Introduction.

Development management can be defined as managing government agents so that they can
acquire capabilities to adopt and act upon unremitting change to achieve sustainable growth
within a particular society. There are several characteristics of development management and
these features include change orientation, goal orientation, innovative administration, client
orientation administration, beneficiary participation. These features play a pivotal role in the
achievement of progress in the political, economic, technological, cultural and social
objectives that are authoritatively determined in one manner or another. However, is
important to note that it is often argued that the major feature of development management is
that it is client oriented and other features will try to point out to the same argument. The
essay will allude to the major concerns of each feature, their applicability and the challenges
associated with their operationalisation in different contexts.
Definition of terms.
According to Singhal (1999:841) development is a widely participatory process of direct
social change in a society, intended to bring about both social and material advancement for
the majority of the people through their gaining greater control over their environment. This
definition is emphatic on the view that the main characteristic feature of development
management is its client orientation nature. On the other hand, Waldo (1980: 98) defined
development management in the public sector as the process of guiding an organisation
towards the achievement of progressive political, economic, and social objectives that are
authoritatively determined in one manner or another. From these definitions, one can argue
that development management is the implementation of programmes designed to bring about
modernity that is of socio-economic progress and national building with the goal of satisfying
the local communities hence development management is client oriented.
Client Oriented.
This feature entails that development management is positively oriented towards meeting the
needs of the specific target groups, with the ethos of improving the economic and social
welfare of local people (White and Bryant 1982: 205). The socio-cultural and politicoeconomic progress of various sections forms the essential basis of performance appraisal of
development administrators. Many target group centered or beneficiary-group oriented
organizations have to be created so as to provide under-privileged sections (such as small
scale farmers) the requisite goods and services. According to Singhal (1999: 485), it has been

suggested that development management is people-oriented administration which gives

priority to the needs of its beneficiaries by preparing, reviewing and, if necessary, changing
the programmes, policies and activities aimed at the satisfaction of the needs of people in
question, that is, their upliftment becomes a part of the whole administrative ethos. The
welfare of the weaker sections is a part of the administrative value. Therefore, development
administrators should not just formulate plans for the people but even monitor them in such a
way that the beneficiaries are actually benefited hence the notion of being client oriented.
This can be exemplified by the client oriented extension training which was conducted in
Ethiopia (Berhanu 2008: 2). It is reported that in this project, an extension service that was
sensitive to farmers needs was emphasised with a key role to play in Ethiopias desire to
overcome hunger and poverty. In Ethiopia, with drought and famine occurring every 3-10
years and up to 26 % of the population being dependent on food aid in a given year the
countrys, the extension training emphasised that the future lies in transforming the lives of
millions of rural households who support 85 % of the population and are engaged in
subsistence farming that accounts for 85 % of employment, 60 % of the GDP and 50 % of the
export earnings. Therefore, basing on this one might argue that development management is
indeed client oriented.
However, it is important to note that the relevance of client orientation in development
management has sometimes been compromised. This is because in some instances
development managers tend to prioritise their interests, thereby neglecting the target groups.
For instance, the financial resources which amounted to $144 million which was obtained
from Chinese Exim Bank to refurbish the Morton Jeffrey water works was diverted to buy
luxurious cars by some of the Harare City council officials thereby neglecting the interests of
the clients.
Beneficiary Participation.
The other salient feature of development management to be discussed is beneficiary
participation. Korten and Klaus (1984: 112) referred participation as an attitude of openness
to the perceptions of others, a concern in what difference a project make in people's lives and
an awareness of the contribution that others can bring to an activity. Development as a
process of increasing peoples' capacity to determine the future means that people need to be
included in the process though participation or empowerment which can take the form of
political and administrative form in either vertical or horizontal participation. According to

Bryant and White (1982: 205) the process and definition of development lies within
participation by the public or beneficiary in project design and or implementation which
formed the meaning and integrity of the entire process. With this in mind, participation
became the focal point of any developmental project in the modern world hence,
development management is also participation oriented. Makumbe (1996: 18) argues that
beneficiary participation enhance self-reliance, self-sustainable and self-transformation
processes of development. For instance, according to a report by Sydney Kawadza (2014), a
cattle rearing project was augmented in Mashonaland East and it has led to the successful
establishment of dairy and cattle fattening projects. According to Makumbe (1996) the
Buhera cattle fattening project is an example in which it involved the communal, A1 and
small scale farmers and this cooperative did most of the construction work and allocated
duties to each other as beneficiaries. In this context it can be argued that development
management is also participation oriented as participation process cannot be divorced from
client orientation.
Notwithstanding, the satisfaction of the grassroots through participation in development
management has been sometimes compromised especially in developing countries. According
to Zinyama (2012) even though people participate in Zimbabwe in processes such as
budgeting, it is just a window dressing since most of their contribution are thrown in the dust
bin by self-seekers because they are regarded as ignorant and western affiliated. For example,
in the constitution making process in 2013, and the implementation of prepaid water meters
(smart meters) by local authorities, people participated but planners have a tendency of
neglecting contrary contribution to their goal. Therefore, to this end participation as a feature
of development management is compromised.
Innovative administration.
Furthermore, another feature of development management is an innovative administration.
Innovation refers to novel or non-routine or nontraditional, flexible and efficient ways of
performing work which lead to life style (Gant 1966: 251). Innovation entails that
administrators should constantly analyse and relate with the external environment and adapt
to new changes thereby enhancing development. Therefore, development administration
focuses on replacing and or improving the existing governing structures and norms with the
ones that suit the changing political and social environment. It is interested in identifying and
applying new structures, methods, procedures, techniques, policies, planning projects and

programmes so that the objectives and goals of development are achieved with minimum
possible possessions and time (www.aspiratforum.com). Innovative management should
include the use of new technologies, policies and broad based institutional development
strategies that enhance effectiveness of government as measured by the degree of equity,
fairness, efficiency, economic justices, participation, and infrastructure development. An
example is of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) which adopted and introduced the
Electronic Cargo Tracking system to curb the prevailing forces of corruption and smuggling.
The ZIMRA Acting Commissioner General, Mr Happias Kuzvinzwa, was quoted to have said
that the system was going ZIMRA in curbing transit fraud through monitoring cargo from the
point of entry into Zimbabwe to the point of exit and that the system was a response to the
behaviour by some cargo transporters who falsely declare their imports as transit cargo yet
the goods will be consumed in Zimbabwe, thus defrauding the State of Customs Duty
(www.zimra.co.zw). With this in mind, one can also argue that development management
also focuses on innovativeness.
However, innovative administration in developing countries has faced chronic and some
drastic challenges. These challenges can be summarised as capital constrains, political
upheavals, lack of expertise, poor communication channels between strategic apex and shop
floor level, fund defalcation among others. This resulted in to an acute and chronic
dependency syndrome which came in the name of technical assistance from the first world.
Rahman (2004: 276) argue that, from literature revealed concerning this issue, most of the
innovation and changes in development management are achieved through reforms which
have been externally induced through (the Briton Wood Institution, the Habitat Agencies,
World Bank Loans, Bilateral Donors) which have conditionals for credit. For instance,
Zimbabwe and other Sub Saharan African countries adopted Economic Structural Adjustment
Programme (ESAP) to get funds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World
Bank. This resulted in catastrophic and disastrous consequences especially on Zimbabwe.
Therefore, home grown innovations are recommended to make public administration more
efficient performance and result oriented like the land reform programme though
controversial.
Change Orientation.
Another feature of development management is that development is change oriented. Bryant
and White (1982: 88) supports that, development administration is also change orientated and

this shapes the part of philosophic values of development administration. Development

administration involves itself in establishing a new social order in which growth and
distributive justice co-exist. According to Gant (1966: 257) the central theme of development
administration is socio-economic and political change. Development administration cannot be
status-quo oriented but transformational for self-reliance and sustainability. Most scholars in
this field reached a consensus that development cannot take place unless and until it
introduces certain positive changes in a system. Is against this background that one can argue
that development management is also change oriented as this feature follows and suffice the
client based nature of development.
Nevertheless, socio-economic and political change can be compromised by resistance to
change by the people it mean to benefit. Bryant and White (1982: 89) who state that, one of
the reasons that the appropriate wave of change (technological movement) provokes so much
controversy is that it challenges traditional relationships and beliefs. This manifest itself when
people feel little control over the technology they work with, changes are all the more
threatening. For instance, the Ethanol Fuel Plant Land Conflict in Chisumbanje, Zimbabwe.
According to Herald (20/06/14) about 40 000 hectares of land has been earmarked for
compulsory acquisition leading to a fierce and merciless conflict between the villagers and
the company, the villagers fighting back their traditional land for subsistence farming.
Therefore, to this end one can conclude that in a bid to introduce change in communities, the
grassroots should be included from the policy formulation to project design so that they are
not going to be taken by surprise and this reduces resistance at the implementation phase.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be argued that the major feature of development management is its client
orientation as demonstrated by the above presentation. However, it is important to consider
other features as they build up from the client orientation nature which seeks to satisfy and
develop local communities. Such features include, change orientation, goal orientation, and
innovativeness in administration among others. Nevertheless, these feature tend to be limited
by various factors such as resource constraints and political views undermining their
relevance.

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www.zimra.co.zw accessed 03-10-16

www.aspirantforum.com accessed 03-10-16