Strategic Planning, Implementation and Policy in Development Practice

3 credits · Graduate

This course provides a rigorous, applied examination of how international development projects are designed, financed, implemented, adapted and brought to a close, and of how artificial intelligence is altering each of these functions. The course treats project management as an institutional and political problem rather than a strictly technical one, drawing on strategic decision-making, problem-driven iterative adaptation and monitoring and evaluation practice as core practitioner frameworks. We examine how problems are diagnosed before methods are selected, how decisions are made and defended under uncertainty, how public resources are allocated and audited, and how implementing organizations respond when operating conditions deteriorate.