Abstract
As the success rate of international development projects might be still below expectations, several studies have explored whether and how the use of project management (PM) tools might improve internal and external project performance. This article looks specifically at four selected Central and Eastern European countries and evaluates a newly collected data set. Based on a survey, the study examines the adoption of PM tools among project managers in the region. Furthermore, with the use of cluster analysis, it suggests that the tools are adopted progressively in four stages that differ culturally from other international studies. Last but not least, using structural equation modelling, the research indicates that among the surveyed project managers, the use of stage 1 tools might directly contribute to the improvement of internal project results and that these internal results might then have a positive impact also on the external project performance.