A taxonomy of critical success factors

Critical success factors (CSFs) have received considerable attention from information systems academicians and practitioners over the past 15 years. However, the concept of criticality as widely used in common parlance tends to be metaphorical – the meaning of the term is loosely defined and the interpretation of the meaning is dependent upon the individual. To advance our knowledge of criticality and CSFs, the metaphorical use of the concept of criticality has to be formalised in a model by defining criticality and discriminating between different types of the same. The tacit knowledge of practitioners and researchers about criticality has to be explicated. This paper proposes a taxonomy of critical success factors in an attempt to formalise the concept. The proposed taxonomy is based on four levels of criticality and three sets of dichotomous attributes. The four levels of criticality in descending order of strength are: factors linked to success by a known causal mechanism; factors necessary and sufficient for success; factors necessary for success; and factors associated with success. The three sets of dichotomous attributes are: standing/instigating; direct/indirect; and enhancing/inhibiting. The taxonomy provides a framework for systematically classifying CSFs extant in literature and practice. Such classification will reveal the nature, extent, and sources of biases in the CSFs literature, if any, and help in correcting the biases if necessary and possible. The taxonomy can also be used to structure methodologies for eliciting CSFs, and thus ensure that the factors elicited are unbiased and complete.