Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify and investigate the main challenges that project managers (PMs) face in the current projectification environment. Design/methodology/approach This research was conducted by means of semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. The participants in the study were 15 PMs and 57 project team members. A content analysis of the data was conducted by an inductive approach to determine the strengths and weaknesses that the PMs and project team members perceived. Findings The research reveals interesting insights, such as the identification of emerging challenges for the PMs of today, which include dealing with communications issues, motivating project team members, providing leadership and increasing team members’ emotional management and confidence. Research limitations/implications The main limitation is the size and location of the sample, which represents the points of view of 15 Spanish PMs and the members of their work teams and sets aside the cultural aspects. Originality/value This new era is changing how organizations and managers must deal with people management, evolving toward more flexible and engaging leadership styles. This paper helps to provide new insights concerning the emerging challenges and needs of PMs, while integrating team member’s perceptions.

Personal competencies have been shown to be increasingly reliable predictors of successful project managers. This research studies whether executive coaching is effective in strengthening personal competencies in the project management field. An experiment with 30 project managers and 30 observers has been conducted to determine, by means of a quantitative and qualitative approach, the impact of coaching on different competencies based on the Project Manager Competency Development Framework – Third Edition (Project Management Institute, 2017a). The conclusions reveal interesting insights, such as the finding that executive coaching has the greatest impact on behaviors related to leading, managing, and finding strategies for coping with challenging situations.

Business globalization causes all project managers, sooner or later, to face the challenge of understanding cultural differences. Identifying the risks associated with these differences has become an essential task today when discussing international projects. This paper shows how to improve the management of projects carried out in China by Spanish organizations, identifying risks related to differences between societies. To determine this set of risks, the cultural dimensions of Hofstede and Meyer were analyzed for the case of China and Spain, as well as the most critical values of the World Value Survey between both cultures. From there, and thanks to work done with a focus group formed of 29 Spanish project managers who are experienced in working in projects developed in China, risks were identified and classified into categories considering cultural dimensions. The results obtained show a record of risks of great interest for organizations working in international contexts, mainly in China. They reveal, in addition, the importance of considering this type of risks related to cultural differences, which have rarely been treated before.

The aim of this research is to help improve the effectiveness of international development projects (IDPs) with a focus on enhancing their success. For this purpose, this work seeks to identify links between the management of risks among five projects executed in Cauca (Colombia) and the success of these projects in terms of project management and impacts on the beneficiary communities. An analysis of these projects reveals the most critical risks encountered and the relationships between the management of those risks and the success of the projects. The use of fuzzy logic through the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) program is key to performing this difficult task. The results of a qualitative study reveal that the most important risks correspond to economic, cultural, and political factors. A quantitative analysis by fsQCA shows a direct relationship between the management of cultural differences and the positive impacts of IDPs on the beneficiary communities.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the quintessential methodology of the international development (ID) projects, the logical framework approach (LFA), to find out which changes are required to increase the level of effectiveness of these projects. Design/methodology/approach This research presents a thorough review of literature relating to the evolution of the LFA. This theoretical analysis formed the basis for a closed-ended questionnaire on the methodology and how it could be improved, from which the responses of 56 project managers experienced in the LFA were collected. Data were statistically analyzed through correlation matrix and ANOVA analysis by SPSS software. The questionnaire included a last open-ended question where professionals suggested how they would develop the methodology, opening a new path to effectiveness through participative approaches. Findings The research reveals that the LFA needs to be improved, and points to the next steps in the evolution of this mature methodology. An interesting insight is that although some suggestions are broadly accepted, such as the integration of risk management, other proposals could be open to further discussion depending on the organization. Research limitations/implications The main weakness is related to the sample, which is reduced to 56 project managers from the same country (Spain). Originality/value Since interventions for development are made by practitioners, considering their suggestions to improve the LFA is a major step to enhance the management of ID projects.