Aims

This course will aim to train future professionals who will be working in the framework of international humanitarian aid, and to provide them with an introduction to applied management in this particular context, and the main tools, methods and principles. Of the numerous fields of management (e.g. finance and human resources), logistics will be the focus of a more in-depth study at a theoretical and practical level. Throughout the course, we will stress the importance of re-situating humanitarian aid actions in their context with a view to comprehending specific issues in geostrategic, ethical, social, religious, operational and other terms. The personal, intercultural, economic, political and other consequences of humanitarian interventions will be analysed, as will the central place that they have to occupy in the decision-making process. Lastly, operational and technical processes mostly used in interventions will be analysed from a theoretical and practical standpoint. The secondary objectives of the course will be as follows: developing students' critical approach, sense of analysis and communication skills; and a focus on the ethical dimension and the vision in which humanitarian action is established, because management is no more than the means of putting into practice.

Main themes

The main issues to be addressed will be:
- the context of humanitarian aid (e.g. historical, different actors, new issues; and the institutional context);
- definitions and the objective of management;
- specific features of management in international humanitarian aid;
- the importance of vision => strategic management;
- the impact of the interventions;
- different kinds of organisation (advantages and disadvantages);
- different management fields (e.g. finance, marketing, human resource management, and logistics), and an in-depth analysis of one of them (logistics);
- ethics in international humanitarian aid;
- specific tools of international humanitarian aid;
- communications tools.

Content and teaching methods

Content
Introduction: Examples of this include the history and definitions of humanitarian aid, the institutional context, a range of actors, and new issues.
Management
Definitions and specific features of the management of international humanitarian aid.
Strategic management (the role of vision, ethics, organisations, structure, stakeholders and leadership).
The decision-making process.
Specific tools for management in international humanitarian aid (e.g. the logical framework, and Sphere).
Issues, systems, processes and tools that are appropriate to different management fields (e.g. marketing, human resources, finance, logistics and communications).
Logistics
A typical structure of the operational logistic system.
Preparing a logistic system.
The specific tasks of humanitarian logistics.
Methodology
A professorial course; setting the scene, case studies, reading articles, interventions by various different actors in the world of humanitarian aid, group work and the oral presentation of outcomes.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

An oral examination. Group work.
The NOHA syllabus: "Management in Humanitarian Assistance".

Other credits in programs