Project Success Criteria in Social Infrastructure

Abstract

The main aim of this paper is to conceptualize success for social infrastructure projects, examining juxtapositions between project management- and overall project success , as well as prevalent definitions for success in the public realm. The text includes a review of relevant literature on the topic of project success frameworks, in combination with a case study illustrating the differences between several success criteria on the example of the Indiana Toll Road project. The findings of the case study suggest that despite the project resulting in the bankruptcy of the private entity, it could nonetheless be considered a public project success, due to its large approval ratings by Indiana’s citizens. Additionally, the study highlights the importance of safeguards against planning fallacy and optimism bias – issues which are amplified in social infrastructure procurement procedures. This topic discussed in this research paper concern qualifiers for success, in combination with a case study outlining the impact of improperly accounted for optimism bias. The obtained results may be of interest to representatives of science and practice, especially with regard to social infrastructure development.