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Management and training for development: The Hombe thesis
Author(s) -
Reilly Wyn
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
public administration and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1099-162X
pISSN - 0271-2075
DOI - 10.1002/pad.4230070103
Subject(s) - elite , plea , bureaucracy , status quo , politics , public relations , face (sociological concept) , management development , training (meteorology) , business , service (business) , public service , political science , marketing , sociology , law , social science , physics , meteorology
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.