Abstract:

Lay summary: What drives successful IT projects in the public sector? The article examines the leadership skills necessary to implement such projects. Surprisingly, the article suggests that technical and administrative skills are not the most important. Instead, the ability to navigate organizational politics is critical. Leaders with political skill tailor IT projects to fit the reality of their organization; leaders with primarily technical skill tend to rely on less successful generic solutions. Publication significance: Public sector IT projects often suffer from poor implementation, failing to meet their budget and time-schedule. This article enriches our understanding of the leadership skills necessary to ensure successful project implementation. It finds that technical and administrative skills must be accompanied by political skill. This finding has significant practical implications for public organizations and also broadens the scope of scholarly research on organizational leadership.