Wade Channell, Lessons Not Learned: Problems with Western Aid for Law Reform in Postcommunist Countries, Carnegie Papers series, Number 57, 2005.

A candid and very interesting analysis of the problems of organisational learning
In Chapter 2, Channell points out that the problems for learning should be placed on the lack of effective incentives. Generally speaking, rewards are seen to be available for those who know, but not necessarily for those who learn. It is argued that project design and selection processes reward repetition, not innovation. Attempts to change this process have failed because they do not take into account the fact that the contractor side of the aid industry is also hampered by a counterproductive incentive structure. When lessons are actually learned, they are not shared, because the incentives only encourage production and storage of knowledge, not publication.

Simon McGrath, & Kenneth King, Knowledge for Development? Comparing British, Japanese, Swedish and World Bank Aid, Zed Books 2004.

These two studies by the same set of authors provide a through analysis of knowledge management and its application in bilateral and multilateral development agencies
Part of the response of many development cooperation agencies to the challenges of globalisation, ICTs and the knowledge economy is to emphasise the importance of knowledge for development. This paper looks at the discourses and practices of 'knowledge-based aid' through an exploration of four agencies: the World Bank, DFID, Sida and JICA. It seeks to analyse whether knowledge-based aid leads to greater focus on agencies' own needs rather than those of Southern partners. It also questions whether it makes them better at learning from these partners or more intent on a one-way, North-South transfer of knowledge.

Bryane Michael, Explaining Organisational Change in International Development: The Role of Complexity in Anti-Corruption Work, Journal of International Development 16(8):1067 - 1088.

This article looks at the rapid expansion of programmes undertaken by donor agencies which may be labelled as "anti-corruption programmes" in the 1990s. It tries to explain what schools of thought have been driving the agenda
In this article Michael argues that there are four schools of anti-corruption project practice: universalistic, state-centric, society-centric, and critical schools of practice. Yet, none can explain the expansion of anti-corruption projects. A "complexity perspective" offers a new framework for looking at such growth. Such a complexity perspective addresses how project managers, by strategically interacting, can create emergent and evolutionary expansionary self-organisation. Throughout the "first wave" of anti-corruption activity in the 1990s, such self-organisation was largely due to World Bank sponsored national anti-corruption programmes. More broadly, the experience of the first wave of anti-corruption practice sheds light on development theory and practice - helping to explain "post-developmentalist" practice with its stress on multi-layeredness, participation, and indigenous knowledge.

Anna Krohwinkel-Karlsson, Knowledge and Learning in Aid Organizations. pdf, SADEV working paper 2007:1.

Research on organizational learning and knowledge management has developed quickly over the last decades. There are many empirical studies that attempt to advise about the effective design of knowledge and learning systems in different contexts. This recent report argues however that current work suffers from weak connections between theory and practice. This review paper uses conceptual frameworks from the academic literature to organize and synthesize findings from existing analyses of organizational practice within development cooperation. Rather than presenting yet another set of guidelines, the purpose is to link theoretical, methodological and empirical considerations with one another in order to identify knowledge gaps and emerging issues. This is intended to provide input for practitioners working with organizational development, and guide the design of prospective evaluations on related topics. In the main it is argued that analyses of knowledge and learning would benefit from more systematic reflection on the various types of causes of organizational change, the various types of effects, the normative assessment of results and intertemporal documentation challenges. A discussion about the implications of these conclusions for future studies wraps up the paper.

If you have suggestions for literature that should be highlighted in this section, please contact u4@u4.no

Sharing Information and Knowledge to Fight Corruption
- Challenges and Opportunities. pdf

In spite of enormous efforts by government, business and civil society to share knowledge, much useful and sometimes critical information and knowledge remains untapped by experts, the public and other stakeholders. The session therefore sought to explore the challenges and opportunities for gathering and sharing information and knowledge within, between, and beyond individuals and organizations.