The Changing Roles of Development Managers in Asia

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Introduction

The Changing Roles of Development Managers in Asia

Globalization has altered the local and international governance arena and changed the roles of development managers. As countries in Asia face new challenges, executives and managers in the field of development need to expand their competencies in various areas to bring about continuous growth and sustainable development.

The awareness of good governance as a critical factor for progress requires that development practitioners must know how to operate within shared governance systems. They must know how to manage the interests of various sectors – the state, the civil society and the private sector. They must also be able to operate within national, regional and global environments.

This period of rapid transition and regional integration in Asia is a beacon call for development leaders to equip themselves with the necessary skills to generate strategic interventions, policies, programs and projects that can address the causes of human deprivation, differences, conflicts and diversities.

In response to this challenge, the Asian Institute of Management’s Center for Development Management (CDM), which is tasked with the mission to form the next generation of development managers -- strategic leaders and change agents in their respective countries, societies and organizations, offer a responsive and innovative 11-month study program -- the Master in Development Management.

Earn Your MDM with Exceptional People

• Participants accepted to the MDM program represent a myriad of rich cultures and diverse backgrounds, which provide the course with more than a lifetime’s learning experience.

• The participants also have unique characteristics. They have greater business experience than regular master degree program. The average work experience of current participants is eight (8) years. They are seasoned professionals, able to exercise sound management judgment and to share worthwhile experience.

MDM Participant Profile

• A college degree or its equivalent
• Proficiency in both oral and written English, and
• At least six (6) years work experience, three (3) years of which should have been in a supervisory or managerial capacity
• Strong leadership potential
• Clear motivation and drive
• Solid analytical skills and emotional maturity

While experience in development programs, projects or institutions, whether public or private, is not required, it could enhance the overall chances of the applicant for admission. The Admissions Committee uses various criteria in selecting candidates for the MDM Program. These include an applicant’s work experience, career plans, academic records, maturity and motivation. The Selection Committee also takes into consideration the professional recommendation and the essay submitted by the applicant in fulfillment of admission requirements.

Our Past MDM Participants

Partial list of Organizations Who Have Sponsored MDM Students

1. Asian Development Bank – Japan Scholarship
2. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foundation
3. Ayala Foundation
4. Bank of Indonesia
5. Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
6. Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA)
7. Ford Foundation – International Fellowship Program (IFP)
8. Gonoshahajjo Sangstha (Bangladesh)
9. Government of India
10. Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung gGmbH (InWEnt)
11. Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAF)
12. Land Bank of the Philippines
13. Ministry of Agriculture (Indonesia)
14. Ministry of Home Affairs (Indonesia)
15. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (India)
16. Open Society Institute
17. Packard Foundation
18. Philippines Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources
19. Ramon Magsaysay Foundation
20. Royal Civil Service Commission (Bhutan)
21. Royal Netherlands Embassy
22. Swiss Aid
23. Swiss Interchurch Aid (HEKS)
24. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
25. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
26. United Mission to Nepal
27. United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
28. Various Philippine Government Agencies
29. Winrock International (China)
30. World Bank
31. World Health Organization
32. World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
33. MDM Alumni

MDM Alumni

1. Azerbaijian
2. Bangladesh
3. Bhutan
4. Bolivia
5. Cambodia
6. China
7. East Timor
8. Fiji
9. Indonesia
10. India
11. Japan
12. Kenya
13. Lao PDR
14. Malaysia
15. Maldives
16. Myanmar
17. Nepal
18. Nigeria
19. Norway
20. Pakistan
21. Papua New Guinea
22. Philippines
23. Rep. of Kiribati
24. Sri Lanka
25. Taiwan
26. Thailand
27. UK
28. USA
29. Vietnam

About AIM

The Asian Institute of Management (AIM) is a world-class graduate school that aims to make a difference in sustaining the growth of Asian societies by developing professional, entrepreneurial, and socially responsible leaders and managers. It was founded in 1968 in partnership with Harvard Business School, the Ford Foundation, and visionaries in the Asian academic and business communities.

The Institute has four distinct schools for educating business and development leaders and managers: the W. SyCip Graduate School of Business, the Asian Center for Entrepreneurship, the Executive Education and Lifelong Learning Center, and the Center for Development Management.These four schools of the AIM are committed to molding competent and effective business, development and entrepreneurial leaders and managers in Asia.

With global presence, AIM has been conferred the following awards and recognitions:

• European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) stamp by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) in 2003. This recognition put the Institute at par with world-class business schools.

• The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the premier accrediting agency for business schools, also gave accreditation to the Institute in 2004.

• The Beyond Grey Pinstripes Award for Business School Innovation in Social Impact Management in 2001.

• The Excellence in Integration in Curriculum Award in 2003 for having the most content on social impact and environmental management topics in its core courses.

• The Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1993. The Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize, in recognition of its role in promoting international understanding and setting region-wide standards of excellence.

• The world’s first graduate school of management to be awarded the ISO 14001 Certification for its Environmental Management System.

The Institute also has close links with the world’s major multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. The AIM became the first education institution to partner with the World Bank with the establishment of the AIM-World Bank Global Distance Learning Center in 2002. The ADB, on the other hand, designated the Institute as a Center of Excellence, a partner in knowledge creation and management, and a collaborator in delivering programs that cultivate Asian societies.

About CDM

Mission

The mission of the Center for Development Management (CDM) of the Asian Institute of Management is to provide results-oriented degree and certificate programs and produce excellent development managers.

The Center aims to mold competent and effective development managers who will be leaders and change agents in their respective countries, societies and organizations, and who can operate effectively within the context of a developing country’s cross-governance systems.

Philosophy

The Center believes that the resolution of political, societal, and economic issues and concerns involves the active engagement of three key stakeholders in development—the state, the market, and civil society.

The thrust of CDM’s program is based on the idea that development goes beyond the mere production of goods and services, and that it extends to human development. It is now generally recognized that, in the end, people and not mere “things” are the focal point of all development efforts. At the same time, the Center recognizes that people do not develop in a vacuum, but in a total environment that involves physical, economic, social and political structures and institutions. The overriding philosophy of the program, therefore, is that if the developing world is to successfully respond to meeting the needs of the greatest number of the earth’s poor and promote human development, an asset and human capital formation is required, as well as the creation and continuous upgrading of responsive functioning systems and institutions in all sectors of the society. For development managers, this means that they must possess the appropriate skills and know-how to manage the total environment of human development.

The development manager, as envisioned by CDM, is not a bureaucrat who operates alone, no matter how efficiently. He or she must also be a leader whose effectiveness will greatly depend on his ability to develop institutions within a culture and to motivate others to espouse the same ideals and zeal for human development. Thus, the formation of the development manager as a leader becomes a primary goal of the CDM program where participants are exposed to recurring themes involving integrity and transparency, popular participation and accountability, innovation and sustainability.

Our Core Faculty

The core faculty members of the Center for Development Management are development managers themselves, having served in private, public, and non-government organizations in various top-level capacities in developing countries. But beyond being actual practitioners, the members of the CDM core faculty have impressive academic credentials in advanced studies from the most prestigious universities in the world, with the habits of mind that such advanced training inculcates. Thus, there is assured a strong combination of the theoretical and the practical in the programs of CDM.

Primary Learning Methodologies

The learning method adopted by the program focuses on the mastery of the art of learning.

• Case Method.The case method is the primary mode of learning utilized in all programs at the AIM. In the case method, students work through a rigorous examination of management cases in intense class discussions guided by a professor.

The students are grouped into small teams called “Can Groups” and are encouraged to meet and discuss their findings on the case. In class, with the guidance of a lecturer, the students investigate the factors and issues that affect each management case. Through the case study method, the students also get to share the responsibility of acquiring, analyzing and evaluating information that would enable them to internalize the managerial lessons presented in the cases.

• Class Participation. The students are expected to prepare for class sessions by doing assigned readings and meeting in study groups to discuss case materials. During class sessions, students diagnose the problems presented in several development management cases, propose alternative strategies and debate the advantages and disadvantages of each.

• Individual Reflection Papers. Students will reflect upon their experiences in class and their insights on the cases and other class activities. The students will have the opportunity to examine their own challenges and analyze situations.

• Group Reports. The students will work frequently in small groups with members from diverse backgrounds. They will present their analysis of the management cases or insights on the various topics taken up to the class. This is also a venue for the students to share and discuss their insights.

• Examinations. In the form of mini-Written Analysis of Cases (WAC) and essay exams, the students’ analyses in their papers would reflect a good understanding of the concepts discussed in the class.

Earn Your MDM Degree by August 2008

• The AIM Master in Development Management (MDM) Program spans a period of 11 months, beginning in September 2007. Participants who will have successfully completed the program will receive the AIM MDM degree in August 2008.

• The program is intensive. Throughout the 11-month period, participants must complete three (3) modules of on-campus work, two (2) weeks of Rapid Area Assessment, off-campus assignments and at least six (6) Written Analysis of Cases throughout Modules 1 and 2.

Our MDM Program Architecture

• Critical Analysis
• Problem Analysis
• Decision Making
• Opportunity Seeking
• Communicating

• Conceptualizing
• Synthesizing
• Integrating
• Strategizing

• Institutionalizing and Strengthening
• Adaptation and Replication
• Reflection and Abstraction
• Sensitivity

• Nurturing Relationships

• Catalyzing Substantive Change

• Building and Leading Sustainable Organizations

Earn Your MDM with Academic Rigor

Focus: Managing Transitions and Effecting Substantive Change

Core courses are offered on-campus during the first 24 weeks. They are taught from an international perspective and are based in key management disciplines.

Core Courses:

• Analysis of Development Environments (ADE) seeks to develop the students to assume various roles: leader, opportunity seeker, change agent and integrator, highly capable of building alliances across organizations, industries, nations.

• Organizational Development (OD) enhances the students’ basic knowledge about organizations and organizational growth which includes concepts and principles including tools and frameworks that can be used and adopted in future work.

• Operations and Service Management (OSM) acquaints the students with the frameworks, principles and perspectives of managing operations and services, including quality, productivity concerns and selection of appropriate service delivery systems. The concepts, tools and frameworks are applicable to development management settings and are intended to provide students with a holistic view of OSM applications.

• Social Marketing (SM) provides the students with the knowledge and skills necessary to understand and market different development programs effectively. With social marketing frameworks, students will identify the Product, Pricing, Promotion, Place and People elements of various development management initiatives.

• Strategic Management in Development (SMD aims to enhance the capabilities of the students in developing superior strategies for designing structures and systems.

• Program and Project Management and Development (PPDM) examines the design, implementation and assessment of superior programs and projects that contribute to public prosperity building and better quality of life for the people served.

• Leadership and the Management of Change (LMC) defines leadership skills, roles and styles appropriate for development managers in leading organizations or communities.

Earn Your MDM with Leadership Development

Focus: Building and Leading Sustainable Organization

Throughout the MDM program, emphasis is placed on dimensions of leadership. Its integrated curriculum is designed to help students enhance their self-awareness and identify and develop their leadership skills.

Core Courses:

• Banking with the Poor explains the financial service requirements and risk profiles of low-income households and their microenterprises. It illustrates different models of banking with the poor, as well as the issues and challenges faced by institutions engaged in banking with the poor.

• Competitiveness and Development explores the critical relationship between competitiveness and development, and reviews the methodology, concepts, tools, and approaches relating to building competitiveness.

• Development Economics for Managers introduces the major conclusions of empirical research in Development Economics. Its objectives are: (1) to provide a solid understanding of the paradigms and methodologies of Development Economics; (2) to develop the awareness of students with regard to the ongoing debates and research on Development Economics so that they can follow the developments in the discipline in a cogent way, or as presented in journals and publications; and (3) to present the relevance of key issues in development economics to development management.

• Development Finance gives a clear view at how the financial system works, how institutions involved in development work interact, and how they take care of their financial resources to ensure that development proceeds and continues to grow.

• Development of Asian Economies illustrates the holistic and multi-faceted view of the development experience of Asian economies and helps the students build a broad-based perspective of development history as well as a feel for policy reforms and development concerns from different perspectives.

• Urban Environmental Management provides an overview of management issues and challenges facing Asian mega cities and urban centers, with emphasis on problems of infrastructure and service.

• Globalization and Integration in Asia provides an in-depth analysis of the implications of the ongoing globalization and regionalism in the Western Hemisphere and of the sub-regional cooperation and integration efforts in Asia.

• Human Resource Management for Development Organizations aims to deepen the students’ understanding of the following: (1) the contribution of Human Resource Management (HRM) to Organization Performance in developing organizations; (2) the application of HRM functional clusters in developing organizations; (3) the imperative to improve the competence of the HRM Staff in developing organizations; and (4) the formulation of a long-term HR strategy to support the Vision, Mission, Organization and Strategies of developing organizations.

• International Financial Institutions provides insights into the work of the three most important International Financial Institutions (IFI) working in the Asia-Pacific region, namely, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank Group and the Asian Development Bank. It also provides a good balance between theory and practice as illustrated by examples of actual IFI interventions in South and Southeast Asia.

• Managing State Reforms introduces the key concepts and tools in the areas of shared governance, management of change, institution building, building coalitions and alliances for reforms, and social marketing. It helps students: (1) to identify emerging trends and issues in state reforms; (2) to understand the policy environment and state apparatus within which the state reformist operates; (3) to understand the nature of state reformists; (4) to explore the dynamics of building alliances and coalitions for reforms within and outside the bureaucracy; and (5) to enhance their leadership and organizational capabilities.

• Performance Management Systems illustrates the existing Performance Management System models, various approaches and methods for assessing staff and rewarding high performance in organizations.

• Privatization deals with the dynamics of privatization in a developing country. It also aims to enhance the students’ skills in policy formulation, precise planning, and proper execution in privatizing public enterprises.

• Self-Mastery, Art and Spirituality provides an in-depth experience of the workings of the inner faculties of an individual, and how it can be used to enrich and humanize leadership and decision-making processes. It is anchored on the pillars of self-knowledge, the arts and the various spiritual disciplines of the world.

• Strategic Negotiations and Conflict Management introduces the theory and practice of negotiations as a critical component of conflict settlement / management, and the resolution of conflicts. It provides the students: (1) core principles and strategies for managing conflicts across groups, establishing coalitions and creating value for oneself, one’s group or organization, one’s community; (2) a systematic process for diagnosing, planning, implementing and following up any attempt to manage conflict and disagreements constructively.

• Sources and Uses of Power provides a framework for studying power in situations at the personal, corporate, national and international levels.

• Social Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development deals with the evolving theory and practice of social entrepreneurship and social enterprise development. It provides an understanding of the concept of social enterprise, how it differs from the business enterprise and the role of the social entrepreneur as an economic change agent.

Depending on the availability of the faculty and the interests of the students, not all these courses are offered in a given year. At the same time, new courses and electives may be developed and be available to the students.