Integrating blueprint and process: A structured flexibility approach to development management

Resource type
Authors/contributors
Title
Integrating blueprint and process: A structured flexibility approach to development management
Abstract
Managing socio-economic development according to highly detailed pre-implementation plans rigidly applied has not had a high degree of success in generating sustained progress in the world's poorer nations. At the other end of the spectrum is the process approach that avoids specifying targets in advance, and concentrates upon building problem-solving capacity among the people involved. Many international donor and developing country agencies favour the blueprint model, despite its performance weaknesses, for its control and specificity. The process approach is limited by its lack of fit with agency procedures and incentives. This article discusses a structured flexibility approach to development management that integrates the blueprint model's planned structuring of action with the process model's flexibility and iterative learning orientation. This blend provides the basis for the programmatic and financial accountability required to obtain support from donor and developing country bureaucracies, and facilitates adaptive management to deal with uncertain and changing task environments. Case examples from the Caribbean, Portugal, and Pakistan illustrate the application of the structured flexibility approach.
Publication
Public Administration and Development
Volume
9
Issue
5
Pages
487-503
Date
November 1, 1989
Journal Abbr
Public Admin. Dev.
Language
en
ISSN
1099-162X
Short Title
Integrating blueprint and process
Accessed
20/02/2018, 20:32
Library Catalogue
Wiley Online Library
Citation
Brinkerhoff, D. W., & Ingle, M. D. (1989). Integrating blueprint and process: A structured flexibility approach to development management. Public Administration and Development, 9(5), 487–503. https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230090503