Moderating Role of Project Planning on the Relationship between Project Changes and Success of International Development (ID) Projects

Abstract

International Development (ID) is relatively an ignored area in the project management literature. Researchers who have studied ID projects have mainly focused on the identification of Critical Success Factors (CSFs). One such CSF is Project Planning, which has been under debate in IDPM literature. This study has supplemented the discussion on this fundamental variable by examining the moderating role of Project Planning (Strategic Planning and Implementation Planning) on the relationship between Project Changes and Project success (Short-term Success and Long-term Success) in ID projects, by analyzing the data collected from 139 NPCs, Task Team Leaders, staff of Ministry of Finance (GoP) and World Bank, project team members and contractors, who participated in 52 World Bank ID projects in Pakistan. The results of the regression analysis showed that Strategic Planning moderates the relationship of Project Changes with both the Short-term and Long-term Success, whereas Implementation Planning moderates the relationship of Project Changes with Long-term Success only. Further, overall Project Planning moderates the relationship between Project Changes and overall Project Success. These findings shall help the project management practitioners in ID sector to mitigate the negative effects of Project Changes through Project Planning and thus improve the chances of Project Success.