PurposeThe aim of this study is to evaluate to what extent the project team size influence the relation between transformational leadership and success of international development projects (IDPs). The paper draws on leader-member-exchange (LMX) theory and contextualizes transformational leadership style to temporary project environment particularly that of an official development assistance project in an African context.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on the processing of a primary database collected by questionnaire from 111 coordinators of IDPs in Benin. The structural equation method based on the PLS approach was used to test our hypotheses.FindingsFirst, the preliminary results reveal that, in the context of IDP, projects managers are much more sensitive to the “management” and “visibility” dimensions than to the “impact” dimension of project success. Then, following the hypothesis test, the results show that transformational leadership has a direct positive influence on the success of IDP. Project team size does not play a moderating role in the relationship between transformational leadership and project success. Also, considering the effect of the specific dimensions of transformational leadership on IDP success, only the “idealized influence” dimension influences directly and positively on the latter.Originality/valueResearch calls for examining the role of team size vis-à-vis transformational leadership style and project success and calls in general for studying project manager's leadership styles. This study contributes to literature by answering such calls. In addition, the originality of this study lies in the evaluation of the influence of the specific dimensions because the exclusive use of leadership forms provides an imperfect and oversimplified picture of reality.

PurposeThe objectives of this study are twofold: first, to identify the effect of sustainability management on the success of international development projects, and second, to investigate the moderating role of political and social skills on this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a quantitative research methodology based on questionnaire data collected from 43 international development project managers from various fields in Burkina Faso (West Africa). Descriptive statistics and exploratory and confirmatory analyses using principal component analysis were used to assess the quality of the measurement model. A multiple regression analysis based on the partial least squares approach was used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results show that sustainability management positively contributes to the success of international development projects. However, given the specificities of these projects and their perception of success, the project coordinator's political and social skills do not predict a greater impact of sustainability management on the success of international development projects. The study also found that project coordinators prioritize their technical skills over behavioral ones.Originality/valueThis study fills a gap in the literature, given that little is known about the moderating role of political and social skills in the effect of sustainability management on the success of specific projects such as international development projects.

Transaction costs between actors in projects funded by multilateral institutions are high. And according to the theory of transaction costs, this could be explained by the omnipresence of opportunism. At the same time, these projects, like non-international projects, are exposed to high risk and socio-political complexity, including cultural complexity: local lifestyles, institutions, politics, laws and regulations, customs, practices, norms, languages, time zones, holidays, processes, contracts, conflicts and resources. It may then be difficult to exclude that the reduction of these costs may depend in particular on trust and relational norms in a collectivist culture. This research therefore aims to explore the influence of relational norms and trust on opportunism and to examine collectivist culture as antecedent to these dimensions of relational governance. The study is based on primary data collected by questionnaire from 76 international development project coordinators in Burkina Faso (West Africa). The structural equation method based on the partial least squares approach was used to test our hypotheses. Our results show that of the two dimensions of relational governance, trust is the one that has a negative and significant influence on opportunism. Furthermore, it appears that collectivist culture has a negative indirect effect on opportunism through trust. Our results make an interesting contribution by showing that using the aggregated form of relational governance rather than specific dimensions provides an imperfect and over-simplified picture of reality.

PurposeThe effects of opportunism have been examined before, but not in specific contexts dominated by a collectivist culture. Thus, this research aims to examine the influence of opportunism on the success of International Development (ID) projects by incorporating a moderating factor – the collectivist dimension of national culture.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on a primary database collected by questionnaire from 76 ID project coordinators in Burkina Faso (West Africa). The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Method (PLS-SEM) was used to test our hypotheses.FindingsOur results show that opportunism has a direct negative impact on the success of ID projects. Similarly, the collectivist cultural context is to be considered as an independent variable and not a moderating factor. Indeed, the collectivist cultural context has an important positive influence on the project success. Our results call for the implementation of governance mechanisms (especially relational) to prevent opportunistic behaviour.Originality/valueUntil now, the study of the role of culture in the relationship between opportunism and project success has been neglected. Syntheses of the scientific literature on this topic do not mention any studies that have explored the moderating role of collectivist culture on the relationship between opportunism and project success. This is, to our knowledge, the first study conducted in Africa to examine these relationships in the context of ID projects.

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.