1 Noble Contribution of Project Management to International Development Projects Hiroshi Tanaka, PMP

The application areas of project management are expanding rapidly; project management has reached virtually all branches of industry, public services and societal activities when seen on a global scale. There emerge even such views that project management would eventually replace general management or general management would evolve into a hybrid form incorporating salient features of project management. The author, however, is of the view that international development projects, or those social or industrial development projects and humanitarian projects financed or donated by international agencies and other nations, have not yet explored the full potential of project management. The reasons behind this underutilization include, by way of illustration, the sanctuary mentality of stakeholders, shunning anything connoting control and management, cracks in ownership and stewardship, and weak professional project management competency on the part of project executing parties. Project management could and should play a more robust role in the implementation of international development projects, which would enhance the success ratio of projects of this category