As the business environment is rapidly changing with globalization and complexity of information flows, the uncertainty is also very increased for project environment. Although many studies have been conducted to find out the critical factors for project success, there still exist different views to define project success. Furthermore, implementing success formula for one project does not necessarily guarantee a success for another project since there are other elements that impede the success of project. In this regards, it is imperative to examine what are the barriers to project success. This study aims to examine the barriers that impede the success of project. Past literature was thoroughly reviewed to collect and develop a preliminary list of elements that affected project performance negatively. Experts were interviewed to refine the list and the final list of the measurement items were developed. A survey questionnaire was developed with the final list of measurement items, and a survey was conducted on the practitioners with project experience. After the survey, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the final list to extract the component dimensions which in turn formed the group of project barriers. The exploratory factor analysis provided ten factors, which are difficulty of process management, failure of project feasibility analysis, cost overruns and lack of cost benefits, unclarity project plan, strategic consistency error, stakeholder conflict, inaccuracy of requirement definition, disturbance of communication, technical environment change, negative attitude of top management.

The cooperative relationship between Employer and Contractor in the construction industry is the most important factor to achieve the project success. Employer shall draw the Contractor’s cooperative behavior during executing the project. A study on the impact of the Owner’s power on the contractor’s cooperative behavior is rare in the construction industry in Korea even though the negative impact of the high-power distance between the Employer and the Contractor has been a hot issue in Korea. In this empirical study, it is shown that the Employer’s power can address the contractor’s cooperative behavior. The respondents were mostly employees in the domestic construction companies who have experienced in the construction projects. The total number of respondents was 317 effectively. The multiple regression analysis using SPSS 21.0 were conducted to verify the hypotheses. In conclusion, the Mediated Power is positively associated with the In-Role Behavior and with the Extra-Role Behavior. Some of Non-Mediated Power is positively associated with the In-Role Behavior and with the Extra-Role Behavior. It seems that the Contract underestimate the Employer’s Expert Power. It was known that the cooperative power caused by Non-Mediated Power is good for long term relationship of the business to business transaction. So it is highly recommended that the Employer shall foster its expertise.