Importance of credentials for in-house or outsourced leader appointments in successful versus unsuccessful large public IS contract awards

Abstract

The goal was to examine the importance of credentials and other factors for in-house versus outsourced procurement project leader appointments, in large public information services (IS) contracts. This research was needed because 45%-50% of public procurement projects around the world have failed in the last decade, and while there was no clear evidence why, some findings pointed to leadership-related factors. To investigate this research question, contract award managers were surveyed to determine which factors were related to leader appointments (in-house versus outsourced) in successful as well as unsuccessful projects. Contract managers rated the importance of award criteria for leader experience, age, gender, education, team size, budget and certification, for successful and unsuccessful expensive public service contracts. The results indicated no single criterion could explain all leadership appointment decisions, but professional certification was a more important factor for in-house versus outsourced information service contracts.