Postgraduate Diploma in Public Management (Distance Learning)

Decentralisation is a worldwide reality, as most countries are already engaged in a more or less advanced form of it. The following figures illustrate this trend: in the 1980s local governments around the world collected on average 15% of revenues and spent 20% of expenditures. By the late 1990s those figures had risen to 19% and 25% and had even doubled in certain countries. Moving beyond the fiscal arena, major public services such as education or health have also been transferred to local governments and political and electoral reforms have taken place. News headlines testify to the importance of local governance and local governments’ issues around the world.

The first implication for us, and for policy-makers and donors, is that the debate on whether decentralisation is good or bad in itself has lost its relevance. The key question is no longer whether a country should further decentralise or whether donors should support such a process. Although in different forms and to varying degrees decentralisation is there, it is part of the reality in which governments, other actors and citizens need to operate.

Learning outcomes

When you have completed the study of this course, you will have acquired the knowledge and tools to:

• understand decentralisation as a complex political process and “system” with several dimensions, levels and actors, and define and distinguish it from other related concepts
• critically discuss various approaches and trends in the academic world in relation to decentralisation
• evaluate the success of various decentralisation approaches worldwide and explain why countries exhibit such widely different outcomes, in terms of economic performance, political reforms and effects on society
• explain the concept of political decentralisation, its components and implications
• critically discuss the links between political decentralisation, wider state-society relations and domestic accountability mechanisms in multilevel governance systems
• define and assess functional assignments, and understand why they are the keystone for effective public action and division of labour across levels of government
• explain the main principles underlying fiscal decentralisation, its components and implications
• analyse expenditure assignments, revenue assignments, transfer mechanisms and local borrowing in a given context and identify possible corrective measures
• evaluate the impact of the fiscal and functional division of labour across levels of government on local entities’ performance
• apply the concepts of local policy-making, budget and fiscal autonomy
• assess challenges to setting up domestic monitoring and evaluation systems, as well as to assessing the outcomes of decentralisation.

Tuition and assessment

Students are individually assigned an academic tutor for the duration of the module, with whom you can discuss academic queries at regular intervals during the study session.

You are required to complete two Assignments for this module, which will be marked by your tutor. Assignments are each worth 15% of your total mark. You will be expected to submit your first assignment by the Tuesday of Week 6, and the second assignment at the end of the module, on the Tuesday after Week 10. Assignments are submitted and feedback given online. In addition, queries and problems can be answered through the Virtual Learning Environment.

You will also sit a three-hour examination on a specified date in September/October, worth 70% of your total mark. An up-to-date timetable of examinations is published on the website in July each year.

Study resources

• Study guide: The module study guide is carefully structured to provide the main teaching, defining and exploring the main concepts and issues, locating these within current debate and introducing and linking the assigned readings.
• Key texts: 
  • Cheema GS and D Rondinelli (2007) Decentralizing Governance: Emerging Concepts and Practices, Brookings Institution Press
  • Connerley E, K Eaton and P Smoke (2010) Making Decentralization Work: Democracy, Development, and Security, Lynne Rienner
  • The module also references extracts from the Public Policy and Management pre-programme textbook:
    • Hague, R & M Harrop (2016) Comparative Government and Politics: An Introduction, 10^th Edition, Palgrave Macmillan
• Readings: Throughout the module you will be directed to study a selection of readings, including journal articles, book extracts and case studies that are of particular relevance and interest to the topics covered in the module.
• Virtual learning environment: You will have access to the VLE, a web-accessed study centre. Via the VLE, you can communicate with your assigned academic tutor, administrators and other students on the module using discussion forums. The VLE also provides access to the module Study Guide and assignments, as well as a selection of electronic journals available on the University of London Online Library.

Study calendar 2022/23

Study calendars are subject to change.

Module overview

Unit 1 What is Decentralisation?

• 1.1 State Models and Decentralisation
• 1.2 Territorial Organisation of the State and Decentralisation
• 1.3 Political Regimes, Democracy and Decentralisation
• 1.4 Decentralisation as a Policy
• 1.5 Political Decentralisation
• 1.6 Administrative Decentralisation
• 1.7 Fiscal Decentralisation
• 1.8 Why do Countries Decide to Decentralise?

Unit 2 Decentralisation in Practice

• 2.1 The Objectives Pursued through Decentralisation
• 2.2 The Status of the Decentralisation: Past Track Record and Current Reforms
• 2.3 The Historical Path: Top-down versus Bottom-up Decentralisation
• 2.4 The Historical Pace of Decentralisation: Big Bang versus Gradual Approach
• 2.5 The Sequencing of the Three Dimensions of Decentralisation
• 2.6 The Geographic Phasing of Decentralisation
• 2.7 Recognising Mixed Results: Opportunities and Risks of Decentralisation

Unit 3 Conditions Needed to Make Decentralisation Work

• 3.1 Materialising the Benefits of Decentralisation
• 3.2 How Can Local Autonomy and Accountability be Achieved?
• 3.3 Why Decentralisation Outcomes Vary
• 3.4 Implementation Challenges: Stalemates and Deadlocks

Unit 4 Political Decentralisation, State-Society Relations and Domestic Accountability

• 4.1 The Status of Political Decentralisation and Political Autonomy
• 4.2 Assessing Accountability and How Governments Hand Over Power to Citizens
• 4.3 Case Studies on Accountability Mechanisms
• 4.4 Political Decentralisation in Multi-Level and Multi-Layered Governance Systems
• 4.5 Can Decentralisation Contribute to Political Reforms and Domestic Accountability?

Unit 5 Administrative Decentralisation

• 5.1 Defining Functional Assignments
• 5.2 Policy Choices
• 5.3 The Mandates and the Challenge of Policy Coordination in Decentralised Contexts
• 5.4 Assessing the Quality of Functional Assignments
• 5.5 Human Resources Deployment, Distribution and Management
• 5.6 Can Decentralisation Contribute to State Building Processes?
• 5.7 Decentralisation Efficiency in the Service Sector

Unit 6 Fiscal Decentralisation

• 6.1 Expenditure Assignments
• 6.2 Revenue Assignments
• 6.3 Intergovernmental Transfers
• 6.4 Allocation of Borrowing Powers
• 6.5 Sequencing Fiscal Decentralisation [optional]
• 6.6 Sources of Information on Fiscal Decentralisation [optional]

Unit 7 Local Government Autonomy and Capacity Learning Outcomes

• 7.1 The Role and Potential of Local Governments
• 7.2 Policy-Making Autonomy
• 7.3 Discretion in Managing Human Resources
• 7.4 The Composition of Decentralised Budgets: Challenges and Mitigating Measures
• 7.5 Budget and Financial Autonomy

Unit 8 Monitoring, Evaluation and Decentralisation

• 8.1 The Role of Indicators in Monitoring
• 8.2 Decentralisation Processes and Reforms
• 8.3 Monitoring and Evaluation Frameworks

Module samples

• M404 Module Introduction (PDF)
• M404 Specimen Examination (PDF)
• M404 Unit 1 (PDF)

Disclaimer

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules

As you will learn in this module, the intended beneficiaries or investors are not the only audiences to whom it must be demonstrated that a project’s technical, institutional and financial attributes warrant that the project will be worthwhile. The effects a project will have (ie, its impacts) on the environment, nearby communities and wider society must also be investigated so they can be taken into consideration by the decision-makers who determine whether the project should proceed.

The most widely used techniques to investigate a project’s environmental and social implications are Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Social Impact Assessment (SIA), or Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA). Many governments, project financiers and project developers require ESIA or EIA.

Two types of project assessment can be distinguished:

• Ex ante assessment: determining in advance (ie, before it is implemented) whether a project is worthwhile and should proceed and, if so, in what format – this is sometimes called project appraisal or evaluation.
• Ex post assessment: assessing the performance of a project after it has been implemented and completed (ie, retrospectively) – this is sometimes called (environmental) auditing or performance monitoring.

This module covers the ex ante ESIA of projects. It also introduces tools used to support ESIA, ways of improving the effectiveness of ESIA, and ways in which other (non-ESIA) techniques are used to investigate the environmental and social implications of projects and other initiatives.

Learning outcomes

When you have completed your study of this module, you will be able to:

• analyse and critically appraise the stages in ESIA processes
• synthesise and evaluate the outcomes of an ESIA
• critique ESIA in practical applications
• critically discuss thematic and specialised assessment approaches
• evaluate the contribution of strategic and emerging forms of assessment
• critically assess the role of ESIA as a policy and planning tool.

Tuition and assessment

Students are individually assigned an academic tutor for the duration of the module, with whom you can discuss academic queries at regular intervals during the study session.

You are required to complete two Assignments for this module, which will be marked by your tutor. Assignments are each worth 15% of your total mark. You will be expected to submit your first assignment by the Tuesday of Week 6, and the second assignment at the end of the module, on the Tuesday after Week 10. Assignments are submitted and feedback given online. In addition, queries and problems can be answered through the Virtual Learning Environment.

You will also sit a three-hour examination on a specified date in September/October, worth 70% of your total mark. An up-to-date timetable of examinations is published on the website in July each year.

Study resources

• Study guide: The module study guide is carefully structured to provide the main teaching, defining and exploring the main concepts and issues, locating these within current debate and introducing and linking the assigned readings.
• Key texts: John Glasson & Riki Therivel (2019) Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment. 5th Edition. Abingdon UK: Routledge.
• Readings: Throughout the module you will be directed to study a selection of readings, including journal articles, book extracts and case studies that are of particular relevance and interest to the topics covered in the module.
• Virtual learning environment: You will have access to the VLE, a web-accessed study centre. Via the VLE, you can communicate with your assigned academic tutor, administrators and other students on the module using discussion forums. The VLE also provides access to the module Study Guide and assignments, as well as a selection of electronic journals available on the University of London Online Library.

Study calendar 2022/23

Study calendars are subject to change.

Module overview

Unit 1 Introduction to ESIA

• 1.1 Introduction
• 1.2 Origins and Variations in Application
• 1.3 The Purpose of ESIA
• 1.4 Drivers for ESIA
• 1.5 The Overall ESIA Process
• 1.6 Structuring ESIAs
• 1.7 Success of ESIA
• 1.8 Social Impact Assessment
• 1.9 Reflection on SIA
• 1.1 Conclusion

Unit 2 Laying the Foundations for ESIA

• 2.1 Introduction
• 2.2 Screening
• 2.3 Scoping
• 2.4 Project Description
• 2.5 Baseline Description
• 2.6 Data Collection, Interpretation and Reporting
• 2.7 Conclusion

Unit 3 Impact Assessment – the ‘Heart’ of ESIA

• 3.1 Introduction
• 3.2 Impact Identification and Prediction
• 3.3 Impact Significance Evaluation
• 3.4 Social Impacts and Equity
• 3.5 Conclusion

Unit 4 Impact Management, Reporting and Decision-Making

• 4.1 Introduction
• 4.2 Impact Mitigation and Enhancement
• 4.3 Environmental and Social Management and Monitoring
• 4.4 Reporting the ESIA
• 4.5 ESIA and Decision-Making
• 4.6 Conclusion

Unit 5 ESIA Stakeholder Engagement/Public Consultation

• 5.1 Introduction
• 5.2 Stakeholder Engagement: Objectives and Benefits
• 5.3 Methods of Securing Stakeholder Engagement
• 5.4 Stakeholder Engagement in Practice
• 5.5 Conclusion

Unit 6 Improving the Effectiveness of ESIA

• 6.1 Introduction
• 6.2 ESIA Planning and Project Management
• 6.3 Implementation and Follow-up
• 6.4 Conclusion

Unit 7 Thematic and Specialised Assessment Techniques

• 7.1 Introduction
• 7.2 Themed Impact Assessment
• 7.3 ‘Specialised’ Assessment Techniques
• 7.4 Conclusion

Unit 8 Strategic and Emerging Forms of Assessment

• 8.1 Introduction
• 8.2 Widening the Scope of Impact Assessment
• 8.3 Emerging Forms of Impact Assessment
• 8.4 Conclusion

Module samples

• M469 Module Introduction (PDF)
• M469 Specimen Examination (PDF)
• M469 Unit 1 (PDF)

Disclaimer

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules

This module is concerned with the management and development of staff in public organisations, known popularly as Human Resource Management and Development (HRM). The basic idea is simple – that all organisations, and not just those in the public sector, can improve their performance if they manage their staff properly. Very often, HRM is also associated with a series of practices related to the main activities of managing people and that we, as employees, experience directly. This may include recruiting new staff or training and developing existing staff.

The main objective of this module is to develop a critical appreciation of the strategic role of HRM not only in a public sector context, but within the overall constraints of different political, cultural and institutional environments. Although the module introduces you to the main features, or 'good practice' in HRM, we hope you can develop a critical awareness of its applicability to a given organisation. In addition, HRM is not a field of study independent of other modules in your MSc programme; it is related to many other areas including the management of change, project management and policy implementation.

Learning outcomes

When you have completed this module, you will be able to:

• present a 'strategic' model of human resource management and development (HRM/D)
• assess the main functions of strategic HRM/D primarily, but not exclusively, in public sector organisations
• discuss the main contemporary issues for HRM/D in the public sector
• analyse the role of HRM/D as a managerial activity, while appreciating institutional and cultural constraints
• apply the main features of HRM/D to the public sector of developing and transitional countries with an understanding of its weaknesses and limitations.

Tuition and assessment

Students are individually assigned an academic tutor for the duration of the module, with whom you can discuss academic queries at regular intervals during the study session.

You are required to complete two Assignments for this module, which will be marked by your tutor. Assignments are each worth 15% of your total mark. You will be expected to submit your first assignment by the Tuesday of Week 6, and the second assignment at the end of the module, on the Tuesday after Week 10. Assignments are submitted and feedback given online. In addition, queries and problems can be answered through the Virtual Learning Environment.

You will also sit a three-hour examination on a specified date in September/October, worth 70% of your total mark. An up-to-date timetable of examinations is published on the website in July each year.

Study resources

• Study guide: The module study guide is carefully structured to provide the main teaching, defining and exploring the main concepts and issues, locating these within current debate and introducing and linking the assigned readings.
• Key texts: Bailey C, D Mankin, C Kelliher & T Garavan (2018) Strategic Human Resource Management. 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press.
• Readings: Throughout the module you will be directed to study a selection of readings, including journal articles, book extracts and case studies that are of particular relevance and interest to the topics covered in the module.
• Virtual learning environment: You will have access to the VLE, a web-accessed study centre. Via the VLE, you can communicate with your assigned academic tutor, administrators and other students on the module using discussion forums. The VLE also provides access to the module Study Guide and assignments, as well as a selection of electronic journals available on the University of London Online Library.

Study calendar 2022/23

Study calendars are subject to change.

Module overview

Unit 1 Strategic HRM for the Public Sector

• 1.1 Introduction to HRM
• 1.2 The Activities of HRM
• 1.3 The Context of HRM
• 1.4 Strategic HRM
• 1.5 Strategic HRM in the Public Sector
• 1.6 Conclusion

Unit 2 Employee Resourcing

• 2.1 Recruitment
• 2.2 Selection
• 2.3 Retention
• 2.4 Contracts of Employment
• 2.5 Conclusion

Unit 3 Performance

• 3.1 Introduction – Organisational Performance
• 3.2 Performance Management
• 3.3 Performance Evaluation
• 3.4 Leadership
• 3.5 Teams
• 3.6 Conclusion

Unit 4 Development

• 4.1 Introduction
• 4.2 Management Learning
• 4.3 Organisational Learning
• 4.4 Creativity in Public Organisations
• 4.5 Conclusion

Unit 5 Employee Relations

• 5.1 Introduction
• 5.2 Employee Involvement and Participation (EIP)
• 5.3 Managing Diversity
• 5.4 Formal Employee Relations
• 5.5 The Role of Trade Unions
• 5.6 Conclusion

Unit 6 Reward

• 6.1 Introduction
• 6.2 Setting Rewards
• 6.3 Pay Structures
• 6.4 Human Resource Aspects of Public Sector Pay Problems
• 6.5 Paying by Performance
• 6.6 Rewards Other Than Pay
• 6.7 Conclusion

Unit 7 Contemporary Issues in HRM

• 7.1 Introduction
• 7.2 Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility
• 7.3 Work-Life Balance
• 7.4 Alternative Forms of HR Service Delivery
• 7.5 Conclusion

Unit 8 Applying HRM

• 8.1 Introduction – Applying 'Best Practice'
• 8.2 Convergence and Divergence between Countries
• 8.3 The Limits of Strategic HRM in the Public Sector
• 8.4 Challenges and Prospects for HRM in the Public Sector
• 8.5 Conclusion

Module samples

• M402 Module Introduction (PDF)
• M402 Specimen Examination (PDF)
• M402 Unit 1 (PDF)

Disclaimer

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules

The public sector has witnessed substantial change in recent years, and change looks set to continue. Such changes began about two decades ago and were marked by a desire to privatise and ‘roll back’ the public sector. Although these processes are continuing on a global scale, more recent changes have focused on improving the capabilities of the public sector, often in terms of capacity building, or institutional or sectoral development. This in turn has led to significant changes for individual public sector organisations. Many of these changes or reform programmes have recast public sector organisations as being smaller and decentralised, often with a short lifespan, and being opened up to ‘market forces’. Of course, many large-scale bureaucracies remain; but even here change is occurring.

At the same time, new managerial processes associated, for example, with human resource management or management information systems have been introduced. Whether managers in the public sector approve or not of the underlying factors that have brought about such change, or of the specific organisational changes introduced, nonetheless they are responsible for dealing with these changes at an organisational level. This module is about how managers understand and implement organisational change, thereby helping them to fulfil their responsibilities.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• describe and assess the relationship between an organisation and its environment, and apply these concepts to public sector organisations in general and to your own organisation in particular
• distinguish different levels of, and approaches to, organisational change both generally and with special reference to public sector organisations
• discuss what is meant by organisational culture, power, politics, leadership and learning, and apply them to analysing the dynamics of public sector organisations in general, and to your own organisation in particular
• identify how issues of structure, culture, power, politics, leadership and learning can be used to understand and manage change in public sector organisations
• apply different techniques of managing change to processes of change in your own organisation
• handle, communicate and apply with confidence the analytical framework of organisational change management.

Tuition and assessment

Students are individually assigned an academic tutor for the duration of the module, with whom you can discuss academic queries at regular intervals during the study session.

You are required to complete two Assignments for this module, which will be marked by your tutor. Assignments are each worth 15% of your total mark. You will be expected to submit your first assignment by the Tuesday of Week 6, and the second assignment at the end of the module, on the Tuesday after Week 10. Assignments are submitted and feedback given online. In addition, queries and problems can be answered through the Virtual Learning Environment.

You will also sit a three-hour examination on a specified date in September/October, worth 70% of your total mark. An up-to-date timetable of examinations is published on the website in July each year.

Study resources

• Study guide: The module study guide is carefully structured to provide the main teaching, defining and exploring the main concepts and issues, locating these within current debate and introducing and linking the assigned readings.
• Key texts: Senior B, S Swailes & C Carnall (2020) Organisational Change. 6th Edition. Pearson.
• Readings: Throughout the module you will be directed to study a selection of readings, including journal articles, book extracts and case studies that are of particular relevance and interest to the topics covered in the module.
• Virtual learning environment: You will have access to the VLE, a web-accessed study centre. Via the VLE, you can communicate with your assigned academic tutor, administrators and other students on the module using discussion forums. The VLE also provides access to the module Study Guide and assignments, as well as a selection of electronic journals available on the University of London Online Library.

Study calendar 2022/23

Study calendars are subject to change.

Module overview

Unit 1 Organisations and Environments

• 1.1 Introduction: Organisational Change
• 1.2 Developing Country Organisations
• 1.3 The Systems View of Organisations
• 1.4 The Importance of the Environment
• 1.5 Environmental Pressures for Change
• 1.6 Conclusion

Unit 2 Organisational Change

• 2.1 Introduction: The Nature of Change
• 2.2 Typologies of Change in the Public Sector: Case Study
• 2.3 Planned and Emergent Change
• 2.4 The Standard Model of Change Management
• 2.5 An Alternative to the Standard Model?
• 2.6 Conclusion

Unit 3 Organisational Structure and Change

• 3.1 Introduction: Defining Organisational Structure
• 3.2 Forms of Organisational Structure
• 3.3 What Shapes Structure
• 3.4 Managing Structural Change
• 3.5 Conclusion

Unit 4 Organisational Culture and Change

• 4.1 Introduction: What is Organisational Culture and Why Does it Matter?
• 4.2 Analysing Organisational Culture
• 4.3 Sources of Organisational Culture: the Influence of National Culture
• 4.4 Managing Organisational Culture and Change
• 4.5 Conclusion

Unit 5 Power, Politics and Change

• 5.1 Introduction
• 5.2 Power, Politics and Conflict in Organisations
• 5.3 Power in Organisations
• 5.4 Conflict in Organisations
• 5.5 Power, Politics and Conflict in Managing Organisational Change
• 5.6 Conclusion

Unit 6 Leadership and Organisational Change

• 6.1 Introduction
• 6.2 What is Leadership?
• 6.3 Approaches to Leadership
• 6.4 Leadership and Culture
• 6.5 Leadership and Change
• 6.6 Conclusion

Unit 7 Learning and Organisational Change

• 7.1 Introduction
• 7.2 Processes of Change in Pubic Organisations: Key Developments
• 7.3 Organisational Learning and the Learning Organisation
• 7.4 Learning from Other Organisations
• 7.5 Conclusion

Unit 8 Strategies for Change

• 8.1 Introduction
• 8.2 Organisational Diagnosis
• 8.3 Organisation Development
• 8.4 Ethics and Organisational Change
• 8.5 Conclusion

Module samples

• M406 Module introduction (PDF)
• M406 Specimen examination (PDF)
• M406 Unit 1 (PDF)

Disclaimer

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules

This is a module about financial and economic appraisal of projects. The project is a very specific element of the public policy and management mix. It normally consists of an investment – that is, the creation of an asset which will generate benefits, financial and non-financial over a period of more than one year. This is not universally applicable as a working definition, as ‘project’ is often used to describe a set of discrete activities that do not always involve a capital investment, to achieve some specific goals. In this module, however, we will be dealing with capital investments.

This is a very specific and quite technical module, which will enable you to carry out financial and economic appraisals. It will give you enough theory to understand the financial and economic processes involved in such an appraisal, but the emphasis is on practice, with some critique of the methods involved. There are two related modules: Environmental and Social Impact Assessment is specifically concerned with these two aspects of project appraisal, themselves often also a formal requirement of the project approval process; while, the module Project, Programme and Policy Evaluation offers a post-hoc process of assessing whether projects, programmes and policies have been successful after implementation.

Learning outcomes

When you have completed all your work on this module, you will be able to:

• the reasons for project and programme appraisal and evaluation
• apply private sector investment appraisal techniques to different situations
• explain and use cash flow analysis
• discuss private sector appraisal techniques
• use spreadsheets for investment appraisal
• explain and comment on related issues of investment appraisal including choosing between mutually exclusive projects, and outline the difference between financial and economic analysis as applied to projects
• apply the technique of social cost-benefit analysis that is used in project appraisal
• explain and use the main valuation techniques of Revealed Preference and Contingent Valuation
• analyse the strengths and weaknesses of these valuation techniques
• apply cost-effectiveness analysis in situations where project benefits are not measurable
• consider the most appropriate project evaluation techniques for different economic sectors
• apply appropriate evaluation techniques in different economic sectors
• critically review the advantages and limitations of social cost-benefit analysis
• identify the problems of risk and uncertainty associated with project identification, preparation, monitoring and evaluation
• use spreadsheets for analysing risk and uncertainty in project appraisal
• interpret measurements of income distribution
• outline the economic theory of diminishing marginal utility of income and consumption and explain its use as a basis for determining welfare or distributional weighting
• assess the advantages and disadvantages of using distributional weighting in SCBA
• explain how a system of weights can be applied to regional disparities in income, in the context of allocating public sector projects between the regions of a country.

Tuition and assessment

Students are individually assigned an academic tutor for the duration of the module, with whom you can discuss academic queries at regular intervals during the study session.

You are required to complete two Assignments for this module, which will be marked by your tutor. Assignments are each worth 15% of your total mark. You will be expected to submit your first assignment by the Tuesday of Week 6, and the second assignment at the end of the module, on the Tuesday after Week 10. Assignments are submitted and feedback given online. In addition, queries and problems can be answered through the Virtual Learning Environment.

You will also sit a three-hour examination on a specified date in September/October, worth 70% of your total mark. An up-to-date timetable of examinations is published on the website in July each year.

Study resources

• Study guide: The module study guide is carefully structured to provide the main teaching, defining and exploring the main concepts and issues, locating these within current debate and introducing and linking the assigned readings.
• Key texts: Boardman AE, D Greenberg, AR Vining & DL Weimer (2014) Cost-Benefit Analysis: Concepts and Practice. 4th (International) Edition. Pearson.
• Readings: Throughout the module you will be directed to study a selection of readings, including journal articles, book extracts and case studies that are of particular relevance and interest to the topics covered in the module.
• Virtual learning environment: You will have access to the VLE, a web-accessed study centre. Via the VLE, you can communicate with your assigned academic tutor, administrators and other students on the module using discussion forums. The VLE also provides access to the module Study Guide and assignments, as well as a selection of electronic journals available on the University of London Online Library.

Study calendar 2022/23

Study calendars are subject to change.

Module overview

Unit 1 Investment Appraisal Techniques I

• 1.1 Introduction
• 1.2 Cash Flow Analysis
• 1.3 Private Sector Appraisal Techniques
• 1.4 Conclusions

Unit 2 Investment Appraisal Techniques II

• 2.1 Introduction
• 2.2 Net Cash Flow and the Working Capital
• 2.3 Mutually Exclusive Projects and Other Issues
• 2.4 Conclusions

Unit 3 Social Cost-Benefit Analysis

• 3.1 Introduction
• 3.2 The Main Stages of a Social Cost-Benefit Analysis
• 3.3 Theoretical Basis of Social Cost-Benefit Analysis
• 3.4 Social Cost-Benefit Analysis Case Study
• 3.5 The Social Discount Rate (SDR)
• 3.6 Conclusions

Unit 4 Valuation Methodologies in Social Cost-Benefit Analysis

• 4.1 Introduction
• 4.2 Revealed Preference Methods
• 4.3 Stated Preferences – Contingent Valuation
• 4.4 Summary and Review

Unit 5 Sector Analysis and Case Studies in SCBA

• 5.1 Introduction
• 5.2 Transport Projects
• 5.3 Water
• 5.4 Education
• 5.5 Environment
• 5.6 Health Care
• 5.7 Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (CEA)
• 5.8 Summary and Review

Unit 6 Risk and Uncertainty Analysis

• 6.1 Introduction
• 6.2 Risk and Uncertainty
• 6.3 Techniques for Risk Analysis
• 6.4 Uncertainty
• 6.5 Risk and Large Projects
• 6.6 Spreadsheet Modelling and Risk Analysis
• 6.7 Conclusions

Unit 7 Distributional Issues and Social Cost-Benefit Analysis

• 7.1 Introduction
• 7.2 Analysing the Distribution of Costs and Benefits
• 7.3 Displaying Distributional Impacts
• 7.4 Distributional Weighting
• 7.5 Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA)
• 7.6 Conclusions

Unit 8 Critique and Reflection

• 8.1 Introduction
• 8.2 Standings, Value Assumptions, and Legitimacy of Cost-Benefit Analaysis
• 8.3 The Strengths and Limitations of Social Cost-Benefit Analysis
• 8.4 SCBA in Developing Countries

Module samples

• M475 Module Introduction (PDF)
• M475 Specimen Examination (PDF)
• M475 Unit 1 (PDF)

Disclaimer

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules

Governments regularly transfer cash or make concessionary loans to other governments in order to promote economic and social development, improve the welfare of the recipient governments’ citizens, or help out with humanitarian assistance after a natural or human-created disaster. Politicians from richer countries attend high-profile conferences and commit to increasing these transfers, often encouraged by popular campaigns in their home countries. Citizens of the richer countries (and many in poorer countries) regularly donate money to voluntary organisations involved in the same sorts of transfers, especially when natural disasters occur, but also at other times, hoping that their contributions will improve the lot of the world’s poorest people.

The transfer process is managed through a medium-sized industry that includes governmental organisations and their aid agencies, international bodies (eg various parts of the United Nations and the European Union), development banks (eg the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank) and a large number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), all supported by consultants and experts, including those in the academic institutions training and educating their staff. People spend their whole careers in this industry, administering financial flows, designing and managing projects, writing assessments, evaluating results and raising funds.

Views are divided on the impact of all this effort. Some argue not only that aid does not work to promote economic development but also that aid itself holds back development by propping up corrupt and inefficient governments and distorting investment flows, exchange rates and domestic markets. At the other end of the opinion spectrum are those who argue that aid is essential and could be effective if only its quantity and quality were improved.

Others, such as Roger Riddell (2014), are carefully analytical about the impact of the aid effort and argue for improvements in the way aid is delivered, without claiming that aid can or will solve the problem of poverty or unequal wealth and income distribution.

This module enables you to look at the evidence for the impact of these aid efforts and examine the flows of funds, the organisations involved in aid delivery, and the processes of allocating aid and designing aid programmes. We ask you to study the module and its readings with an open mind and reach your own views about what works and what does not work.

Learning outcomes

The learning outcomes of this module are that you will be able to:

• define what is meant by development assistance and its constituent parts
• outline the main trends in development assistance
• gauge the growing role of NGOs, private foundations and other non-DAC (OECD’s Development Assistance Committee) organisations in the provision of development assistance and identify the sources of their funding
• discuss some of the theory of economic growth, and the role and effectiveness of development assistance in promoting it
• explain the definitions and measurement of poverty, and the recent reduction in global poverty
• analyse the relationship between growth, inequality and poverty, and be aware of the role of development assistance in contributing to the reduction in poverty
• assess the extent to which development assistance is successful in influencing recipient governments’ domestic policies, with respect to environment, climate change, democracy and governance
• describe what makes for successful and unsuccessful humanitarian assistance, including the relationship between immediate disaster relief and longer-term reconstruction and development assistance
• assess the role and incentives that aid agencies face; be familiar with the recommendations of the High-Level Forums for improving aid effectiveness and evaluate the extent to which these have been carried out
• analyse the effectiveness of general budget support and payment by results as aid modalities designed to improve aid effectiveness
• judge whether relatively new entrants to the development assistance field are different from previous players.

Tuition and assessment

Students are individually assigned an academic tutor for the duration of the module, with whom you can discuss academic queries at regular intervals during the study session.

You are required to complete two Assignments for this module, which will be marked by your tutor. Assignments are each worth 15% of your total mark. You will be expected to submit your first assignment by the Tuesday of Week 6, and the second assignment at the end of the module, on the Tuesday after Week 10. Assignments are submitted and feedback given online. In addition, queries and problems can be answered through the Virtual Learning Environment.

You will also sit a three-hour examination on a specified date in September/October, worth 70% of your total mark. An up-to-date timetable of examinations is published on the website in July each year.

Study resources

• Study guide: The module study guide is carefully structured to provide the main teaching, defining and exploring the main concepts and issues, locating these within current debate and introducing and linking the assigned readings.
• Module readings: Throughout the module you will be directed to study a selection of readings, including journal articles, book extracts and case studies that are of particular relevance and interest to the topics covered in the module.
• Virtual learning environment: You will have access to the VLE, a web-accessed study centre. Via the VLE, you can communicate with your assigned academic tutor, administrators and other students on the module using discussion forums. The VLE also provides access to the module Study Guide and assignments, as well as a selection of electronic journals available on the University of London Online Library.

Module overview

Unit 1 An Introduction to Development Assistance

• 1.1 What is Development Assistance?
• 1.2 Main Providers of Development Assistance
• 1.3 A Brief History of Development Assistance 
• 1.4 Why Do Countries Donate Development Assistance?
• 1.5 Aid Allocation 
• 1.6 International Agreements on Aid Effectiveness and Development
• 1.7 Conclusion

Unit 2 Development Assistance and Economic Development

• 2.1 Introduction
• 2.2 Economic Growth and Development
• 2.3 Development Assistance and Economic Growth: Theory
• 2.4 The Impact of Development Assistance
• 2.5 Conclusion

Unit 3 Poverty

• 3.1 Introduction
• 3.2 Concepts and Measurement of Poverty
• 3.3 Human and Multidimensional Development Indicators
• 3.4 Growth, Inequality and Poverty
• 3.5 Development Assistance and Poverty
• 3.6 Conclusion

Unit 4 Development Assistance and National Government Policies 1: Environmental and Climate Change

• Unit 4 and 5 Overview
• 4.1 Introduction
• 4.2 Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals
• 4.3 Development Finance and Climate Action
• 4.4 EU Budget Support and the Sustainable Development Goals
• 4.5 An Example: the LoCAL Programme
• 4.6 An Example: Private Sector Involvement
• 4.7 Sustainable Development Goals Progress
• 4.8 Conclusion

Unit 5 Development Assistance and National Government Policies: 2. Democracy, Governance and Human Rights

• 5.1 Changing Policy Interventions
• 5.2 An Example: the European Union and Democracy and Good Governance
• 5.3 The United States and Democracy Assistance
• 5.4 Are Sanctions Effective?
• 5.5 Conclusion

Unit 6 Humanitarian Assistance

• 6.1 What Is the Scope of Humanitarian Assistance?
• 6.2 Is Humanitarian Aid Effective?
• 6.3 Twelve Lessons About Flood Relief Efforts
• 6.4 The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction
• 6.5 Examples
• 6.6 When Are Cash Transfers the Answer?
• 6.7 Conclusion

Unit 7 Aid Agencies

• 7.1 Introduction
• 7.2 Aid Agencies
• 7.3 Aid Agencies and Aid Effectiveness
• 7.4 High-Level Forums and Aid Effectiveness
• 7.5 General Budget Support
• 7.6 The Predictability of Aid
• 7.7 Payment by Results/Cash on Delivery
• 7.8 Managing Aid Agencies
• 7.9 Conclusion

Unit 8 New Development Assistance

• 8.1 Development Assistance Beyond the OECD DAC
• 8.2 Turkey
• 8.3 BRICS Countries
• 8.4 Conclusion: Impact of the New Development Assistance on Traditional ODA

Module samples

• M460 Module Introduction (PDF)
• M460 Specimen Examination (PDF)
• M460 Unit 1 (PDF)

Disclaimer

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules

In this module you look at the state and how it is managed. This is a huge agenda and brings in ideas from political science, from history, sociology, economics, anthropology and management science. The purposes are these:

• to establish what is meant by some key concepts such as the State, Government and Policy, which are often taken for granted but about which we need to be clear – and to understand different interpretations
• to survey the principles and practice of public management using a historical and comparative perspective
• to introduce a range of ideas that have emerged about how to manage the public sector to demonstrate the importance of context in understanding management and changing management practices.
• to raise some issues about the nature of the policy process in different contexts
• to set out some of the main debates in the field in order to help you to make your own judgements.

Learning outcomes

When you have completed your study of this module, you will be able to:

• define the State and what it means in the second decade of the twenty-first century
• discuss the variety of approaches to public policy and management in different parts of the world and different periods
• analyse the elements of the social, economic, political and cultural contexts in which governments operate and the influence of these elements on approaches to management and policy
• explain how ideal types of government arrangements have influenced government policy
• advise on some of the major choices that governments have to make when making management arrangements
• evaluate the applicability of ideas about policy and management developed in one jurisdiction to another
• assess claims that the role and function of the state is everywhere in decline.

Tuition and assessment

Students are individually assigned an academic tutor for the duration of the module, with whom you can discuss academic queries at regular intervals during the study session.

You are required to complete two Assignments for this module, which will be marked by your tutor. Assignments are each worth 15% of your total mark. You will be expected to submit your first assignment by the Tuesday of Week 6, and the second assignment at the end of the module, on the Tuesday after Week 10. Assignments are submitted and feedback given online. In addition, queries and problems can be answered through the Virtual Learning Environment.

You will also sit a three-hour examination on a specified date in September/October, worth 70% of your total mark. An up-to-date timetable of examinations is published on the website in July each year.

Study resources

• Study guide: The module study guide is carefully structured to provide the main teaching, defining and exploring the main concepts and issues, locating these within current debate and introducing and linking the assigned readings.
• Core reading: The pre-module reading for the whole of Public Policy and Management programmes is:
  • Rod Hague, Martin Harrop & John McCormick (2016) Comparative Government and Politics: An Introduction. 10th Edition. London, Palgrave.
• Additional readings: Because no single textbook could be found that covered all the issues raised in this module, students will be provided with access to a number of supplementary readings. These draw upon selected articles and extracts from books developing and exploring the nature of the state and governance, state-society relations, what states should (and should not) do, why, and how. There are case studies of policy making, evaluation, governance changes and structural and management reforms in a variety of contexts.
• Virtual learning environment: You will have access to the VLE, a web-accessed study centre. Via the VLE, you can communicate with your assigned academic tutor, administrators and other students on the module using discussion forums. The VLE also provides access to the module Study Guide and assignments, as well as a selection of electronic journals available on the University of London Online Library.

Study calendar 2022/23

Study calendars are subject to change.

Module overview

Unit 1 The State, Public Policy and Management

• 1.1 Introduction
• 1.2 Public Policy, Government and the State
• 1.3 Understanding the Variability of States
• 1.4 What is Public Management?
• 1.5 Finally: What Then is Public Policy?

Unit 2 The State in Action

• 2.1 Introduction
• 2.2 The Market Failure Explanation
• 2.3 Size and Functions
• 2.4 Economic Development and the State
• 2.5 States and Welfare
• 2.6 The State, Politics and Institutions
• 2.7 Implications for Public Policy and Management

Unit 3 Ideal Types

• 3.1 Introduction
• 3.2 The Classical Chinese Civil Service
• 3.3 Max Weber and Bureaucracy
• 3.4 ‘Progressive’ Public Administration: Taking the Politics out of Management
• 3.5 The ‘New Deal’
• 3.6 Post-Bureaucracy: Reinventing Government
• 3.7 ‘New Public Management’
• 3.8 After ‘New Public Management’

Unit 4 Policy Analysis and Evaluation

• 4.1 Introduction
• 4.2 The Policy Process: From the Rational Ideal to Chaotic Reality
• 4.3 Policies, Politics and Institutions
• 4.4 Policy in Practice: Case Study on China’s Economic Reform
• 4.5 Policy Evaluation
• 4.6 Unit Review

Unit 5 Policy and Management Dilemmas I

• 5.1 Introduction
• 5.2 Choosing how to Deliver Public Services
• 5.3 The Principal–Agent Problem
• 5.4 Motivations and Incentives
• 5.5 Summary and Review

Unit 6 Policy and Management Dilemmas II

• 6.1 Introduction
• 6.2 How Holds the Reins of Power? Centralisation and Decentralisation
• 6.3 How to Do Things Better: The Quest for Innovation
• 6.4 Conclusion

Unit 7 Policy Transfer and Diversity of Ideas

• 7.1 A Theory of Policy Transfer: Institutional Form
• 7.2 Case Study 1: Policy Responses to Financial Crisis
• 7.3 Case study 2: The USA Occupations of Japan and Iraq
• 7.4 Case Study 3: ‘Co-production’ and the Question of Meaning
• 7.5 Conclusion

Unit 8 The Future of the State?

• 8.1 The End of the State?
• 8.2 Choices
• 8.3 Review Questions and Reflection
• 8.4 The Field of Public Policy and Management

Module samples

• M400 Module Introduction (PDF)
• M400 Specimen Examination (PDF)
• M400 Unit 1 (PDF)

Disclaimer

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules

Research plays an essential role in business and in public policy and management. Increasingly, organisations undertake small-scale research projects, to find out about matters relating to the concerns of their organisation or to critically evaluate existing policies. Both commercial firms and government institutions rely upon research to inform their decisions, to test the effectiveness of existing policies, to predict the effects of intended future policies, to understand management processes and decisions and to gain insights into public preferences and opinions about public services.

Whether you are studying this module in order to carry out research in your professional role, to commission and project-manage research conducted by others or to complete a dissertation for your MSc qualification, your ability to appropriately and rigorously design, execute report, and evaluate research is essential.

The range of research issues and research methods available for researchers to use is vast – too vast to be covered in one introductory module. Therefore, this module concentrates on helping you develop a rigorous understanding of the key principles and practice of research that are needed to get a research project up and running.

Learning outcomes

When you have completed this module, you should feel confident of your ability to conduct an effective research project – for an MSc dissertation, for your professional work or for personal interest. In particular, you will be able to:

• evaluate the relevance and application of the research methods introduced to answer different types of research question
• define and discuss the basic epistemological and ontological concepts related to intellectual enquiry
• analyse and critique the research of others
• choose an appropriate method for investigating your own research question
• carry out an effective and ethical research project – from the proposal initiation stage, through the literature search, data collection and analysis to the final writing-up and presentation of results
• analyse and present qualitative or quantitative data
• evaluate the validity of your own and others' research
• write up research effectively.

Tuition and assessment

Students are individually assigned an academic tutor for the duration of the module, with whom you can discuss academic queries at regular intervals during the study session.

You are required to complete two Assignments for this module, which will be marked by your tutor. Assignments are each worth 15% of your total mark. You will be expected to submit your first assignment by the Tuesday of Week 6, and the second assignment at the end of the module, on the Tuesday after Week 10. Assignments are submitted and feedback given online. In addition, queries and problems can be answered through the Virtual Learning Environment.

You will also sit a three-hour examination on a specified date in September/October, worth 70% of your total mark. An up-to-date timetable of examinations is published on the website in July each year.

Study resources

• Study guide: The study guide contains 10 units. The units are carefully structured to provide the main teaching, defining and exploring the main concepts and issues, locating these within current debate and introducing and linking the further assigned readings. The unit files are also available to download from the Virtual Learning Environment.
• Key texts: Denscombe M (2021) The Good Research Guide: For Small-scale Research Projects. 7th Edition. Open University Press.
  McMillan K & J Weyer (2011) How to Write Dissertations and Project Reports. 2nd Edition. Prentice Hall.
• Readings: Throughout the module you will be directed to study a selection of readings, including journal articles, book extracts and case studies that are of particular relevance and interest to the topics covered in the module.
• Case studies: Examples of the various research techniques taught in the module will be illustrated using case studies – you will be directed to look at them when relevant in the unit text.
• Virtual learning environment: You will have access to the VLE, a web-accessed study centre. Via the VLE, you can communicate with your assigned academic tutor, administrators and other students on the module using discussion forums. The VLE also provides access to the module Study Guide and assignments, as well as a selection of electronic journals available on the University of London Online Library.

Study calendar 2022/23

Study calendars are subject to change.

Module overview

Unit 1 The Nature of Research

• 1.1 What is Research – Pure and Practical?
• 1.2 The Relationship between Theory, Research and Data
• 1.3 Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods in Social Research
• 1.4 Objectivity and Reflexivity

Unit 2 Planning and Designing Research

• 2.1 Planning and Managing Time and Resources
• 2.2 Formulating and Focusing the Research Topic
• 2.3 Choosing a Research Strategy and Design
• 2.4 Ethical Considerations and Issues of Access

Unit 3 Reviewing the Literature and Making Methodological Choices

• 3.1 Introduction
• 3.2 The Purpose of Searching and Reviewing Literature
• 3.3 Planning Your Search of the Literature
• 3.4 Recording the Literature
• 3.5 Writing a Critical Review
• 3.6 Some Common Faults in Literature Reviews

Unit 4 Data

• 4.1 What is Measurement?
• 4.2 Measurement Issues
• 4.3 Data Classification and Why it Matters
• 4.4 Describing Data
• 4.5 Variance and Standard Deviation
• 4.6 Sampling and Selection

Unit 5A Interviews, Focus Groups and Surveys

• 5A.1 Introduction to the Interview
• 5A.2 Types of Research Interviews
• 5A.3 Administration of Interviews
• 5A.4 When to Use Interviews
• 5A.5 Designing Research Interviews
• 5A.6 Conducting Interviews
• 5A.7 Recording and Transcribing Interviews
• 5A.8 How Do We Know the Informant is Telling the Truth?
• 5A.9 Analysing Interview Data
• 5A.10 What is a Questionnaire?
• 5A.11 Types and Administration of Questionnaires
• 5A.12 Constructing Questionnaires
• 5A.13 Coding Questions
• 5A.14 Pilot-Testing Questionnaires
• 5A.15 Ethics in Questionnaire Research
• 5A.16 Data Analysis
• 5A.17 Conclusion

Unit 5B Introduction to Data Analysis I

• 5B.1 Introduction to Data Analysis
• 5B.2 Probability Distributions
• 5B.3 Hypothesis Testing
• 5B.4 Conclusion

Unit 6A Fieldwork and Observation

• 6A.1 What is Ethnography? An Overview
• 6A.2 The Emergent Nature of Research Design, Data Collection and Analysis
• 6A.3 Identifying the Research Topic and Conducting Fieldwork
• 6A.4 Roles and Relationships in Field Observation
• 6A.5 Note-Taking and Types of Research Notes
• 6A.6 Analysing Data and Writing Ethnographic Accounts
• 6A.7 An Overview of Action Research
• 6A.8 What is Participatory Action Research?
• 6A.9 Conducting Participatory Evaluation
• 6A.10 Data Analysis in Dissemination of Results in PAR and Participatory Evaluation

Unit 6B Introduction to Data Analysis II

• 6B.1 Non-Parametric Analysis
• 6B.2 Simple Tests for Categorical Data
• 6B.3 Multivariable Analysis – Correlation
• 6B.4 Multivariable Analysis – Simple Linear Regression
• 6B.5 Conclusion

Unit 7 Validity and Reliability

• 7.1 Introduction
• 7.2 Threats to Internal Validity
• 7.3 Threats to External Validity
• 7.4 Threats to Validity in Qualitative Research
• 7.5 Triangulation as a Solution to Validity Threats
• 7.6 Examples
• 7.8 Conclusion

Unit 8 Writing and Presenting Research

• 8.1 Writing Research Proposals
• 8.2 Writing Research Reports
• 8.3 Ethics in Reporting Research
• 8.4 Evaluating Your Research Report

Module samples

• M453 Module Introduction (PDF)
• M453 Specimen Examination (PDF)
• M453 Unit 1 (PDF)

Disclaimer

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules