Development Organizations

Continuing debates over the meaning of development and awareness of the persistence of poverty have resulted in increasing concern over how to ‘do’ development. There are growing numbers of development organizations, undertaking different activities, at different scales, with different motivations, and differing levels of success. It is necessary to identify and evaluate these varied organizations, in order to recognize their successes and failures. Development Organizations is the first introductory text to focus specifically on the variety of organizations involved in development policy and practice. It explores the range and role of organizations, including community-based organizations and civil society actors, international non-governmental organizations, state and other national-based actors, global forms of governance, international financial institutions and transnational corporations. The historical and contemporary role of each of these actors is considered, with analysis of complex theoretical debates surrounding their existence and their activities. The book also explores the political and contested nature of development activities promoted by these organizations, and their effects on society, the economy and the environment. These issues are also considered in context of the Millennium Development Goals; the agenda which currently impacts on the operation and outcomes of the broad range of development organizations. This invaluable text is richly complimented throughout with case studies to help illustrate the operations of development organizations; from the impact of multinational oil companies in the Niger delta to the impact of IMF reforms in Latin America and the Caribbean. This clearly written and user friendly text contains a wealth of features to assist student learning, including start of chapter learning outcomes, and end of chapter summaries, discussion topics, and suggestions for further reading and relevant websites.

The perspective that informs this important book is that every evaluation of a capacity development effort should itself contribute to the capacity development effort and ultimately to the organization’s performance. This is a revolutionary idea in evaluation. With the idea have come the questions: Can it be done? And, if it is done, what will be the consequences? This book elucidates and deepens the idea, shows it can be done, and examines the consequences, both intended and unintended, of engaging in capacity development evaluation

A practical guide to developing higher levels of performance in large organizations through changes in strategy, organization design, and culture. This guide presents detailed descriptions of ways in which individuals intervened in their organizations, how they arrived at their plans, and how it resulted in improved effectiveness and better business results for the organization.

An increasingly competitive environment can lead to considerable problems for many organizations as they struggle to adapt to change. As a result, they fail to create the conditions that can lead to sustainable development over the long term, thus affecting the capabilities of employees. This book provides a fresh perspective on sustainable change and development in organizations, as well as a critical perspective on lean implementation, work environment and sustainability. The expert contributors address the development in, and of, organizations, as well as the development process between organizations, such as in networks or clusters. They discuss topics, such as the role of customers in the development of public organizations; developing knowledgeable practice at work; exploring evidence-based practice and the challenge of regional gender contracts. Undergraduates and postgraduates in different management fields including organizational theory, innovation, human resources, quality development and entrepreneurship will find this book to be of interest. The empirical results and interdisciplinary approach will appeal to practitioners and policy-makers at national, as well as international levels.

This book examines the role of faith-based organizations in managing international aid, providing services, defending human rights and protecting democracy. It argues that greater engagement with faith communities and organizations is needed, and questions traditional secularism that has underpinned development policy and practice in the North.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are high profile actors in the field of international development, both as providers of services to vulnerable individuals and communities and as campaigning policy advocates. This book provides a critical introduction to the wide-ranging topic of NGOs and development. Written by two authors with more than twenty years experience of research and practice in the field, the book combines a critical overview of the main research literature with a set of up-to-date theoretical and practical insights drawn from experience in Asia, Europe, Africa and elsewhere. It highlights the importance of NGOs in development, but it also engages fully with the criticisms that the increased profile of NGOs in development now attracts. Non-Governmental Organizations and Development begins with a discussion of the wide diversity of NGOs and their roles, and locates their recent rise to prominence within broader histories of struggle as well as within the ideological context of neo-liberalism. It then moves on to analyze how interest in NGOs has both reflected and informed wider theoretical trends and debates within development studies, before analyzing NGOs and their practices, using a broad range of short case studies of successful and unsuccessful interventions. David Lewis and Nazneen Kanji then moves on to describe the ways in which NGOs are increasingly important in relation to ideas and debates about ‘civil society’, globalization and the changing ideas and practices of international aid. The book argues that NGOs are now central to development theory and practice and are likely to remain important actors in development in the years to come. In order to appreciate the issues raised by their increasing diversity and complexity, the authors conclude that it is necessary to deploy a historically and theoretically informed perspective. This critical overview will be useful to students of development studies at undergraduate and masters levels, as well as to more general readers and practitioners. The format of the book includes figures, photographs and case studies as well as reader material in the form of summary points and questions. Despite the growing importance of the topic, no single short, up-to-date book exists that sets out the main issues in the form of a clearly written, academically-informed text: until now.

Includes bibliographic references and index.

This scholarly book in SIOP’s Organizational Frontier series looks at research on enhancing knowledge acquisition and its application in organizations. It concentrates on training, design and delivery given the changing nature of work and organizations. Now that work is increasingly complex, there is greater emphasis on expertise and cognitive skills. Advances in technology such as computer simulations and web-based training are necessitating a more active role for the learner in the training process. In the broad context of the organization systems, this book promotes learning and development as a continuous lifelong endeavor.