F1GD 5820 - Management & Leadership: Unpacking Human Behaviour in Development and Humanitarian Work Settings

***UPDATED for 2025/26***

This course is designed for students who are pursuing careers with management and supervisory responsibility in international development and/or humanitarian settings. Using case studies from the United Nations and other multinational and non-governmental organisations (NGOs)/civil society organisations (CSOs), the course is designed to focus on developing and applying key cross-cultural leadership skills and the “people” dimension of management competencies.

It also focuses on the broad examination of common human resource issues facing managers in international settings, and more detailed analysis and skill building related to effective supervision and communication, cross-cultural and gender dimensions of managing and leading teams in a multi-cultural context. Attention is placed on working cross-culturally as well as lessons learned and best practices that consider the global development and humanitarian context, both external (country-specific) and organizational cultures and norms in workplace management. As such, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) framework will inform discussions on leadership styles and approaches as well as management principles, processes, and techniques that are relevant when planning and implementing programs in either development or humanitarian contexts.

Given its application focus, the content is centred around 5 thematic areas: a) Leadership styles, challenges, and ‘good’ practices; b) Basic concepts and theories of modern management; c) Understanding staff behaviour and its management and leadership implications, d) Addressing and managing diversity in different international work settings and e) Self-assessment of personal leadership and management competencies.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Identify and explain how culture, human behaviour patterns and organizational behaviour dynamics influence leadership approaches and management processes
• Demonstrate an understanding of different models/theories for the leadership function and supervisory role of a manager
• Explain the fundamentals of managing staff and teams and the application of diversity and inclusion management principles and professional codes of conduct within different work environments in international development
• Demonstrate management competencies that can be adapted for work in different development and humanitarian environments

Professional Skills

Human resource management skills, Conflict management and interpersonal communication skills, team-building skills

Mini-Lecture with emphasis on discussion, small group work, incl. skill practice sessions and role-plays, plus student, team presentations. Guest speakers /discussants with extensive field experience in development and/or humanitarian settings are also invited to engage in class discussions.

Written feedback will be provided on all student-produced outputs (team presentation and term paper)

• 10% - Class Participation 10%
• 60% - Team Presentation (incl. summary PPT slides)
• 30% - Term Paper – (est. 4000-5000 words) < Due: 2 weeks after Session 12

• In Class Presence: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Reading and Preparation for Class: 5 hours a week / 30 hours a semester
• Research and Preparation for Group Work:8 hours a week / 48 hours a semester
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments:8 hours a week / 48 hours a semester