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International Development (ID) projects are mostly public sector development projects and are particularly prepared for developing and emerging economies to improve their socio-economic needs. Considering the importance of ID projects, this study looks at public sector ID projects that are complex in nature. Through investigating archival data of 100 completed projects of Asian Development Bank, the study empirically analyses project cost and schedule performance and examines causes of deviations. Analysis shows that most late projects experience cost underrun-an unusual cost and schedule variation relation in projects. Further, the main cause of project delay is indentified as contract and procurement delay due to host country government bureaucracy. Research outcome will benefit ID project professionals in both developed and developing economies.
Introduction
Usually, projects that are generated for international development are known as ID projects. International development is a sub-sector of project management like other areas such as information technology, education, construction and engineering, telecommunications, manufacturing, and the service industries e.g. legal, insurance, finance, etc. (Austin, 2000). ID projects differ from industrial or commercial projects. The objectives of ID projects by definition, concern poverty alleviation and improvement of living standards, environment and basic human rights protection, assistance for victims of natural or people caused disasters, capacity building and development of basic physical and social infrastructures (Kang and Moe, 2008).
ID projects commonly involve three separate key stakeholders, namely the funding agency that pays for but does not directly use project output, the implementing unit, and the target beneficiaries who benefit from project output but usually do not pay for the project. Most ID projects are not concerned with profitability and do not have a business focus. The operating environment and culture of the host country also make ID projects different from traditional business projects and make traditional project management tools in the developed world less appropriate (Blunt and Jones, 1992).
Recently, ID projects are gaining more importance among project professionals due to their nature and contribution to developing countries. The Project Management Institution (www.PMI.org) identifies that most ID projects face time and cost overrun and require major costly re-engineering. Within the PMI there is no body of knowledge, specialized global standards or certification, nor is there any training available for ID projects. Robert Youker, in...