International Development Project Analysis

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International Development (ID) projects are aimed at producing significant outcomes, financially supported by Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), development banks, United Nations and governmental agencies and focus on improvement of quality of life mostly in the developing countries Watkins, West Meiers & Song (2013). While Performance Improvement (PI) is considered a key element in development projects all around the world, its importance is equally burdened by the challenges of accurate implementation of best practices. Watkins, Meiers & Song (2013,p.29) maintains that “PI holds great potential for improving the results of international development projects”. Another field that Watkins, Meiers & Song (2013) stresses on; the aspect of…show more content…
However, PI cannot be implemented into development projects from the very start. It is for the very same reason that projects cannot necessarily achieve desired goals within a stipulated time or budget; it is almost entirely dependent on various phases of a project, mainly the needs assessment which ‘systematically study performance to identify gaps between desired results and current achievements, establishing clear and measurable criteria for comparing alternative solutions’ (Watkins, Meiers, & Song 2013,p.34). The different phases of a project life cycle are subject to an audit of sorts or in this case, a needs assessment to identify problems and issues and coming up with the required timely intervention. This kind of assessment is in itself a kind of PI that can inform us about exactly what kind of improvement is needed, when and where. The use of best practice or current on-goings in the project phase can also be likened for its role in improving, where relevant, other phases of the development project. The principles of PI can go hand in hand with the success of such development…show more content…
Factors such as involvement of stakeholders throughout the project cycle, skills of project management team and project manager, methods of project management are some of the determining factors contributing to the success of international development projects. Lientz et al. (2013) identified that collaborative approaches, proper organization, the presence of a competent manager and team performance also contribute to project success. However, for CIDA, the success can be determined by measuring the outcomes, outputs, effects or impacts of the project (Brieve & Proulx 2013). Cleland & Gareis 1994; Muriithi & Crawford 2003 (as cited in Briere & Proulx 2013, p.168) stipulate that ‘lack of internal capacity and difficulty of beneficiaries to coordinate the speed of change brought about by the projects whose principles are not always in line with the local culture and traditions’ also lead to project failure. This is evident in a case study by Briere & Proulx (2013) in which the success of the project was also affected due to insufficient involvement of senior officials, lack of recognition and poorly defined work responsibility assignment. The project approval document and project plan were drawn by the developmental agency considering the lack of expertise in the implementing partner. This however, could have led

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