The relationship between Information Technology project manager personality type and project success

Information Technology (IT) projects continue to fail at a rate of 60% to 80% per year despite the vast amount of project management literature, education, and training available (Mahaney & Lederer, 2006). The purpose of the current quantitative, descriptive causal-comparative study was to determine whether an association exists between IT project managers' personality types and the success or failure of IT projects. The sample consisted of 110 respondents living in the Houston, Texas area. The findings showed a significant association between an IT project manager's personality type and project scope (p = 0.05) and a significant association between IT project manager's personality type and scope (p = 0.05) for the E-I dichotomy. The chi-square results indicated no significant association between IT project manager's personality type and budget ( p = 0.12); however, the chi-square test for dichotomies indicated a significant association between IT project manager's personality type and budget (p = 0.05) for the J-P dichotomy. The results indicated no associations between IT project manager's personality type and project success or failure (p = 0.06) and between IT project manager's personality type and schedule (p = 0.11). The current study contributes to the understanding of the role that personality types of project managers have in determining the success or failures of IT projects.