Does institutional intervention achieve intended outcomes? The case of a professional accountancy organisation

The impact of donor-funded interventions has been a subject of raging controversy over the many years of donor support. This paper assesses, through the lens of resource dependence theory (RDT), the impact of donor-funded interventions on a professional accountancy organisation (PAO) and to describe how the intervention has influenced the PAO operations and activities. A qualitative research design was adopted where data were collected through a semi-structured interview with the key principal officers of the PAO. The empirical results show a general acknowledgement among the interviewees of the positive impact of the intervention on the activities of the PAO. However, the biggest challenge encountered in the implementation of the funded intervention is the counterpart funding provided by the PAO. Moreover, the level of participation by the PAO in the determination of program deliverables was not as expected. The findings of the paper have implications for future donor support to professional accountancy organisations in other developing countries.