Project Coordinator Competence and the Success of International Development (ID) Projects: Standard Models Tested in Practice

Abstract

Very few studies address the International Development project coordinators competencies and attempt to identify their correlations with project success. Thus, the objective of this correlational research is to examine, on the basis of the models, the presumed link between 46 project manager competencies and the success of ID project. The research is based on the processing, using SPSS 25.0, of a primary database collected by questionnaire from 45 project manager in Burkina Faso (West Africa). Our results show that commitment, results orientation and conscientiousness are the most relevant competences in the perception of the respondents, while human resources management, cultural aspects and knowledge of the project area are those strongest and positively correlated with the success of ID project. This research shows the importance of human, behavioral and contextual competences and is thus an educational challenge, as these types of competences require learning methods that go beyond traditional practices. The findings of this research can also help the government to recruit the most competent project managers for their official development assistance projects. Not all standard competences defined through the IPMA Competence Baseline (ICB) model are necessarily applicable in all projects. Therefore, this study updates the discussion and downsizes the number of competencies to fewer, more relevant items.