Admin | Published: 15 March, 2024

Have you ever stopped to anticipate all the basic necessities in your life and how easily they could slip away? Imagine the millions who are not privileged enough for what you have. This troubling statistic will leave you numb.

According to the Global MPI results in 2021, nearly 1.3 billion of the 5.8 billion beings across 109 countries lacked basic accessibility to food, water, and sanitation. It is disheartening that nearly half of all children under 12 are facing the issue of poverty. In the coming years, this number will increase and it demands our undivided attention to this global situation.

Indian School of Development Management is committed to creating future change-makers in development management along with experienced thought leaders, practitioners, and professors. If you are passionate about a 360-degree change in the lives of the unprivileged, here is your chance to be the next global change-maker! Without wasting any more time, let’s dig into this guide to comprehend what is development management, why it matters, and how you can transform lives.

What is Development Management?

Development management is more than applying traditional management principles to social problems. It uses a strategic approach towards the Social Purpose Organizations (SPOs). The primary focus is to plan, organise and implement projects and programs for sustainable development.

To understand the concept even better, there are a few examples that set the right context for development management. For example, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme was launched in India with the motive of improving the lives of rural residents and giving them a sense of economic security to live a better livelihood. At the global level, the United Nations Member States adopted the initiative to bring peace, prosperity, and a clear vision to end poverty with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Why is it Necessary to have Development Management in the Social Sector?

The social sector is currently facing challenges, in terms of poverty and inequality to environmental problems and access to basic necessities. The traditional approach to tackling complex social issues often falls short, which again creates chaos in the process. To avoid such mishaps, development management bridges these gaps with the following:

1. Navigating through Challenges

Understanding the specific needs and challenges that people are facing, or else it would lead to impractical and harmful decisions. Also, identifying the need to leverage sufficient resources and expertise from the NGOs, government, and private sectors. So, utilising valid evidence to make analytical, strategic decisions will ensure the implementation of solutions that are beneficial in improving the livelihoods.

2. Achieving Sustainable Impacts

Aiming for a sustainable change takes time and needs strategic planning to create an impactful change. Development management ensures that the process reaches more beneficiaries, grows sustainably and creates a long-lasting impact. The ultimate goal of providing skills and resources to the local communities will help in achieving development rather than short term interventions.

3. Maintaining Transparency and Ownership

Enabling trust with the stakeholders and collaborators via straightforward communication and reliable resource management. Ensuring every individual is kept in the loop during the decision-making processes, assuring interventions reflect their needs and priorities. Despite bureaucracy and funding pressures, development managers maintain SPOs true to their mission. This results in executing strategic decisions towards society.

4. Adapting to Technology and Innovation

To build a successful economy, adapting to technology becomes a driving force for social change. In India, 350 million internet users exist, which gives the development managers a chance to cater to a larger ecosystem. As internet access expands, so does economic growth. Embrace creative solutions and harness technology to handle complicated problems. Adapting to change and reacting to unanticipated occurrences in time with effective measures becomes a vital part of improving livelihoods.

Is there a Rewarding Career Path with High Demand?

The development management in the social sector will have a significant growth potential in the subsequent years, opening career paths for passionate individuals. There is an open field in India to create impactful projects and programs as the country is developing. There are NGOs, corporate foundations, social enterprises, and organisations that are taking advantage of this change.

In today’s generation, the career path in the social sector is not limited only to social science graduates. Students are building their careers in development management coming from different educational and professional backgrounds for the betterment of humankind.

Individuals passionate about bringing a change in society and making a contribution can explore these career options in this field:

• Social Advocacy
• CSR Fund/Foundation
• Social Welfare Organisation
• Profit Social Organisation
• Non-Profit Organisation
• Social Enterprise
• Unilateral/Bilateral Agency

Why Choose the Indian School of Development Management (ISDM)?

In the search to figure out this vast and complex social sector with various challenges, it is crucial to choose the right path for education. While people were at an awareness stage to understand what development management was in its early stages, the Indian School of Development Management had already made its way to becoming the leader of the industry.

The way we have designed our curriculum is what sets us apart from the emerging competition in the market. We believe in action-oriented learning, a curriculum structured by experts, networking with individuals in the industry, management skills, guest lectures, and workshops are some ways that we provide holistic learning to the students.

How to Apply and become Eligible for the Course?

The social sector has been gaining the attention that it deserves over the years. A lot of companies have invested in CSR projects and want to contribute to society. Consequently, there has been an increase in job opportunities and open doors for the change-makers to build their careers.

To have a successful career in development and management in the social sector, build these skills:

• Research and Analysis
• Collaboration and Networking
• Entrepreneurial Mindset
• Critical Thinking
• Active Listening
• Determination to Bring a Change.

Here are some steps that you need to take in order to be a part of the global change-markers at ISDM.

• Register via the official website and begin your application journey.
• Appear for the online assessment, crack it, and get one step closer to your dream.
• Once you clear the assessment round, it's time for a personal interview round with the faculty.

A graduate from any stream should have a minimum of 60% marks in 10th and 12th grade.

Ready to be a Global Change-Maker?

The social sector requires individuals who have expertise, innovation, and compassion to venture into the world’s complicated challenges. Making the right choice to create an impact in the world requires adequate guidance and knowledge to reach the end goal.

Indian School of Development Management is not just an academic institution; it is a place for dynamic change-markers of our country to create meaningful changes for a sustainable life ahead. The institute's unique approach towards education, outstanding and well-trained faculty and earned name in the industry is what sets us apart.

What are you waiting for? Come join us in this noble cause of changing humankind with the right steps and a bright mind. This is your chance to be the global change-maker with ISDM!

by Gaurav Shah | Published: 04 January , 2024

Collaboration as the Catalyst for Social Impact

In the dynamic landscape of the development sector, collaboration emerges as a powerful force, often cited as the linchpin for sustainable and scalable social change. However, the path to effective collaboration is not always clear, and the sector grapples with finding models that transcend the realm of unfulfilled promises. This blog explores five collaborative models, each offering a unique approach to fostering sustainable impact, shedding light on the processes needed to bring them to fruition.

1. Technical Collaborations: Bridging Skill Gaps for Mutual Growth

The first model revolves around addressing specific technical shortcomings within organisations through partnerships. For instance, when organisation A struggles with fundraising, a collaboration with organisation B, specializing in fundraising, creates a symbiotic relationship. These collaborations thrive on a clear quid-pro-quo dynamic, sustaining themselves as long as there is a mutual need.

2. Relationship-Based Collaborations: Nurturing Connections for Collective Progress

Driven by the necessity to connect with specific stakeholder segments, relationship-based collaborations become the focal point. When organisation A, equipped with funding, aspires to enhance education in a district, teams up with organisation B, possessing expertise in government relations, becomes instrumental. These partnerships, rooted in softer skills like relationship building, evolve gradually, often shaped by the equation between the leaders of the collaborating organisations.

3. Sector-Specific Collaborations: Uniting Forces for Sectoral Transformation

• Bringing Expertise Together: Sector-specific collaborations center around bringing organisations operating in a particular sub-sector together.
• Ideation and Implementation: This model aims to articulate sectoral challenges, ideate on solutions, and collectively implement and advocate for change.
• Diverse Perspectives: Such collaborations harness diverse expertise, offering a platform to learn from different perspectives and present a united voice to influence the external ecosystem.

4. Geographic Collaborations: Holistic Development in Local Contexts

• Localized Holistic Approaches: Geographic collaborations focus on uniting organisations working in specific geographical areas, be it a district, state, or region.
• Systems Thinking: The objective is to develop a holistic, systems thinking-driven, cross-sectoral view of development for that particular geography.
• Silo-less Solutions: This approach rests on the belief that understanding local context is paramount in the development space, where standardized approaches often fall short.

5. Ecosystem Collaborations: Orchestrating Comprehensive Development Initiatives

• Inclusive Stakeholder Engagement: Ecosystem collaborations transcend organisational boundaries to bring together stakeholders across the development spectrum.
• Comprehensive Decision-Making: The goal is to ensure comprehensive discussions covering all viewpoints, fostering decisions that encompass the diverse facets of development.
• Power of Intervention: Imagine the power of an intervention which has political buy-in, is supported by the government machinery, has a funder backing it, and has been evolved ground up using participatory approaches.

From Bilateral to Strategic Relationships

Transitioning from technical collaborations to ecosystem collaborations amplifies the complexity of stakeholder management. The move involves handling multiple parameters, including the number of stakeholders, diverse viewpoints, varied agendas and egos, and a shift from transactional to strategic relationships. Challenges emerge in decision-making, sustaining interest, and motivation over time. However, the potential benefits and possibilities of bringing about sustainable social change on a large scale also increase with this progression.

The Founder-Centric Quandary

The shift towards holistic collaborations introduces challenges, particularly in founder-centric models. Often driven by passion and intent, these models may lack the necessary knowledge, skills, and infrastructure to manage multi-sectoral operations. Sustainability and growth become elusive, highlighting the need for a more strategic approach to organisational building.

Beyond Collaboration Models

Beyond the strategic choices in collaboration models, the narrative crafted by social organisations becomes a potent tool. The narrative not only defines an organisation's essence but also resonates with the lives it aims to transform. This storytelling aspect is crucial, going beyond operational decisions to create a compelling story of change.

Development Management Paradigm

Amidst the complexities of collaboration, the paradigm of development management emerges as a crucial guiding force. Development management entails the strategic orchestration of efforts to drive impactful change in social organisations. Integrating development management principles becomes imperative, aligning initiatives with overarching goals and navigating the intricate web of challenges.

Steering Towards Sustainable Change

As the development sector grapples with collaboration models, the narrative takes center stage. It goes beyond being a strategic choice, becoming a narrative that defines an organisation's essence. The choices organisations make should align with their mission, vision, and the communities they serve.

Embark on a Collaborative Learning Journey with ISDM

For a deeper dive into the intricacies of social development and collaborative strategies, explore ISDM's Post-Graduate Program in Development Management. Equip yourself with insights that go beyond the conventional, empowering you to make meaningful contributions in the social sector. Discover more at ISDM and embark on a transformative journey.

Many people have a deep interest in joining the social sector, but very few have a nuanced and informed understanding of the various aspects involved in working in it. For example, social purpose organisations that generate profit come as a surprise to most. Similarly, many may not be aware of the difference between social entrepreneurship and a social enterprise. Social enterprises, in fact, carry out a purely commercial activity, while social entrepreneurship has an underlying social objective and is not connected to profit. This article aims to unpack these similar-sounding yet starkly different terminologies ‘Social Enterprise’ and ‘Social Entrepreneurship’ and understand the role of development management in creating these.

A Social Enterprise is essentially an organisation that engages in commercial activities and looks at a profit in conjunction with improving the well-being of people or the environment. Deriving profit from this activity could be one of the motives. Social enterprises are often viewed as organisations that do not generate profits or distribute them to stakeholders. You would be surprised to know that most social enterprises make profits and reinvest them back into the organisation. The structuring of social enterprises is for-profit, non-profit, or not for profit. A social enterprise's core purpose or ethos is built on a social mission to maximise the bottom line.

Social entrepreneurship refers to initiatives made by a person or group of people. The resultant benefits are the outcome of an entrepreneur who has a social vision, and the product is the result of a social initiative with no profit. Entrepreneurs are the change against whom they look to forge organisations or fashion change in existing ones to create social impact. Innovation is fundamental in social entrepreneurship.

Also Read: Which is the best course for a management career in the social sector?

Development Management for Social Entrepreneurship

Development Management focuses on empowering development professionals to roll up their sleeves and dive into complex community issues which need sensitivity, empathy, and tactfulness. The Post Graduate Program in Development Management (PGP DM), developed and carefully curated by the Indian School of Development Management (ISDM), enables professionals to look at existing models, structures, systems, and processes. They are empowered to redesign appropriate strategies and interventions that could be more effective and efficient. Many ISDM alumni have been deeply involved in launching or working with social entrepreneurial ventures today.

– Tanushree Jain, PGP DM Batch of 2017-18
FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF NUSHAURA

“NUSHAURA is a for-profit social enterprise working with rural and tribal artisans across various remote villages in Rajasthan. They curate sustainable, healthy, handmade products. The aim is to maintain the well-being of the consumers and Mother Earth. What is unique about this social enterprise is how the artisans are equal stakeholders, creating an increased sense of responsibility and efficiency.”

– Anamika Kandari, PGP DM Class of 2017-18
OWNER OF THE KHALSEN HOMESTAY

The Khalsen Homestay in Uttarakhand was started to support rural livelihood opportunities and create a mindset to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

“People from the hills are very hard working but lack entrepreneurial skills. They have resources, and there are multiple schemes to support them, but there is a huge gap in awareness and implementation. So, our efforts have set a sustainable income generation model.”

– Abhishek Paluri, PGP DM Class of 2020-21
OWNER OF THE KHALSEN HOMESTAY

HUManity is an organisation focused on identifying the needs of childcare institutions and providing need-based interventions. The programs are implemented with the objective of the holistic development of children by including components that enhance life skills, literacy, and infrastructure.

The Need for Social Enterprises and Social Entrepreneurship

There is a crying need for a broader understanding of the social problems that affect communities and searching for effective outcomes to address them. Developing models in social enterprises, irrespective of profit as a motive, is a dire requisite. Committed organisations working on social causes with a double bottom line of financial gain and societal welfare are changing conventional business models. The path forward addresses global issues of the environment, welfare, health, and education through innovation and unconventional approaches. Social enterprises like NUSHAURA, the Khalsen Homestay and HUManity address community issues focused on positive social change. To drive the concept of social enterprises, we need entrepreneurs like Tanushree, Anamika and Abhishek who transcend convention with innovative solutions, are operated with ambition and perseverance and are eager to change systems. Social entrepreneurs are viewed as change agents who can tread into areas where other stakeholders have been unable to venture into due to the scarcity of funds or the sheer will to do so.

Is there a closeted Social Entrepreneur in you?

Are you a development professional who loves problems and not the solution?

Do you believe that no one owns a social solution? Do you think these solutions should be co-created with the community to ensure sustainability and impact using a change management philosophy?

Lastly, do you understand that impact is the bottom line of the social sector? You cannot rely on innovation and invention alone but need to prove impact and pursue scale, making them visionary and disciplined in your approach?

If you found yourself answering ‘yes’ to these questions, according to Suzanne Smith, the founder of Social Impact Architects, you have the mindset of a social entrepreneur! The community’s problems and latent needs address them from a social perspective. Social change is achieved through organisations with bold and innovative solutions crafted by social entrepreneurs. They are essential in driving change from the 2 Ps to the 3 Ps of People, Planet and Prosperity. The realisation that every organisation can shape the welfare of communities is what needs to be acknowledged and appreciated. The ultimate goal is for social change to be possible by social organisations and social entrepreneurs.

To take a step further toward social change, enrol yourself in the Post Graduate Program of Development Management by the Indian School of Development Management (ISDM). ISDM is a unique and pioneering school of management. The curriculum does not merely retrofit Business Management to development projects but is explicitly born from the union of the two binding domains of development leadership and management.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted people’s health, livelihood, infrastructure and access to essential goods and resources. Social purpose organisations (SPOs) represent the less empowered billions who had little or no agency to overcome these unprecedented hurdles to sustain themselves. The challenges these SPOs needed to address suddenly became additionally complex. The Post-Graduate Program in Development Management (PGP DM), developed and carefully curated by the Indian School of Development Management, is a pioneering program for social sector aspirants. The design, curriculum and pedagogy of the PGP DM keep pace with the dynamic needs and managers that developmental work and SPOs require in this post-pandemic world.

The post-pandemic world calls for SPOs to look at their work through a systems lens with a novel approach. The ecosystem has become exceedingly dynamic, with rapidly changing needs and processes. These ground realities call for a program that responds to the development sector’s emerging needs. While similar courses and pedagogies in the development sector give development professionals a sound theoretical foundation, ISDM’s program in Development Management approaches these issues through evolving pedagogy and sector responsive modules. They help create managers and leaders who are adept at rising to the occasion in difficult situations and aim to deliver social impact at a population scale.

Development Management and leadership is the answer for SPOs in the post-pandemic world.

What is Development Management?

Development Management brings together the two domains of management principles and development praxis with a foundation in universal human values of equity, compassion, and justice. The endeavour is to create a whole new ecosystem of ideas, individuals, and institutions driven by adequate and appropriate development leadership and management practice. Development Management attempts to pioneer the capacity-building of development professionals through various means to achieve the goals of India’s social purpose organisations across the country. It aims at enabling practitioners to plunge into understanding complex societal issues, design appropriate strategies, build relevant networks with state and market stakeholders, and work with them collaboratively based on that understanding.

ISDM’s vision is to nurture a cadre of professionals with adequate knowledge, the ability to engage with complex systems, and a reliable professional and ethical code of practice. The PGP DM trains practitioners to analyse, interpret and apply a development lens to managerial theories, principles, and procedures, enabling them to understand the contextual realities and complexities to respond by developing sustainable solutions.

A Glimpse into the Post-Graduate Program in Development Management

The 47-week program is divided into eight terms. The curriculum is built on the contemporary thinking in management education as advocated by Srikant Datar, Garvin and Cullen, who proposed a proper balance between knowing, doing and being as essential in management.

The program redefines learning as a model of reflective engagement over a year-long period of experiential learning rather than mere cognition. Keeping this approach in mind and bringing development and management principles together, this program has been designed by renowned academics from both the development and management sectors.

What sort of courses will you study in a Development Management Program?

The curriculum is divided into 22 customised offerings to enhance managerial efficiency and promote leadership effectiveness in SPOs. It addresses building research for development, managing results and impacting people’s lives. It encourages executive talent development and management for financial sustainability through the appropriate choice of management core courses and electives. Students undergo courses in Financial Perspectives, Strategic Innovation for Social Change, Operations Management for Quality and Impact, Behaviour Change Communication and Marketing Management. If that weren’t enough, students would also be introduced to Human Development in an Unequal World to Technology and Management, Corporate Social Responsibility, Behavioural Sciences in Social Change, Digital Marketing and Social Entrepreneurship.

Why should you choose Development Management?

A program like the Post-Graduate Program in Development Management will -

1. Make you adept at deep diving into understanding complex societal issues
   As a development professional, you will be working hand-in-hand with communities laden with systemic and cultural issues. You will need to develop the ability to understand and work within these contexts of complexity, sensitivity, and great uncertainty. You will learn that there could be multiple, equally intricate, and complex pathways to finding appropriate solutions to benefit the community and scale impact.

2. Enable you to design appropriate strategies and interventions in addition to building impactful organisations
   As a leader, you need to build world-class organisations with the appropriate strategies, structure systems, processes, and culture. You will do all of this, keeping in mind the context you work in and simultaneously focusing on the design, implementation, evaluation and monitoring of these appropriately designed social interventions. Your professional management skills will range from effective communication, critical thinking, data interpretation, problem-solving, analysis, synthesis, and the application of management theories in the development sector.

3. Empower you to work adeptly with both state and market stakeholders
   Development in a progressive social, economic, and political climate involves the interaction of the State, Markets and Civil Society, the three key pillars. SPOs do not work in isolation as they join hands with the government and other funding organisations to extend their reach. They can provide critical funding, the infrastructure, and the heavy lifting needed to expand and scale-up growth. This will require leadership to wear multiple hats and still ensure that you continue to deliver sustainable social impact at scale by creating relevant partnerships.

4. Transform you into a reflective practitioner who leads SPOs to create sustainable and scalable impact
   Throughout the program, you will be trained to value diversity, believe in universal human values, demonstrate professional management skills and knowledge, and understand complexities while engaging with compassion. You will become a reflective practitioner who will recognise the collaboration of state-market and societies in bringing about sustainable change at the population scale.

The vision is to create development leaders who can set the direction for social change and develop ripples as they influence others to join the cause. At least 230 ISDM alumni are doing their bit in creating impact at scale across India’s social purpose organisations! What are you waiting for?

The Indian School of Development Management celebrated the third edition of Development Management Week between January 28 and February 1, 2021.

The annual flagship event, that begins after celebrations of ISDM’s birth on February 27 and culminates in Development Management Day on February 1 every year, was instituted by ISDM as part of its endeavour to create a vibrant ecosystem for Development Management. The event is meant to provide creative spaces for various stakeholders to come together to discuss, debate and ideate on this idea and develop a common vocabulary on development management and creating social impact at scale.

The theme for this year’s Development Management Week was Re-imagining the new normal with Development Management. There couldn’t have been a time better than this year to consolidate ISDM’s efforts to build the domain of Development Management to enable the development ecosystem to deal with and respond to the post-pandemic scenario.

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted life and various elements of the world we live in. The world, during and post-pandemic, will see and experience a plethora of things that will change and redefine ‘normal’ for almost all of us.

Re-imagining the new normal will require focussed attention on a multitude of issues. It requires thought towards understanding how the collective forces of Samaj, Sarkar and Bazaar (Market, Society and Governance) can create a new imagination and include the underlying principles of sustainable development goals. Social-economic-political structures that build on principles of equity rather than accumulation; co-creation rather than competition or at best partnerships; compassion rather than indifference. The clarion call from this present episteme is to shift the narrative of human centeredness to regenerative ecological integrity that allows for humans and the planet to thrive.

The Development Management week 2021 allowed us space to explore the contours of these shared visions and pathways as we embark on the journey to define how the practice of Development Management will unfold in the post-COVID world.

The week commenced with the virtual version of the flagship speakers’ event titled, Dialogues on Development Management, envisioned as a series of conversations with eminent practitioners, academicians, innovators, Corporate Social Responsibility executives, on topics relevant to Development Management.

This year, our galaxy of guest speakers included Ms Geeta Goel, Country Director, Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, actor, filmmaker and social advocate Ms Nandita Das, Professor Pradeep Chintagunta, Academic, Faculty Member, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago and Mr Shridhar Venkat, CEO Akshaya Patra Foundation. The event culminated in celebrating Development Management Day on February 1, 2021.

On Development Management Day, the Keynote Address (Link) was delivered by Shri Amarjeet Sinha, (IAS retd) and Advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office. Shri Sinha emphasised on the need for developing social capital and highlighted the role played by women’s self-help groups in tackling the impact of COVID 19 in remote and rural pockets of the country. Watch the video here.

The institution also released a report Emerging Challenges in the post-COVID Contextin collaboration with IIMPACT that works for the education of girls in socially marginalised and disempowered communities.