How to manage international development (ID) projects successfully. Is the PMD Pro1 Guide going to the right direction?

International Development (ID) projects have turned project failure into a rule rather than an exception. Developed in the 1960's, the Logical Framework Approach (LFA) is the most widespread body of knowledge for managing ID projects. However, LFA has proved to have several liabilities. This paper aims to provide a list of the critical success factors (CSFs) for ID projects. Then, the paper assesses how the LFA and the newly developed PMD Pro1 deal with those CSFs. Results confirm that the LFA presents several drawbacks while the PMD Pro1 appears as a more efficient tool for managing ID projects successfully.

► ID projects' poor performance has become the rule rather than the exception. ► We advance a list of seven CSFs for ID projects. ► We assess how the LFA and the PMD Pro1 deal with ID projects' CSFs. ► The LFA shows to be insufficient to manage ID projects successfully. ► The PMD Pro1 surpasses the LFA but still has a room for improvement.