Critical Success Factor Case Study

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History of Critical Success Factors

The term Critical Success Factor (CSF) was introduced in a Harvard Business Review article entitled "Chief Executives Define Their Own Data Needs" (Bullen, Rockart 1981). This Critical Success Factor (CSF) method, which has since gained acclaim and usage in strategy, drew from earlier work by other authors Aristotle, Von Clausewitz, Drucker, Pareto, Daniels, and others. CSF was initially developed for the Information Systems (IS) world to help identify the key information needs in project management. Over time, this evolved to CSF becoming a management tool to identify and define management priorities.

What is CSF?
As the use of CSF has evolved from IS to strategy, several related definitions have emerged. …show more content…

Building/Monitoring/Benchmarking CSF This categorisation is often used in combination with the above. A building CSF is one that the organisation has a fair degree of control over and can build to achieve objectives. Alternately, an organisation has little or no influence over a monitoring CSF. Examples of the former are Technology Leadership or New Skills Acquisition while an example of the latter is interest rates in banking. (Bullen and Rockart 1986)

Strategic/Tactical CSF
The other dimension examined in literature similar to the above is the organisational level at which the CSF is managed. Strategic CSFs are usually managed by senior management and are long term in nature; Tactical are short term, related to resource allocation and are usually managed by middle level management. To be successful, CSFs need to be a combination of both. (Esteves, 2004)

Perceived versus Actual …show more content…

(2004). Definition and Analysis of Critical Success Factors for ERP Implementation Projects (Doctoral thesis). Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona.
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Rockart, J. (1981). Chief Executives Define Their Own Information Needs. Harvard Business Review, 81-92.
Rockart, J. (1982). The Changing Role of the Information Systems Executive: A Critical Success Factors Perspective. Sloan Management Review, 23(1), 3-12.
Software Engineering Institute, (2010). Strategic Planning with Critical Success Factors and Future Scenarios: An Integrated Strategic Planning Framework (pp. 9-19). Hanscom: Carnegie Mellon University. Retrieved from http://repository.cmu.edu/sei
Van Bullen, C., & Rockart, J. (1981). A Primer on Critical Success Factors. Center For Information Systems Research Sloan School Of Management Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, CISR No. 69(Sloan WP No. 1220-81).
Wronka, M. (2013). Analyzing the Success of Social Enterprises - Critical Success Factors Perspective. In Active Citizenship by Management. Zadar,

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