For public sector management development professionals to be given the recognition and resources that we deserve, we must be seen to contribute to the organization’s ‘bottom-line’, which is to prepare employees to perform at the level needed to achieve the organization’s strategic mission and objectives. Governments can only respond effectively to the challenges of increased globalization and decentralization if we, as instructors in schools and institutes of administration, prepare adequate learning experiences for public administrators. The objectives of this article are to describe the steps in my strategic-contingency approach to management development, an instructional design approach which links the strategic mission of the organizations in which our clients work to the instruction that we prepare. I believe that following the steps of my strategic-contingency approach to management development will produce a curriculum that is more responsive to the needs of the client organization and to the participants. Such instruction will not only benefit the organizations we serve but will also enhance our professional reputations.
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