Formal assessments, teams and influence of a project champion in the selection of ICT projects: A Czech Republic and UK study

Abstract

We present and critically examine the links between the role of formal appraisal procedures, appraisal teams, and project champions and their influence in the selection of information communication technology projects in the Czech Republic and the UK. Our research is empirical and uses comparative analysis and exploratory descriptive analysis to interpret the findings. We draw on the economic, management and consensus-performance literature, and optimism bias theory to support our research. Our findings show significant differences in the practices between the Czech Republic and the UK, which we believe are the result of cultural and economic diversities. There is a high level of involvement of a project champion in the selection of projects with concern being expressed over their excessive/biased influence in the decision-making process. An important finding from our research reveals that adopting clearly defined appraisal/selection procedures may reduce this biased influence. As project failure can result from the influence of a project champion at the project selection stage, it is important to fill this perceived gap in the literature. The research is the only empirical study of its kind conducted simultaneously in the Czech Republic and the UK.