Development Management

Theory and practice

Justice Nyigmah Bawole, Farhad Hossain, Asad K. Ghalib, Christopher J. Rees, Aminu Mamman, Justice Nyigmah Bawole, Farhad Hossain, Asad K. Ghalib, Christopher J. Rees, Aminu Mamman

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781317238409
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Negocios y empresa
• Subtopic: Negocios en general

Despite significant financial investments, the rate of development and pace of poverty reduction in developing and transitional countries has not always matched expectations. Development management typically involves complex interactions between governmental and non-governmental organisations, donors and members of the public, and can be difficult to navigate.

This volume brings together a group of international contributors to explore the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of development management, and to consider the prospects and challenges associated with it in the context of both developing and transitional countries. Referring to dominant norms and values in public and developmental organisations, development management is tied up with the attitudes and perceptions of various stakeholders including: government officials, public sector managers, aid workers, donors and members of the public. Attempting to make sense of complex interactions between these actors is highly problematic and calls for new approaches, models and insights. Based on cutting-edge research, the chapters challenge much of the previous discourse on the subject and evaluate the challenges and opportunities that it presents.

Development Management offers academics, researchers and practitioners of public administration, business and management, international development and political science a comprehensive and state-of-the-art review of current research on development management in the context of developing and transitional countries.

Part I

Development management

Concepts and theories

1 Development management

A conceptual and theoretical overview

Justice Nyigmah Bawole, Farhad Hossain, Asad K. Ghalib, Christopher J. Rees and Aminu Mamman

Introduction

In many parts of the developing world, the failure of development interventions rather than the absence of resources have been the bane of progress. It is almost taken for granted that once development interventions are fashioned and implemented, ‘development’ should follow. However, it is important to recognize that, the management aspect of development, which was arguably hitherto taken for granted, is as vital as development itself. The concept of development should therefore, be discussed along – but not at the expense of – management. This significant observation in modern development thought and practice has necessitated a process of critical reflection upon the meaning, administration, institutions and practices through which diverse forms of development are conceived and delivered (Dar and Cooke, 2008). This has also led to the application of management principles in the achievement of development objectives. Thus, development is not a one-way street: in one direction, valuable insights from concepts, assumptions and critical analysis of development theories is pertinent for an informed decision on the choices and courses of action to development. On the other hand, the conception and analysis of development can be broadened and deepened by incorporating the diverse theories and principles of management.

It is perceived that the challenges of society such as poverty, malnutrition, unemployment, inequality and illiteracy, among others, can be properly addressed when interventions are implemented within the context and broader umbrella of management. Thus, management should occupy an important nucleus and be invoked as a critical element in the development agenda. Development management therefore involves a radical rethinking and identification of some management imperatives in ways that ensure better outcomes and consequently address the concerns and priorities of the recipients of development interventions. Development management is of strategic importance in economic and social development especially in developing countries. It has the potential to influence the success or failure of developmental activities and plans. The concept has been widely discussed and debated because of its important ramifications. Much has been written about the concept by both practitioners and scholars in terms of its meaning, theories, processes and influences. Generally, development management is a deliberate attempt to cause development by actively steering institutional and organizational changes towards greater levels of efficiency and effectiveness.

This chapter explores the concepts and theories of development management. The chapter is organized as follows: the next section discusses the concept of development followed by an examination of development as a multinational concept. The third section concentrates on explaining the term development management while the fourth part highlights some notable development theories. A chapter summary and conclusion is then provided in the next section. The final section provides a summary and outline of the book.

What is development?

The term development has dominated discussions at the local, national and international levels. Viewed from a common-sense perspective to describe what needs to happen if the poor are to be raised out of poverty, the term development appears unproblematic. On the other hand, the objectives of development and how they should be pursued have remained highly debated in the international political arena. Thus, the meaning of development is amorphous, elusive and highly contested theoretically and politically making it one of the slippery concepts of our time. This characteristic of development often affects the approach that observers, analysts and practitioners prescribe and adopt to deal with developmental issues and societal problems (Zafarullah and Huque, 2012). It has been equated to several terms such as economic growth, industrialization, progress, modernization, expansion and advancement, among others. The breadth and scope of development keeps changing as we understand it better and as previous suggested solutions to the challenges of development fail. The disagreements and divergence in defining the term development makes it easier to criticize and contest suggested definitions than providing an alternative definition of development.

Indeed, definitions of development go beyond academic debates to its conception among international development agencies, leading to different political and policy implications. For instance, there is disagreement on the measure of development between the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Whereas the UNDP uses its Human Development Index (HDI) to measure development based on a range of factors such as educational attainment, health purchasing power and human rights, among others, the World Bank in its annual World Development Reports mainly uses economic criteria as a measure of development. This has policy implications to the extent that there are disagreements as to which policy to pursue to attack poverty and what to do to achieve development (Thomas, 1996). At the national and local levels there is also disagreement on the definition of poverty and what can be done to reduce it as part of the means of ensuring development. Whereas NGOs who work directly with the local people emphasize the immediate needs of the people, a government’s attention is on economic growth and industrialization, leading to differences in development policies.

Thomas (1992: 7) distinguishes two major ways in which the term development can be used: first, we could define development as an historical process of social change in which societies are transformed over long periods; and second, development could be defined as consisting of deliberate efforts aimed at progress on the part of various agencies, including governments, all kinds of organizations and social movements. Dwivedi, Khator and Nef (2007: 2) looked at development in terms of the spread and consolidation of the material, natural and spiritual well-being of people and nations. For them, well-being goes beyond aggregation of indexes and parameters to include being able to live in a safe and sustainable environment; sharing in the material benefits of their labour in an equitable and persistent way; nurturing networks of social support and solidarity; empowerment and living freely without discrimination, violence, fear and abuse; and lastly, a set of values, practices and cognitions that permit people to take charge of their own future. Development therefore implies a process of moving from unsatisfactory social, economic and political conditions towards a desired situation through medium- to long-term intervention and processes.

In the discussion of development, Seers (1979) is concerned about what is happening to poverty, unemployment and inequality – implying that the reduction in these could be termed as development. On the other hand, if there is a high increase in them, it would be strange for development to occur in spite of the increase in per capita income. Similarly, Sen (1999) christened development as freedom. To him ‘development requires the removal of major sources of un-freedom: poverty as well as tyranny, poor economic opportunities as well as systematic social deprivation, neglect of public facilities as well as intolerance or over activity of repressive states’ (p. 1). However, both Seers and Sen did not totally neglect the importance of the economic aspect of development; they only argued that it is not sufficient for total development. In other words, economic development cannot explain all the factors of development in that the concept goes beyond changes in economic indicators.

Taking a broader perspective, Todaro and Smith (2012: 5) defined the concept as the process of improving the quality of all human lives and capabilities by raising people’s levels of living, self-esteem and freedom. This definition appears to broaden the scope to cover Sen’s capability approach which will enable each individual to enjoy their freedom. A major factor that has been introduced into the meaning of development is happiness. Todaro and Smith (2012: 19) explained that happiness is part of human well-being because it helps to expand individuals’ capability to function. In fact, Bhutan has adopted gross national happiness instead of gross national income as a measure of development progress. Thus, while the economic definition of development is by no means inconsequential, it does not provide adequate and reliable distribution of wealth. Therefore, to get a better understanding of development, it should be best described as the interaction of both economic and non-economic factors. Therefore, it is preferable to describe development as multidimensional.

Development as a multidimensional concept

The struggle for development in all its forms is probably one of the most challenging tasks facing most governments globally, especially in developing countries. Thus, unless one pretends, development challenges can be seen everywhere, although the form and nature of them vary from region to region and country to country. Thus, since World War II, developing countries continue to strive for development in order to improve upon the living conditions of the poor who are mostly in the majority (Turner, Hulme and McCourt, 2015). The term development has therefore assumed significance, having been prefixed with many terms, such as administration (development administration) and management (development management), and due to its involvement in the work of many agencies at the international level (World Bank, UNDP), national level and local level as well as in non-governmental organizations.

One of the ways of dealing with the ambiguities associated with defining the concept of development is to tackle it from a multidimensional perspective. This ranges from economic to social, political, environmental and cultural perspectives, among others. Earlier definitions of development have taken an economic focus measured in terms of GNP per capita, economic growth industrialization and modernization (Thomas, 1996). The World Bank for instance defines development in terms of GNP per capita especially in categorizing countries as developed and developing. Therefore, GNP per capita is a wealth-based indicator of measuring development. According to Willis (2005) the use of a wealth indicator is deemed appropriate because it is assumed that greater wealth comes with other benefits such as improved health, education and quality of life. Therefore, policies normally embarked on to ensure development include improving growth rates, industrialization, employing import substitution measures, promoting savings and investment, raising income levels, creating employment, distributing income, agricultural modernization, setting up export-oriented ventures, building infrastructures, technological progress, utilizing external aid, and so on (Zafarullah and Huque, 2012). The view was that economic growth will have a trickle-down effect to reduce poverty and improve societal well-being (Todaro and Smith, 2003).

However, this position lost its merit as a lot of social problems became obvious such as inequality, environmental issues, political issues, unemployment and poverty. Thus, in spite of the impressive economic growth figures experienced by many countries, especially developing ones, they have not experienced much change in the standard of living of the masses (Seers, 1979; Sen, 1999). Sen (1999) argued that economic measures may not be an accurate measure of development in that it is possible to rapidly grow economically but with bad literacy rate, health, life expectancy and nutrition. It has then become apparent that defining development in terms of economic growth is insufficient and probably socially damaging. Indeed, economic development has not been able to solve society’s problems and experiences show that this indicator of development is naive. Social, political and environmental problems have been rising in both developed and developing countries. In other words, while per capita income is important to development, other objectives such as reducing poverty, expanding access to health services, and education, among others, are equally important. It is therefore clear that this single yardstick of economic development has lost its value with the view that development is not entirely economic but rather a multidimensional process involving the reorientation and reorganization of the entire economic and social system.

Today, the unilateral definition of development has been replaced and the concept now enjoys multidimensional characteristics. It is generally agreed that economic development is necessary but not sufficient to improve human well-being and poverty reduction. Instead, development efforts must be directed at all aspects of well-being including social development. The shift to multidimensionality was advocated and spearheaded by scholars such as Seers, Sen and Goulet, and organizations such as the UNDP, IGOs and NGOs. In this way, development assumes several characteristics such as freedom, capability, sustainability and happiness. There are several dimensions but common among them are economic, social, cultural, political, participatory and ecological. It is argued that the combination of these dimensions is aimed at achieving the total well-being of a society and its people. This dimension of social development has been articulated in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which emphasize freedom, equality, solidarity and tolerance. The Copenhagen Social Summit of 1995 defines social development around three basic issues: poverty eradication, employment generation and social harmony. Even though the concept of social development is used differently in various disciplines such as sociology, social work, psychology and social policy, in development management, it is generally about government policies and programmes emphasizing the ‘social aspect’ of development such as increasing literacy, reducing poverty, combating malnutrition and improving access to health and education (Midgley, 2013).

Zafarullah and Huque (2012) made the point that the economic aspect of development has been complemented by the social dimension to enhance the total well-being of a society and its people. Therefore, expanding social choices has become important to increase opportunities for social actions. Extending this into the realm of public policy and development management, the social dimension of development requires the state, international organizations and other development agencies to consciously intervene in the provision of social services such as education, housing and health to address the problems of inequality and poverty. This dimension echoes Seers’s (1979) definition of development as poverty alleviation, raising employment, decreasing inequality, wider educational opportunities, political participation, reduced dependency on foreign assistance and self-reliance.

The discussion of development also has a political dimension. This aspect is seen as promoting and nurturing liberties and freedom, empowering people, and giving them the voice they deserve. This also includes participation by creating opportunities for individuals and allowing civil society to play a creative role in poverty alleviation, creating networks, engendering social roles and building social capital (Zafarullah and Huque, 2012). This may also make citizens feel included in society’s divergent pursuits, and value their worth and capabilities, believing in themselves as well as earning recognition and respect.

As pointed out earlier in this chapter, given that there is no agreed definition of what constitutes development, the term is accepted as multidimensional, which thereby influences the design and implementation of interventions aimed at development. Indeed, the focus and effectiveness of development interventions are mostly unclear at birth since they are often grounded in conceptual ambiguity. As a result, the debate regarding the most effective way of administering development interventions continues. Generally, development is multidimensional and must encompass every aspect of society and interventions that make individuals comfortable and able to live dignified lives and pursue their dreams.

What is development management?

Development rem...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• About the contributors
• Part I: Development management: concepts and theories
• Part II: Development management: capacity building and performance management
• Part III: Development management: actors, practices and lessons
• Index