Course 2010-2011 a.y.

Course Objectives

Intergovernmental Institutions (IIs) have been traditionally studied under the perspective of International Relations, Political Sciences and International Law. Since the beginning of the’90s the managerial perspective has assumed growing importance, due to the call for a greater efficiency and effectiveness and for a better transparency and accountability coming from the Member States and other stakeholders. Similar issues have gained special relevance in relation to International Non Governmental Organizations (INGOs) and new global organizational settings.

The course is organised in 4 blocks:

• The first block of this course sets the context of the international organizations, clarifying the notion of International Institution and International Non Governmental Organization, and categorizing International Organizations in families which can be identified consistently with their institutional design, mandates, operational nature or membership composition.
• The second block of the course offers a functional overview of the management reforms, tools and systems in IIs: the main functions of financial management; HR management; field operations’ management; marketing and fundraising; management control and performance measurement; stakeholder management- are here taken into consideration, also with regards to the activity of INGOs.
• The third block of contents of the course takes into account a more operational side of management dealing with management of development projects and programs. This part of the course approaches the main strategic frameworks and declarations that lead the IIs’ intervention and offers an overview of the main issues related to interagency coordination and management of field projects. This allows participants to fully appreciate the specificities of project cycle management in the development industry.
• A forth block of lectures addresses the growingly important issues of Ethics, accountability and oversight mechanisms for mission driven organizations such as the IIs.

Course Content Summary

The course intends to build general and specific knowledge already accumulated by participants on public sector organizations’ management reforms and systems.

At the end of the course, participants are able to:

• Identify different families of International Institutions and elaborate on their peculiarities;
• Understand the complexity and richness of the UN system as a whole, distinguish roles and governance/functioning mechanisms of Funds, Programmes and Specialised Agencies;
• Make comparisons between UN system organizations, other IIs and INGOs in terms of operating and governance mechanisms;
• Understand the current managerial challenges and open issuesin International Institutions and INGOs;
• Appreciate the complexity and the need for a taylored approach to management in International Institutions and INGOs;
• Identify the strategic frameworks and distinctive features of project management in development operations;
• Understand how IIs and INGOs operate on the field;
• Identify the main issues related to programme and project management in development;
• Identify and address the main issues of Ethics and Accountability from an International Organizations' (IIs and INGOs)standpoint.

Detailed Description of Assessment Methods

Attending students:

• Must read the teaching materials and case studies before the lessons
• Final grade is based for a 30 % on a group work and for a 70% on a written final exam

Non attending students

• Must take a written exam on the topics of the reader and of the book:
• D. DIJKZEUL, Rethinking International Organizations Pathologies and Promise, Berghahn Books, 2003;
• E. BORGONOVI, E. MISSONI, D.ALESANI, Management of International Institutions and Non Governmental Organizations.

Textbooks

• E. BORGONOVI, E. MISSONI, D. ALESANI, Management of International Institutions and Non Governmental Organizations (compulsory for all students);
• D. DIJKZEUL, Rethinking International Organizations Pathologies and Promise, Berghahn Books, 2003 (compulsory for non-attending students).