss.,
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2002.
[6] P. J. Meyer, “What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?
Creating S.M.A.R.T. Goals,” Office of Multicultural Affairs.
http://www.oma.ku.edu/soar/smartgoals.pdf
[7] J. T. Marchewka, “Information Technology Project Management:
Providing Measurable Organizational Value,“ New Jersey: John Wiley
& Sons, Inc., 2002.
[8] Kerzner, Harold. Project Management: A Systems Approach to
Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons,
Inc., 2003.
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