ABSTRACT
Current concepts and practice in development management derive from a wide variety of sources: the influence of trends in management theory and the priorities of development agencies at a given time and the interpretation of the lessons to be learned from the experience of managing development programmes and projects are some of the most important influences. The diversity of this list shows the wide range of influences on development management practice. It also suggests that ‘making sense’ of such a wide range of sources might be a difficult and confusing experience. At present, development project management is a very volatile subject, beset by a flood of new ideas. Recent development experience has created uncertainty over objectives and the appropriate mechanisms for achieving them. The constant process of revising ideas and practice in the light of experience has been intensified by the raising of the fundamental question of how to ensure the sustainability of development initiatives. The problem for the managers of development projects is: how to learn the valuable lessons of recent experience without being deluged by a stream of new development fashions which may invalidate their previous experience and in return provide them with little idea of how to manage development projects in the present and future.
