Management and training for development: The Hombe thesis
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230070103 |
| Date | 01 January 1987 |
| Author | Wyn Reilly |
| Published date | 01 January 1987 |
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Vol.
7,
25-42
(1987)
Management and training
for
development: the
Hombe thesis
WYN
REILLY
University
of
Manchester
SUMMARY
A
fundamental reason
why
public service management
in
many Third World countries has
improved
so
little, despite significant training inputs, is that the political and bureaucratic
elite do
not
want it to. The ‘Hombe thesis’ is that the elite consists
of
executives skilled
in
managing the system to meet their own interests and to preserve the status
quo.
Further,
aid organizations and third parties engaged in management development tend to collude
with the elite. Three additional basic problems are explored. First, that
of
developing a
style
of
management appropriate to the local political and social environment. Second,
identifying the actual functions of chief executives
in
the public service and helping managers
to develop expertise in their roles. Third, the difficulties of assessing real managerial
training needs rather than expressing desires. The paper concludes with a plea to face the
fundamental constraints
to
effective management and training instead of playing around
with subordinate issues.
INTRODUCTION
Public service management in the Third World has improved remarkably little
over the past
20
years despite the dramatic increase in public administration and
management training. Some would even argue that managerial capability has
declined (Gettinger,
1984;
Makharita,
1985;
Kubr and Wallace,
1983;
Ozgediz,
1983).
There are several reasons for this paucity
of
managerial skill. They include
rapid expansion
of
the public sector through the increases in development pro-
grammes; disruption resulting from national and international revolutions and
conflicts; a tendency to focus on technical and professional education training
rather than administration and management; the brain drain to the private sector
and overseas; the nature
of
many public service systems in which political, tribal
and personal considerations act against sound management; and the inability
of
so
much
of
the eduction and training in administration and management to produce
capable managers.
These are plausible reasons, but do they adequately explain what in some
of
the less developed countries is nothing short
of
a crisis in organization and
management? Recent experience as the manager
of
a new training institute
Wyn Reilly
is
a Senior Lecturer and Director
of
the Senior Management Programme at the Institute
for
Development Policy and Management, University
of
Manchester, Precinct Centre, Oxford Road,
Manchester M13
9QS
0271-2075/87/010025-18$09.00
0
1987
by John Wiley
&
Sons,
Ltd.
26
W.
Reilly
overseas suggests that other factors may be equally, if not more, important.
The barriers to effective management discussed in this essay are well known to
experienced foreign advisors, and
I
therefore make no claim to original thinking.
Yet there is a tendency to talk only in hushed whispers about certain constraints,
for the obvious reason that it could be unwise to talk about such matters too
openly
if
one were interested in another contract overseas.
The paper is based on my own working experience within the public services
of a limited number of countries. It is not a general thesis. The sample is small
and the constraints identified may only apply to a handful
of
isolated cases.
Nevertheless, discussions with colleagues, friends and study fellows indicate that
similar problems do exist
to
a varied extent and in different forms in a wide range
of countries. They are by no means confined to the less developed countries
either, though
they
do tend to be more prevalent and certainly more damaging
in the least developed. The essay is intentionally provocative. The objective is
to
stimulate discussion and further research. The comments of some who have read
the draft have been something along the lines, ‘well yes, we have all been saying
this kind
of
thing for years but
if
you put
it
in writing you will only be accused
of being cynical, colonial and bigoted’. Possibly
so,
but
I
have reached a stage as
a management trainer where
I
believe much
of
our training can be a sheer waste
of
time because we side-step the fundamental issues which are sensitive, and
contentrate only on the secondary, which are neutral and more acceptable.
I
am
concerned about development‘, especially for the deprived, and
I
do believe that
improvement is possible despite the monumental obstacles.
I
also believe
in
aid,
though
I
am not
so
happy about the appalling way
so
much
of
it
is administered,
resulting in ‘the poor of the rich world aiding the rich of the poor world’. Finally,
by way of introduction, this essay is about management for development, but
because
so
much
of
my own experience has been
in
the area
of
training and staff
development the focus is on the training aspects
of
improving public service
managerial capability in the Third World.
The main problems with management training are that there has not been
enough of it, the quality is variable and too little is applicable to the public
services. Selcuk Ozgediz claims that throughout the developing world a far smaller
proportion of public service managers receive training than those
in
the industrial
countries (Ozgediz,
1983,
p.
29).
Much
of
the training, especially in Africa, has
been, and still is, done overseas and has not been particularly relevant to local
needs. Training within most developing countries according to a number
of
recent
studies (Paul,
1983;
Olivero,
1982;
Ozgediz,
1983;
Kubr and Wallace,
1983)
suffers
from the following defects:
(1)
Training is often treated as a discreet event.
(2)
Few trainees are selected on the basis
of
greatest need.
(3)
Competent trainers are rare.
(4)
Training curricula and materials are usually based on borrowed models and
(5)
Classroom-based, academic-style teaching still dominates.
(6)
Evaluation of training goes little beyond taking attendance and assessing
(7)
Most training institutes are poorly financed and managed (Ozgediz,
1983.
rarely updated.
the ‘happiness levels’.
p.
31).
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