Critical success factors in International Development Project management

International Development Project environment is far more complex than domestic projects in industrialized countries. The World Bank Groups data and other evidence suggest high incidents of challenged international development projects. There are many internal and external, visible and invisible factors that influence the environment and create a high amount of risk in accomplishing the project objectives. This paper elaborates a conceptual framework for international development project management and the characteristics of international development projects, which should be taken into consideration during the project initiation and project planning phases in order to enhance project success. This paper also identifies the factors that cause completed or in progress international development projects to be challenged. The factors have been classified into ten categories based on their nature. These cover issues of political, legal, cultural, technical, managerial, economical, environmental, social, corruption, and physical. This paper describes these factors with a view to understand their nature from the perspective of the project managers who are required to manage international development projects.