Course 2024-2025 a.y.

The first part of the course (lectures 1-6) will set the IOs’ context of global governance: we will clarify what international organizations are and categorize the main actors in “families.” We will then focus attention on the different areas of global organizing (e.g., development, aid and health), and discuss the main issues and institutions involved in each. Subsequently, we will examine how coherence and coordination is achieved within the United Nations system, and how organizational governance is structured.

The second part of the course (lectures 7-12) will provide an overview of the managerial reforms, tools and systems in international organizations. The issues to be considered include financial management, HR management, stakeholder management, profile management and branding, field operations’ management, management control, and performance measurement. Lastly, the course will address the growingly important issues of the public profile and accountability of IOs and their executives.

PART I
Overview of the UN system & aid issues
Managing international development: overview of issues & institutions
Managing global health: overview of issues & institutions
Responding to climate change: overview of issues & institutions
Coherence, coordination, and governance issues

PART II
Strategic Management in International Organizations
Financing of International Organizations and Projects:
Programme implementation and management
People & Culture in International Organizations
Cross Sector Collaborations and Stakeholder Management
Ethical Challenges in International Organizations

CASE STUDIES IN PARTS I & II
Tackling corruption at the UN
Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank
The WHO's handling of the Ebola crisis
The Global Compact
The World Bank in 2012 - Choosing a Leader
Financing Biodiversity Conservation by the Global Conservation Fund
Knowledge Sharing Initiatives at the World Bank - Creating a 'Knowledge Bank'
The World Health Organization - Change in an International Organization
World Health Organization: Facilitating COVID-19 Vaccines for the World

• Identify different families of IOs and elaborate on mandate and operations.
• Recognize the complexity and richness of the UN system, and distinguish roles and governance mechanisms of Funds, Programmes and Specialized Agencies.
• Identify the current challenges and open issues of the managerial reforms in IOs and INGOs.
• Explain the role of the aid system, other transnational actors, such as global public-private partnerships and global philanthropic foundations.

• Apply critical thinking in relation to management tools and reforms.
• Appreciate the complexity and the need for a tailored approach to management in IOs and INGOs.
• Identify the strategic frameworks and distinctive features of management in development cooperation.
• Make comparisons between UN system organizations, other IOs, transnational hybrid organizations, global philanthropic foundations and INGOs in terms of operating and governance mechanisms.
• Understand how IOs and INGOs operate on the field.
• Identify and address the main issues of ethics and accountability from an IOs standpoint.

• Lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Collaborative Works / Assignments

This course relies on lectures, class-based case studies, class discussions, and a group assignment.

(A) One collaborative policy brief (1/3 of the final grade)

This brief is designed to ensure that students are able to analyze major policy challenges that international organizations are involved in combatting, and can clearly explain policy options that these organizations can implement.

(B) Two short exams (1/3 of the final grade each)

The open-ended and multiple-choice questions in the exams are mainly aimed at testing student's understanding of the key concepts and tools covered in the course material.

(C) An optional short assignment (0-1 points added to your final grade)

Students may elect to write a short assignment related to the fight against climate change to boost their grades. This assignments will allow students to deepen their knowledge on a key challenge related to international organizations' activities.

For students not regularly attending classes, final grade for this course is based on a final written examination (100%) composed of 20 multiple choice questions (counting for 1 point each) and one long-answer question (for 10 points), based on readings and class slides. The exam will last 2 hours.

In line with the course's Intended Learning Outcomes, this exam is intended to ascertain the students' understanding of how international organizations operate on the ground and how they compare to each other, as well as to apply their critical thinking skills in order to elaborate on key managerial issues.

The course relies on textbook chapters and additional chapters or articles, as indicated in the syllabus. The textbooks are available as e-books through the Bocconi library, and all the additional texts will be provided as PDFs on blackboard or as hyperlinks. Students do not need to purchase any material for this course.