Public Management Training in Developing Countries: A Review

This paper reports the results of a survey of the trends, developments and problems in public administration and management training in less developed countries (LDCs). The survey is based largely on published information and is limited to the training of middle and upper level personnel in government, including public enterprises. The patterns of growth and diversification of public administration and management training in LDCs over the past thirty years are examined in the first part of the paper. The nature of impact these training activities have had on the countries concerned, the reasons for the rather limited impact of training in MANY LDCs, the lessons to be learned from the more successful training institutions, and recent innovations in training designs and methods are among other aspects highlighted in the paper. The findings of the survey have important policy implications in terms of improving the links between training the personnel and career development policies of governments, formulating national training policies and plans, utilizing training facilities more effectively and establishing priorities for international assistance.