Development Management

The Department’s research on Development Management includes the work of Mayling Birney, Teddy Brett, Jean-Paul Faguet, Lloyd Gruber, Thandika Mkandawire, Mahvish Shami and visiting colleagues with similar research interests.

Development Management brings together expertise in political science, economics, management studies and public administration to engage in problems relating to the institutions and organizations of development. The analytical focus of research is on the institutional roots of developmental and anti-developmental processes, and the roles and effectiveness of the local, national and international organisations that drive development forward.

Recent research includes the analysis of drivers underpinning public action for development; implications of high-level policy commitments for delivering development; the management of development organizations to service both technical needs and implicit political prerogatives; the ways competitive pressures from business impinge on traditional forms of development organisation; and the use of evaluation techniques to assess development outcomes.

While academic research will necessarily raise uncomfortable answers to difficult questions, this work is used constructively to build alliances for practical changes in international development.

Teaching Provision

The Department offers the MSc in Development Management, as well as various course options relating to Development Management.

Research Profiles