Institutional development: conflicts, values and meanings
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| 3 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) | |
| Examination | No residential school |
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Summary
Institutions are critical for the success of development processes. Managers – whether in the public sector, the private sector, or civil society – need the capacity to analyse the institutional landscape, design appropriate institutions, and establish good inter-organisational relationships. This course aims to develop those capacities by: exploring the theory of institutions and institutional development; examining the policy and practice of institutional development, in a variety of fields, including poverty reduction, governance, and humanitarian intervention; exploring how relationships built around competition, coordination and cooperation underpin institutional development; demonstrating how the skills of mapping and modelling, negotiating and brokering, contribute to institutional development.
Course content
Taking as its starting point the idea that institutions are the ‘rules, habits, customs and routines which govern society at large’ (Brett, 200), the course establishes the crucial role they play in any development process and shows how to make institutional development happen. It does this by:
Exploring theory
The course views institutions as:
- sets of rules that govern society
- sets of values that shape action, and
- sets of meanings that enable individuals and organisations to make sense of the world in which they operate.
It explores how, in these forms, institutions both present opportunities for change and give rise to resistance to change. It recognises that, in any field of policy and practice, individuals and organisations work to different rules, values and meanings, and that consequently institutional development is always a contested process, a political struggle.
Examining policy and practice
The course applies that theory to three fields of policy and practice that are of contemporary significance: poverty reduction, governance, and humanitarian interventions (in complex emergencies). It looks more briefly at other fields, such as urban regeneration, and the development of health services. In all this, it casts a critical eye over the development of two dominant institutions of development, ‘partnership’ and ‘participation’.
Analysing inter-organisational relationships
Recognising that inter-organisational relationships are at the heart of institutional development, the course presents a conceptual framework for analysing these relationships, a framework built around the ‘3cs’: competition, coordination and cooperation. This framework is applied to the policy and practice fields just mentioned, and is also used to consider relationships between organisations in the public sector, private sector, and in civil society, which together contribute to institutional development.
Demonstrating the use and usefulness of key skills
The course recognises that conceptual skills need to be complemented by other key skills. Particular attention is paid to the development of:
- mapping skills, as a way of organising thoughts and presenting views of a problem or process
- modelling skills, as a way of showing how institutions might or ought to be developed, either with a view to direct implementation/replication or as a basis for negotiating between different approaches
- negotiation and brokering skills, which enable individuals and organisations to establish terms on which they can work together to make institutional development happen.
The course is thus likely to be valuable for managers and other professionals in public sector, private sector and civil society agencies, particularly but by no means exclusively those with an interest in development.
Entry
This course can be taken on its own or counted towards a qualification. If you are taking it as part of a postgraduate qualification, you must have adequate preparation for study at this level, usually demonstrated by a bachelors degree (or the equivalent) from a UK university. If you have no background in development or development management, you are advised to take Development: context and practice (TU871) and Capacities for managing development (TU870) before TU872.
If you would like more information about the Development Management Programme, you can visit our website which incudes additional information on the courses and awards, recommended routes through the programme and details of special schemes. You could also try our study skills exercise.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
Discount for students in non-OECD countries
If you are resident outside of Australia, Canada, Europe, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, Turkey and the USA, you may be eligible for a discounted fee for this course. To enquire about/claim this discount, telephone + 44 (0)115 962 5451 ext 65972, or email us.
Qualifications
TU872 is a compulsory course in our
TU872 is an optional course in our
- Postgraduate Certificate in Systems Thinking in Practice (C72)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Environmental Policy (E15)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Systems Thinking in Practice (E28)
- MA in Environment, Policy and Society (F19)
- MA in Social Sciences (F09)
- MSc in Systems Thinking in Practice (F47)
Some postgraduate qualifications allow study to be chosen from other subject areas. These qualifications allow most postgraduate courses to count towards them. We advise you to refer to the relevant qualification descriptions for information on the circumstances in which this course can count towards these qualifications because from time to time the structure and requirements may change.
Excluded combinations
Sometimes you will not be able to count a course towards a qualification if you have already taken another course with similar content. To check any excluded combinations relating to this course, visit our excluded combination finder or check with our Student Registration & Enquiry Service before registering.
If you have a disability or additional requirement
Some of the course material is presented on audio CD and some of the visual material is on a CD-ROM. You will need to have extensive use of a personal computer and the internet. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability.
If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, you will need to inform us of your particular needs as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Details of how to do this and our range of support services are described in our booklet Meeting Your Needs which you can download or request from our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
You can also find information about accessible course materials, financial support and the Disabled Students' Allowance, equipment and other services, on our Services for disabled students website. It also includes our contact details for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.
Course materials
What's included
Course books, other printed materials, audio CDs, CD-ROMs.
T. Hewitt, J. Harriss, D. Robinson (eds) Managing Development: Understanding Inter-organisational Relationships, Sage Publications with The Open University
Computing requirements
This course has online computer activities – you can access these using a web browser that can play Flash and Shockwave.
You will need internet access and a computer. If you have purchased a new computer since 2002 it should meet your course computing requirements. Check our Technical Requirements section if your computer is older than this or is otherwise unusual.
Teaching and assessment
Support from your tutor
You will have a tutor who will be responsible for monitoring your progress on the course, marking and commenting on your written work and whom you can contact for advice and guidance. Your tutor will mediate an online forum for your tutor group in which participation is optional. A programme of face-to-face tutorials will be arranged at one or two UK locations and students will also have the opportunity to engage in synchronous online tutorials. There is also a separate online forum for all students on the course.
Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.
Assessment
The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above.
You will be expected to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) online through the eTMA system unless there are some difficulties which prevent you from doing so. In these circumstances, you must negotiate with your tutor to get their agreement to submit your assignment on paper.
Students also studied
Students who studied this course also studied at some time:
Future availability
The details given here are for the course that starts in May and November 2010. We expect it to be available twice a year.
How to register
To register a place on this course return to the top of the page and use the Click to register button. For more information and advice about registration see OU Study Explained.
About this page
A postgraduate course in Environment, Development and International Studies.
Study explained
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- Credit points
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- Financial support
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- Study explained
- - all you need to know about studying with the OU.
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