Authored Article

Scaling for Impact; pioneering management for social change

Financial Express
8 September 2023

The authors weigh in the dilemmas and challenges of scaling and scalability within the social sector. As they highlight lack of management expertise and professionals within the sector, the authors underline the significance of building Development Management as a domain dedicated and tailored to the needs of the sector, as well how Higher Education Institutions could pioneer this, shaping resilient, impactful Social Purpose Organisations and addressing India's pressing social issues.

Trisha Varma, Ravi Sreedharan
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Why Management Matters in the Social Sector?

Impact does not scale on intent alone.

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India’s social sector is operating at an unprecedented scale and ambition—seeking to deliver measurable outcomes, manage complexity, and steward public and philanthropic capital responsibly.

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What holds the sector back is not ambition or intent. It is the absence of leadership and management capability designed for social purpose organisations.

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While business has Business Management and the state has Public Administration, the social sector has long lacked a comparable discipline to build leaders, strengthen institutions, and sustain impact over time.

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Development Management addresses this gap.

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It equips leaders to build organisations that endure, adapt, and deliver sustained impact at scale—without losing sight of purpose, ethics, or context.

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Because social change demands stronger leadership.

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What Is Development Management?

A discipline built for leaders of social purpose organisations.

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Development Management is a field of practice and learning focused on leading and managing organisations that exist to advance social development.

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It draws from management sciences, public systems, and social theory, but is fundamentally shaped by the realities of development work. It recognises that social purpose organisations operate amid multiple stakeholders, unequal power structures, uncertain outcomes, and deep contextual complexity.

At its core, Development Management helps leaders to:

  • build organisations that are mission-driven and well-managed
  • make decisions that balance impact, scale, and sustainability
  • design systems that respond to people, context, and change
ISDM’S Role

Advancing Development Management as a discipline.

ISDM exists to advance and anchor Development Management as a foundational discipline for India’s social sector.

Its role is to ensure that Development Management is not treated as an abstract concept, but embedded in how leaders are prepared, organisations are built, and institutions endure. By shaping leadership pathways, contributing field-informed knowledge, and strengthening organisational capability, ISDM helps establish Development Management as a shared standard for leadership and management in social development.

In doing so, ISDM operates at the level of the ecosystem—supporting the long-term capability of organisations and leaders working toward India’s social development goals.

Our Values

The beliefs that anchor our intent and ethics

Equity

‍We build leadership spaces where dignity, access, and opportunity are non-negotiable.

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‍We recognise structural inequality and work actively to counter it—across caste, class, gender, language, faith, sexuality, and geography. Equity shapes who gets to lead, whose voices are heard, and how institutions are built.


Compassion

‍We lead with humanity—towards others and ourselves.

‍We create learning environments that honour vulnerability, difference, and growth. Compassion at ISDM is not softness; it is the practice of listening deeply, engaging honestly, and holding complexity with care.


Courage

‍We choose clarity, even when it is uncomfortable.

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‍We question assumptions, redesign what no longer serves, and express principled disagreement when needed. Courage shows up in learning, unlearning, apologising, failing, and beginning again—with integrity.



Justice

‍We act with responsibility, transparency, and accountability.‍

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Justice guides how we teach, research, partner, and build institutions. We value truth, dialogue, and trust—and commit to practices that are ethical, sustainable, and rooted in democratic values.

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