Influence of acquirer's participation on project performance: An analysis on e-government projects

Abstract

During the construction process of an e-government project, the acquirer commonly participates in a series of development activities handled by suppliers. These participation activities have a significant influence on the project performance. However, when planning for participation activities that rely on subjective intuition this raises a tense claim on policymakers' capacity, and can arouse controversy. To this end, the study proposes an alternative approach, which relies on objective knowledge from historical data. The study collects 25 completed Chinese e-government projects, leverages on a variable-selection-based regression analysis, and establishes a model of quantitative relationship between the acquirer's participation and project performance. The model has good mathematical properties. The study further examines the model's degree of conformity to common experiences of project managers. Taking all the comparison and analysis in consideration, the study proposes several suggestions for acquirers in Chinese e-government projects. © 2012 ISCAS.