Governance of tomorrow’s international development projects (IDPs): flexible or rigid?

Authors

  • Lawrence G. Boakye Project Management Program, School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney, Australia Australia
  • Li Liu Senior Lecturer, School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney, Australia

Keywords:

International Development Projects, Governance, Flexibility

Abstract

Although International Development Projects (IDPs) remain important instruments for activating and achieving sectoral and national development in the developing world, they often fall short of making their desired impact because they are implemented under challenging conditions with rigid procedures. This paper illustrates that flexibility is critical to the success of IDPs as it improves their effectiveness. It contributes to literature on IDPs and flexibility and is thus beneficial to IDP professionals, development organizations and the International Development Body of Knowledge.

Author Biographies

  • Lawrence G. Boakye, Project Management Program, School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney, Australia Australia

    MPhil Candidate

  • Li Liu, Senior Lecturer, School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney, Australia

    Li Liu, PhD, is Senior Lecturer in Project Management at the University of Sydney (USYD). He has his PhD degree from the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM). He also has a Master’s degree in Taxation from USYD, a MBA, and a BE.

References

AfDBa. Ghana: Livestock Development Project-Project Completion Report.

AfDBb. Inland Valleys Rice Development Project-Project Completion Report.

AfDBc. Small Scale Irrigation Development Project-Project Completion Report.

AfDB. (1997). Ghana: Second Line of Credit to the Agricultural Development Bank-Project Completion Report

AfDB. (2005). Ghana: Kpong Irrigation Project-Project Completion Report.

AfDB. (2006a). Ghana Poverty Reduction Project-Project Completion Report.

AfDB. (2006b). Informal Note on PPER Summary of Four Agriculture Sector Projects (O. E. D. (OPEV), Trans.).

AfDB. (2011). Agricultural Water Management: An Evaluation of the African Development Bank's Assistance in Ghana and Mali, 1990-2010.

Ahsan, K., & Gunawan, I. (2010). Analysis of cost and schedule performance of international development projects. International Journal of Project Management, 28(1), 68-78. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2009.03.005

Andersen, E. S. (1996). Warning: activity planning is hazardous to your project's health! International Journal of Project Management, 14(2), 89-94. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0263-7863(95)00056-9

Ballard, G., & Howell, G. (2003). Lean project management. Building Research & Information, 31(2), 119-133. doi: 10.1080/09613210301997

Barclay, A. H., Owens, G., Charle, E., & Humpal, D. (1981). Evaluation of the Abyei Development Project, Sudan.

Baum, W. C. (1978). The World Bank project cycle. Finance & Development (pre-1986), 15(000004), 10.

Baur, H. (2001). The logical framework (pp. 273-281). Wallingford, UK: CABI Publishing.

Biggs, S., & Smith, S. (2003). A Paradox of Learning in Project Cycle Management and the Role of Organizational Culture. World Development, 31(10), 1743-1757. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(03)00143-8

Calantone, R., & Vickery, S. K. (2009). Special Topic Forum on Using Archival and Secondary Data Sources in Supply Chain Management Research. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 45(3), 68-69.

Coleman, G. (1987). Logical framework approach to the monitoring and evaluation of agricultural and rural development projects. Project Appraisal, 2(4), 251-259. doi: 10.1080/02688867.1987.9726638

Couillard, J., Garon, S., & Riznic, J. (2009). The Logical Framework Approach–Millennium. Project Management Journal, 40(4), 31-44. doi: 10.1002/pmj.20117

Crawford, P., & Bryce, P. (2003). Project monitoring and evaluation: a method for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of aid project implementation. International Journal of Project Management, 21(5), 363-373. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0263-7863(02)00060-1

Do Ba, K., & Tun Lin, M. (2008). Success Criteria and Factors for International Development Projects: A Life-Cycle-Based Framework. Project Management Journal, 39(1), 72-84. doi: 10.1002/pmj.20034

Dvir, D., Raz, T., & Shenhar, A. J. (2003). An empirical analysis of the relationship between project planning and project success. International Journal of Project Management, 21(2), 89-95. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0263-7863(02)00012-1

Freedman, S., & Katz, L. (2007). Critical success factors for international projects. PM World Today, 9(10), 1-8.

Golden, W., & Powell, P. (2000). Towards a definition of flexibility: in search of the Holy Grail? Omega, 28(4), 373-384. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0305-0483(99)00057-2

Golini, R., & Landoni, P. (2013). International Development Projects: Perculiarities & Managerial Approaches: Project Management Institute, Inc.

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/managerial-flexibility.html [Accessed: Feb 27, 2014].

Kharbanda, O. P., & Pinto, J. K. (1996). What made Gertie Gallop: Learning from Project Failures: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Kreiner, K. (1995). In search of relevance: Project management in drifting environments. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 11(4), 335-346. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0956-5221(95)00029-U

Midler, C. (1995). “Projectification” of the firm: The renault case. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 11(4), 363-375. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0956-5221(95)00035-T

Olsson, N. O. (2004). Flexibility in engineering projects: blessing or curse. Paper presented at the NORDNET 2004 International PM conference.

Olsson, N. O. E. (2006). Project Flexibility anbd Front-End Management: Keys to Project Success and Failure. Paper presented at the ProMAC International Conference on Project Management, 27-29 September 2006, Sydney, Australia.

Rondinelli, D. A. (1979). Planning Development Projects: Lessons from Developing Countries. Long Range Planning, 12(3), 48-56. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0024-6301(79)80007-2

Sager, T. (1990). Notions of flexibility in planning-related literature. In: Olsson, N. O. E. (2006). "Management of flexibility in projects." International Journal of Project Management 24(1): 66-74.

Shahu, R., Pundir, A., & Ganapathy, L. (2012). An Empirical Study on Flexibility: A Critical Success Factor of Construction Projects. Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management (Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management), 13(3), 123-128. doi: 10.1007/s40171-012-0014-5

Siffin, W. J. (1979). Administrative Problems and Integrated Rural Development.

Solem, R. R. (1987). The Logical Framework Approach to Project Design, Review and Evaluation in A.I.D.: Genesis, Impact, Problems, and Opportunities. (Working Paper 99). Washington, DC: USAID.

Strachan, H. W. (1978). Side-effects of planning in the aid control system. World Development, 6(4), 467-478. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(78)90096-7

Youker, R. (1999). Executive Point of View: Managing International Development Projects-Lessons Learned. Project Management Journal, 30(2), 6.

Youker, R. (2003). The nature of international development projects. Paper presented at the PMI Conference, Baltimore, MD.

Downloads

Published

2022-05-20

How to Cite

Governance of tomorrow’s international development projects (IDPs): flexible or rigid?. (2022). The Journal of Modern Project Management, 2(3). https://journalmodernpm.com/manuscript/index.php/jmpm/article/view/171

Similar Articles

21-30 of 381

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.