American University
School of International Service
International Development Program
Master of Science in Development Management
THE MSDM MANAGEMENT
PRACTICUM 2015/2016
Practicum Supervisor: David Hirschmann
E-mail: dhirsch@american.edu
The objective of the MSDM management practicum is to put yourself in the position
of a manager (in some cases a junior one) who will accomplish some practical and
observable purpose in which your organization or community is positively interested; to
the extent that this is feasible, and it usually is, your organization should agree and hold
you (notionally if not formally) accountable for the results achieved.
This does not mean that you need to achieve your objectives in all respects, but
rather that you continue to try do so, and that they (the organization or community) as well
as you observe the progress, including the necessary adaptations that you do eventually
make.
In the process you will self-consciously take the viewpoint of a manager, attempting
to apply some selected principles of management (for example from the DM, Skills
Institutes, Kogod and PUAD courses) and carefully observe the process.
There are six required components to the practicum: One is on-going participation with
your colleagues in all DM practicum meetings over the course of your degree. The second is
the 8 preparation exercises, The third is carrying out the assignment which leads to the
fourth which is an outcome/product i.e. the change, the result, the document’ The fifth is
reporting on, and analysis of, the process in an Analytical and Process Report. The sixth is
the formal presentation of your findings and experiences to the Development Management
group.
-------------------------------------------------ONGOING: PARTICIPATION
Students are required to participate in as many DM practicum meetings as possible,
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even before they register for the course and (if they have not completed the degree) after
they have presented their practicum. These are to be seen as the equivalent of class
meetings, albeit spread over four semesters. We do not foresee more than three a semester.
These will take the form of introductory meetings (introducing students to each other and
to the operating principles of the practicum), progress report meetings (findings, lessons
learned, experience sharing), guest speakers on development management, and final
presentation meetings (at which a student, on completion of the work and writing
requirements, presents his/her findings and analysis.).
-------------------------------------------------STAGE 1: PREPARATION
Note: You are required to get clearance from the Academic Supervisor before commencing the
preparation exercises.
These exercises must be prepared in advance of, or early on in, the work assignment itself; often
with incomplete information. This MUST be submitted to, and accepted by, the Academic
Supervisor either before, or early on in, the Practicum. Failure to do so may invalidate the
Practicum:
I) a Purpose Statement that declares what the objective of your undertaking will be. These
need not be grandiose or elaborate but something achievable by a person in your position
in a period of three or six months or a year. (One or two paragraphs).
ii) a Personal Situation Analysis: it is essential that a manager analyses carefully his/her
situation in relation to others in the organization in terms of power, influence, skills, age,
experience, sense of being an insider/outsider, gender, culture or ethnicity. Each factor
such as gender or language etc needs a heading and a short explanation (between 2/3 of a
page and a full page)
iii) a Stakeholder Analysis explaining who the most affected parties/actors will be, how they
are likely to be impacted, what level of influence they have, and how you propose to deal
with them, that is, your strategy. The number of stakeholders will differ, but a minimum of
6 should be included. (A table)
iv) a Logframe explaining goals, objectives, outputs and inputs; verifiable indicators for
each; sources of information for each; and critical assumptions for each. This may be
difficult to complete in all aspects but you should push the exercise as far as is reasonable
(A table)
v) a Strategic Constraints and Opportunities Assessment: in order to plan strategically it is
important to think through what the key constraints limiting you and key opportunities
helpful to you are likely to be. This should take the form of a SWOT analysis. The point is
not to list all opportunities etc but only the key ones (half to 2/3 of a page)
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vi) an Action Plan and Gantt Chart which requires you to break up your overall undertaking
into discrete tasks and subtasks involving specific people or groups of people (e.g. meeting
with all relevant parties, questionnaire ready, interviews, trainees selected), clarify the
relationship of those tasks, (some can be carried out simultaneously, some depend on the
completion of prior tasks), to provide a provisional date for achievement of that task.
(Approx 2/3 page narrative explanation; and a Gantt Chart)
vii) five Management Themes, referring to twelve authors, who you believe will be relevant
to your work and the relevance or utility of which you will observe as you carry out your
task. The main purpose is to demonstrate a ‘professional’ level of familiarity with their
ideas, arguments and models, You should write a substantive paragraph on each author,
followed by a sentence or two indicating in what way you think the idea or model will be
relevant. Do not apply their ideas/tools here (that will be done later in the process report).
(Approx four-five pages).
viii) a common sense discussion of ‘quantitative’ and ‘objective and subjective qualitative’
Performance Measurement: how you will know whether or what to extent you are achieving
or have achieved your objective(s); that is how will you measure your performance as you
go along. An example of a ‘quantitative measurement’ may include ‘number of
departments adopting a new M and E system;’ an example of a qualitative measure might
be ‘level of serious discussion of my proposal at meetings’ or ‘demonstrations, or lack
thereof, of level of superviser’s commitment to the proposed innovation’. (About 1/2 a
page)
ix) You are strongly encouraged to provide any further diagrams representing your logic
or the way in which you perceive of the structure or dynamic of your organization.
-----------------------------------STAGE 2: CARRYING OUT THE ASSIGNMENT
The most important and core component of the practicum is carrying out the
assignment that you and your organization have undertaken. This will involve both
continual strategic thinking (keeping in mind your organizational context, your plan, your
objective, and the main steps to achieve that objective) and the nitty-gritty of management
(research, analysis, continual adaptation, writing, re-designing, information gathering,
communication, persuasion, reminders, patience, persistence, coordination, compromises
or trade offs etc.) It is anticipated that you will confront problems, sometimes serious ones,
and be given unanticipated tasks. You will do your very best to find answers and solutions
including adaptations.
As you work through this process it will be necessary to keep a journal with a focus
on the preparatory exercises (possibly a weekly journal or one based around events, themes
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or insights), in order to fulfill the third component of the practicum.
If the product of your work is or includes a document, e.g. a project proposal or a
training design, then you will need to hand this in. If the product is more in the nature of
an organizational change or increased capacity or a better information system you will
need to explain this in your process report.
-------------------------------------------------STAGE 3: REPORTING AND ANALYZING THE PROCESS
This process report is the principal academic component (albeit very applied in
nature) of the practicum. (The whole report on the process should be between 20 and 30
pages; 1.5 spacing). You must include the following elements (and are strongly advised to
follow the following order:
i) The Work Experience: Commence by explaining the context and purpose of your
practicum. Then describe the experience (‘tell the story’) including major events and
adaptations. Describe the major achievement(s) of the exercise. You are encouraged to
include personal experiences, surprises, insights and adaptations. (About 5 or 6 pages)
ii) Analysis: Referring systematically to each of the eight preparatory exercises, and using
them as the main mode of organizing this section, report analytically and insightfully on
the process of carrying out your assignment; in each case assess to what extent you got
things right or wrong or were able to achieve your goals, plans, deadlines and why and why
not, and to what extent and in what ways your preparatory exercises were relevant or helpful,
and why or why they were not, and how you adapted. (Approx 13 to 15 pages)
Pointers:
The experience with, and lessons learned from, all 8 preparatory exercises must be given
substantive attention. You should discuss briefly and frankly how helpful or unhelpful
each proved to be; and then, whether helpful or not you need to assess/analyze each
thoughtfully and thoroughly.
When dealing with:
•
Purpose Statement: Discuss how much and which parts of your original purpose
held up over time; how much turned out to be wrong and why and what you
learned.
•
Stakeholder Analysis: analyze your experience with at least 4 Stakeholders,
selecting the ones who proved most interesting;
•
Logframe: analyze your experience with at least 4 modules from any column,
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selecting ones that provide the most useful/interesting lessons;
•
SWOT Analysis: analyze at least 4 factors, at least one from each of the quadrants;
•
Action Plan/ Gantt Chart: select at least 4 dates/events that did not follow your
plan: fell behind or accelerated;
•
Management themes: deal with at least 5 authors and discuss what your practicum
experience had to say about their arguments or concepts or models;
•
Common Sense Performance Measures: discuss 2 quantitative and 2 qualitative
measures.
iii) Lessons Learned: a) Provide a section on key lessons or insights, and realistic, feasible
recommendations for the organization or community. b) Conclude with lessons that you
feel are generalizable to the field of development management. (About 2 pages total)
iv) Provide a contents page and one page executive summary.
v) Provide an annex containing a few helpful diagrams representing the organizational
structure, or/and communications system or/and coordination practices or/and relationship
to the operating environment – consult the DM or the internet reader for ideas on
diagrams.
v) This is a management report and not an essay. Your should therefore make effective and
clear use of headings and subheadings, bullets, numbering systems etc
---------------------------------------------------STAGE FOUR: PRESENTATION
On completion of the assignment and having prepared the process report, the student will
make a formal analytical presentation on findings, experiences and management lessons to
the Development Management group. This will usually take place at the final meeting of
the semester, and after consultation with the practicum supervisor on form and substance
of the presentation. The presentation will strive to be of the highest quality: succinct, to the
point, informative, interesting, analytical and make appropriate use of visual techniques.
The student will also be questioned by faculty and students. You will receive a presentation
guideline in advance.
---------------------------------------------------Please note: while you may work on your practicum over the summer, and you will be able
to get faculty advice (by email), you will not be able to do the formal presentation over the
summer. I look forward to working with you.
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