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Development Consulting for Tomorrow Pub.:
Keiso-shobo (September, 1992)
The status quo of the development
consulting business, that no one has ever disclosed (or dared disclose),
is critiqued squarely and sharply. The author's right-to-the-point
argument, though provocative at times, is logical and invigorating. This is an ideal guidebook to development consultancy for the general
public, who haven't been informed of even the existence of development
consultants, much less the relationship between private consulting firms
and the ODA. This book helps you understand everything about the
consulting business with ease. For those aspiring to be a
development consultant, this book is a MUST!
From the preface . . . . |
It's
only logical to assume that, to discuss "development consulting for
tomorrow," there must be the notion of development consulting
"in the past" and "today" as the precondition. However, this book presumes that there is no such notion widely held by
the general public. That is, one of the direct motives to write this
book is my hope to raise social recognition toward development consulting,
which has so far remained relatively anonymous.
Behind this motive, there are two recent, related events. One;
more and more people have started talking about Japan's ODA (Official
Development Assistance) with interest as the public awareness about it has
grown. Two; the world is groping for the role of Japan in global
economy and society in the present climate of international affairs that
is changing rapidly.
These days, people from various walks including government officials,
researchers, journalists, and executives of trade companies and other,
debate on Japan's ODA. It is a good thing that the public have
started to pay more attention to what those associated with the ODA used
to call "assistance village" somewhat self-deprecatingly up
until recently. Yet, in many of these debates and discussions, there
are found not few misconceptions, lack of knowledge, and irrelevant
critiques based on such. It is strange that development consultants
themselves, who have partly helped the rapid expansion of the ODA, have
generally remained silent so far over this issue. There are a
couple of reasons for this.
For one, because of the kind of work they do, development consultants
often travel overseas and are too busy to refute, mainly pressed with ODA-related
work. For another, they may have the presumption that there is no
need to argue because what they do speaks itself. Many Japanese
development consultants are basically honest engineers. Perhaps it
is in their disposition that they would rather let their work itself speak
than talk about their work since the latter is not honorable. However, they will have to change. The search for the role of
Japan in the new world order is under way, prompted by such global events
as perestroika in the Soviet Union, democratic reform movements that have
spread all over from East Europe, and the Gulf War. Contributing to
the global community through development cooperation is an avenue Japan
can take. Nevertheless, it cannot be achieved by simply increasing
the amount of ODA money to be given or, much less, by sharing the cost to
maintain the world order under other nations' directions. We are now
asked to respond with self-assertion as a nation as to how we are going to
put more efficient and effective development cooperation to practice.
That is, how we are going to implement international cooperation that is
both appealing and valuable to recipient countries. |
The
point that is argued throughout this book given the background is: how
human resources can be best utilized. The main objectives are
two-fold. One is to elucidate the essence of people-based
development cooperation through describing work in development consulting.
The second is to discuss how to raise the level of Japan's contribution to
international society through development cooperation.
It is true that development consultants have in part supported the ODA.
However, it would be impudent of them to insist that they have contributed
enough to international cooperation just by listing the number of projects
they finished. Things that they could have done better yesterday and
should work on harder tomorrow are not few. However, if the notion
that the status quo as such does not allow us to step forward weakens the
logic behind what development consultants should strive for and what
development consulting should be, even the purpose of elucidating the
essence of development cooperation cannot be served. That is why I
deliberately titled this book, Development Consulting for Tomorrow.
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