Project monitoring and evaluation to engage stakeholders of international development projects for community impact

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the role of project monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in international development (ID) project stakeholders' relationships. This study draws on agency theory to examine the specific role M&E plays in improving ID project impact. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative data comprising of in-depth interviews were collected from ID project stakeholders such as project donors, implementing partners and steering committee members. Findings: Results of the study show that project M&E activities can serve multiple purposes including the collection of data for the assessment of inputs, outputs, outcomes and impact. This information is shared with stakeholders to assist in evidence-based decision-making to improve project impact on community. This study shows that M&E activities strengthen the relationship between stakeholders by involving multiple stakeholders at different stages of ID projects to identify community needs and to demonstrate the positive community impact. Agency issues such as goal incongruence, information asymmetry and risk-sharing affect the relationship between the stakeholders. Investing in different M&E activities can reduce these issues, ultimately leading to a positive impact at the community level. Originality/value: There has been limited research that explores the principal-agent relationship between project stakeholders of ID projects through the lens of agency theory. The role of M&E to collect project data and address agency issues between project stakeholders to improve project impact is the novel contribution of this paper.