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Introduction
Project failures are estimated to cost hundreds of billions of euros yearly (McManus and Wood-Harper, 2008) and are not limited to any specific region or industry (Flyvbjerg et al., 2003; Nichols et al., 2011; Pinto and Mantel, 1990).
Project methodologies have been developed specifically to help address low success rates using project-related knowledge (The Standish Group, 2010; Wysocki, 2006). Government bodies have helped to establish standards in methodologies and guidelines, with their tools, techniques, processes, and procedures (Morris et al., 2006). While the term project methodology implies a homogeneous entity, is it instead a heterogeneous collection of practices that vary from organization to organization (Harrington et al., 2012). To understand the impact of relationship between methodology and success, the building blocks of a methodology need to be understood. The building blocks of a methodology are not defined or agreed upon to an extent that it is commonly accepted; therefore, we define the building blocks of a methodology as methodology elements that can include processes, tools, techniques, methods, capability profiles, and knowledge areas.
The reference to processes within the above definition is not to be confused with the project life cycle. A process is defined as a structured set of activities to accomplish a specific objective (TSO, 2009), whereas a project life cycle is defined as the series of phases that a project passes through from its initiation to its closure (PMI, 2013).
The literature on project methodologies is divided. There is a positive attitude toward project methodologies and sometimes unrealistic expectations are directed toward them (Lehtonen and Martinsuo, 2005). However, when these methodologies do not produce the expected outcomes, they are replaced by other methodologies and often with those that have other limitations (White and Fortune, 2002). The two main topics in research on project methodologies are linked with whether project methodologies should be standardized (Breese, 2012; Milosevic et al., 2001; Milosevic and Patanakul, 2005), or customized to the project environment (Lechler and Geraldi, 2013; Payne and Turner, 1999; Pinto and Mantel, 1990). Research has shown that projects where methodologies are used provide more predictable and higher success rates (Lehtonen and Martinsuo, 2006; Wells, 2012). However, there are still high project failure rates for projects that do use project...