Exploring the Moderating Effect of Ethical Project Management Practices in the Success of IT Project: Evidence From the Public Sector
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Successful digital transformations and project governance in public sector organizations now rely heavily on business ethics and responsible management. Despite years of research into project management, empirical evidence indicates that ethical project management (EPM) is associated with conventional Information Technology (IT) project management, correlating with greater success. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine whether EPM practices moderate the relationship between conventional IT project management and IT project success. The study surveyed 287 stakeholders, including project managers, IT directors, and Project Management Office (PMO) staff, from six judicial sector institutions in Morocco using a structured questionnaire. Data were processed using SPSS Version 27.0 and PROCESS Macro Version 4.2, which included exploratory factor analysis, hierarchical regression analysis, and moderator analysis. The results confirm the strong validity of the measures (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.88 to 0.94). Conventional IT project management explains project success (β = 0.58, p < 0.001, R² = 0.572) and the introduction of EPM provides an additional effect (β = 0.24, p < 0.001, R² = 0.619). The interaction term confirms the moderating effect of EPM (β = 0.21, p < 0.001, ΔR² = 0.084, R² = 0.703). Simple slope analysis indicates that EPM increases the strength of this relationship more than two times when the level of EPM implementation is high (β = 0.53) versus low (β = 0.25). EPM is a measurable, organizational capability that is positively related to project management performance, which can be applied to ethics training and performance management within public sector project teams. The results of this research result in both practical and theoretical conclusions. Theoretically speaking, this research has an impact on the project management literature by supporting the idea that ethical project management has an influence on project management as an Organizational Capability Portfolio that enhances the ability of project managers to carry out the tasks of project management that are consistent with standard practices, especially in public sector organizations where there is a high focus on accountability and transparency. Practically speaking, in order to implement ethical project management successfully, Judicial sector organizations that are being transformed into digital organizations must focus on developing an ethics-oriented governance system in addition to the usual standards of governance, which is based on operationally-oriented governance, through the use of tools such as a code of conduct or ethics training, which will be administered through the PMO (Project Management Office) function.
Source: Business Ethics and Leadership
Institutions: Chouaib Doukkali University, Cadi Ayyad University
Language: English
Field: Decision Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7167788907