The CSF approach was first established in the 1960s and
popularised by various researchers, including Rockart and
Bullen
[36] who provided an operational definition of CSF:
“key areas where things must go right in order to successfully
achieve objectives and goals” (p.9). It has been pointed out by
Williams and Ramaprasad [45] that although the CSF approach
is widely used by researchers to produce a plethora of factors,
it is important to discriminate between different levels of criticality.
They distinguish four types of criticality: (1) factors linked
to success by a known causal mechanism, (2) factors necessary
and sufficient for success, (3) factors necessary for success, and
(4) factors associated with success. This research offers guidelines
to practitioners by focusing on the fourth level. We identify
a set of CSFs associated with successful ITSM implementation.