Network gaps and project success

Project success and client satisfaction are results of collaborative actions by project actors throughout the entire project life cycle. One principal factor in project success is the application of effective management tools. Gap analysis helps to achieve client satisfaction. However, gap analysis is unable to deal with the organic nature of information exchange between project actors. Social network analysis (SNA) enables the identification and analysis of information exchange and communication patterns in synergy with projects. Two case studies were carried out to identify gaps in the current linear project management approach. Gap analysis and SNA were used to analyse each project and to examine the research hypothesis on the use of SNA to identify network management gaps in projects. The gap analysis showed gaps of execution and conformance, which were confirmed by SNA. There was little evidence of project governance outside the project contractual arrangements during project execution. The current application approach of different management tools is limited in providing a whole‐project view. The combined application of gap analysis and SNA can help practitioners to exceed client expectations.