Training Tomorrow's Third World Leaders

"Mister, please, Excuse me sir. You must pay me more." The rug salesman is near pleading on his knees, or at least he pretends he will go that far. "I have babies at home. You must pay me more."

John W. Thomas is only slightly moved by the display. He names his price, saying he can pay no more. After already unrolling several of his most choice products ("this is Berber wool, made by Berber women in the mountains, it is not manufactured") the salesman knows this customer means business. "You kill me," he says giving in, and takes Thomas' money, thanking him profusely.

Thomas, lecturer in public policy at the Kennedy School of Government and a Fellow at the Harvard Institute for International Development, had just utilized the revised version of Ury and Fisher's "Getting to Yes" negotiations strategy known as the Thomas-Evriviades technique, one of many such strageties put into practice during the annual field trip for the Mason Fellows Program in Public Policy and Management, which last month, took the group to Morocco. The trip was planned to give Fellows, who come from developing countries from around the world to study at the K-School, a chance to put into practice some of the analytical tools they learned during the year.

The Mason Fellows Program, now in its 27th year functions within the K-School's one-year mid career curriculum. The group of approximately 50 makes up one-third of the Masters in Public Administration class. Officials with a variety of professional backgrounds from developing countries come to the K-School to learn administrative techniques they will use as future leaders in the Third World Founded in 1957 by Edward S. Mason, Lamont University Professor Emeritus and former dean of Harvard's then Graduate School of Public Administration, the program has attracted some of the highest level officials in the Third World today.

As part of their academic training the Fellows visited Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakech in Morocco, taking some time for sightseeing, but mainly studying agricultural projects, a housing development site and textile plants. The week also included seminars with government officials from the Ministry of Tourism and an economic planning institute, as well as welcoming functions at the Moroccan and United States embassies.

Now in the heart of their last academic push before final exams end their one year of study at Harvard, the Mason Fellows have expressed some criticism of their time at Harvard, although most say the year has been worthwhile. The field trip to Morocco was but one of the problems with the Mason Program, some say, adding that the trip could even have been eliminated since its educational value was limited. Many Masons interviewed asked not to be named because of political reasons.

After a delayed arrival into Casablanca, the group was whisked onto a Flag Tour bus. With only a few hours to recover from jetlag, the group was bussed to Rabat.

Most sightseeing in Rabat and the other Moroccan cities was done from the tour bus, with some opportunity for walking around the first and second days, giving the trip a tourist atmosphere.

The cities and Medinas constantly teeming with people during the weekend gave the impression of a world far removed from the fast pace of Cambridge. A visit to Volubilis, the site of ancient Roman ruins and Meknes, an ancient city within the modern world, gave the visitors a sense of Morocco's history and Islamic culture, and some perspectives of a people conquered and integrated into so many other cultures. One of the Latin Americans was surprised to find that their architecture was heavily influenced by the Arab world, while one Fellow felt ashamed because the Romans had managed to develop a sewage system which his own country does not yet have.

It was on the second day that the Thomas-Evridiades negotiation strategy was first suggested. "If we are going to get bargains, we have to work together. We will have to negotiate carefully," said Euripedes L. Evriviades, who had brought his "Getting to Yes" text along for negotiations study, explaining that he and Thomas had formulated a new method. Realizing that shop owners would inevitably escalate prices for tourists, the group developed a strategy that evolved into a four step procedure:

*Working in teams of three or four the group enters the store, begins vigorously browsing so that the storeowner must divide his attention among the shoppers.

*When one of the members has recognized a product he would definitely like to purchase, the group briefly huddles together to establish negotiations procedure, then 'pricing' begins.

*After pricing to a point where the merchant is unwilling to come down to the group's price, they walk out, planning to return often claiming. "I can get this anywhere in the Medina," or a similar phrase of disinterest.

*After trying the same thing in other stores, the group returns, begins pricing again, then employs another group member to signal that 'the bus is leaving,' forcing the sale.

Although some incidents of failed negotiations occurred when the store owner knew English or when someone because so caught in the negotiations procedure that they purchased an item they actually did not want to buy bazaars provided an interesting opportunity to apply skills learned in class.

However some said that the trip could have been more educational or questioned the necessity of taking such a trip at all. Many suggested that going to another developing country or changing the itinerary for the outing might have been more useful. Many also said the Fellows should have been asked what sort of trip they would have liked to take.

"The reason we don't consult the Fellows says Nancy S. Pyle associate director of the MPA program and director of the Mason Fellows program, is because they would never agree on one country. Depending on their own countries and backgrounds they would always want to go to a different choice.

We try to pick a country that is at an interesting stage of development one where none of the Masons are from. It also has to be politically stable be willing to welcome all the Mason Fellows and also give some financial assistance for the trip." Pyle says noting that travel time to countries must also be considered.

Yet for all the apparent problems Pyle eventually resolved, some Fellows say they were not adequately prepared for the journey. "It would have been far more helpful." Arthur Namu of Kenya says, "If we had prepared for the trip by having some curriculum modules or had some seminars to familiarize ourselves with Morocco more thoroughly. We would have had a better idea of what to look for."

"No matter what I do, someone will be unhappy," Pyle says. "It is difficult to please a group of 50." The itinerary for the trip, which many of the students found limiting, is planned with a broad scope of interests in mind. Pyle says, "Every year we try to strike a balance that reflects the interests of the group. This class is more geared towards federal issues rather than rural development, but it changes from class to class."

But some Mason Fellows question the need for a trip at all, especially to a developing country. "A more interesting trip would have been to Washington D.C." one of the Fellows argues. "It would have been more profitable to go to the World Bank, the I.M.F. or the Inter-American Development Bank, or the United Nations in New York."

Despite some reservations about the usefulness of the trip, most of the Fellows enjoyed seeing Morocco, learning of its culture and history. "Personally I don't think the point was to get something concrete," one Fellow said. "It really depended on the individual what could be learned. The problems that are faced in Morocco may not be the same ones in Indonesia or anywhere else. But we could appreciate their sites and programs."

The difficulties and complaints about the field trip reflect a larger scope of problems the Masons have noticed during the year, that of the larger issue of Harvard's role as an educator in the Third World and of what can be gained from the K-School attempting to teach a methodology for developing countries. The problems are discussed during the year, one Fellow says, but generally, "most people don't bother doing anything because they feel, 'it's not going to do anything. It's only a year.'"

The problems for MPAs range from course size to "a simple thing like not having enough coat hooks," Brian Hemshall of Hong Kong says. "The place is just too crowded Classes are far too large. If you get a chance to speak to a professor more than once in a class you're lucky."

However, most feel the method and quality of teaching is strong and appreciate the flexibility of the MPA program. Besides taking K-School courses, the Masons can arrange to study at MIT's Sloan School, Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy or any of the Harvard Graduate Schools as well as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Center for African Studies at Boston University Such flexibility is necessary, some say, because the K-School does not have many of the courses they had wanted to study. "The flexibility of the program allows you to tailor it to suit your needs," Evriviades of Cyprus says. "For example the Fletcher School does a better job with law and diplomacy because they have been doing it longer and developed an expertise."

In terms of curriculum, students find it easy to study whatever interest them. "You cannot possibly blame Harvard if the year does not turn out to be profitable," Harry Mapondo of Malawi says. "The beauty of the program is that it does not pin you down I did whatever I wanted." But many mention the need for a core requirement, so that some common background for each student will be established. "We have a shadow core." Assistant Professor of Public Policy Shantayanan Devarajan says, "We view certain analytical tools--economics, statistics, policy analysis and one other substantive area as material that they should know when they get out of here. It would be difficult to formulate one or two courses that everyone could take."

But generally Masons say they have learned more clearly how to think about certain development issues. "The knowledge itself is not as important as how you view the question at hand," Ban Ki Moon says. "We have been taught an analytical framework which the K-School is famous for and have benefitted from this method."

However some Masons say the structure of the program restricts the type of Third World officials who can learn some of the tools the K-School has to offer, because of the programs costs. "I learned, but at a cost," one Fellow says. "The benefit is there, but the cost is too expensive." The tuition for Mason Fellows is $28,000, approximately $6-10,000 higher than that of other MPAs. The cost covers a series of administrative charges, including special trips and outings for the Fellow's families, as well as the Moroccan trip and special interviews for admission. A majority of the Mason Fellows are sponsored by international organizations such as USAID, the Ford Foundation or the Fulbright Commission, and therefore do not necessarily pay their costs directly.

But some argue that the Fellows, who come from poorer countries than the American MPAs, should not have to pay such high costs. "The fees are not justified in the long run. Even though I'm sponsored by an international organization, the money I'm using at Harvard could go towards tuition for two students somewhere else, so my country is losing out," one Fellow complains. "It is also unfair that people from the developing world must be Mason Fellows to attend the K-School. We should have a choice whether we want to pay those extra costs. The treatment we get costs extra, and distinguishes us from the other MPAs, so we are not integrated into the program completely."

"There is no way Harvard can pay for the support services without having the costs included in the tuition," Pyle says. "The Program has no endowment, no money waiting in the Harvard coffers."

One of the first 'extras' that some of the Mason Fellows would cut is a summer program required of them but optional for American MPAs. The Fellows arrive in July for an eight week summer session which includes courses in micro-economics, computers, English, speed reading and some introduction to the case study method.

Many note the overwhelming amount of American cases used in management courses, and an ignorance on the part of some professors of Third World concerns. "The message we're getting," one Fellow says "is that there is a view formed around certain beliefs. There is a very surprising lack of knowledge and respect even, for what is produced outside the U.S. on Third World political economy. It might even be mentioned as something that's not even worth looking at."

"I was warned by my friend who was here before me," one Fellow says. "There is bound to be a difference in perspective, so I was not surprised when it happened."

"The perspective of the School is an American perspective," another Fellow said, "how the Third World is seen from American eyes. There is something to be said in favor of that. We have a lot to learn from them." However he adds, "But when the mentality dominates, that if you do it our way you can solve your problems,' it defeats the whole purpose."

The K-School approach is based on the belief that certain concepts and techniques are universal, and therefore some methods taught to American MPAs, to be utilized somewhere in the United States, would work just as well in India. "I think there is an enormous amount of transferability in tools they can use, for example economics, statistics, also some management skills," says Walter M. Broadnax, a lecturer in public policy. "The question is the nature of the environment they will apply them in. Given some relative political and economic stability, these tools apply well, and the more stable the situation, the better they apply."

With the variety of backgrounds and experiences the Mason Fellows bring to the school "no matter what you teach there'll be someone who says 'that's not the way it is in my country,'" Deverajan says. "Generalization is a means of teaching, and by definition we will have exceptions. Their perspective is still very focussed on the problems of their own countries." He adds, "Our approach can be considered cold-blooded. We're duce very real problems to models and the value of that is that we are able to leave the rhetoric aside."

Thomas says that it is unavoidably true that the teaching the Fellows receive will have some bias. "I am a white American male. I've spent some part of my life in developing countries nearly one third. But I was still raised with certain American views and values." He adds, "For these students to be able to identify with Harvard as a premium world institution is very important. It is not the content of the courses, but the knowledge that they as Third World students can come to one of the premium world institutions and make the grade."

The Mason Fellows Program has expanded its number and focus since its original conception Five years ago associate professor of public policy. Robert E. Klitgaard '68, who teaches development courses, says he thought the program was not such a good idea, for some of the same complaints the Fellows voice now--they are not properly integrated into the School, the material available for development issues is not of a good enough quality. In Klitgaard's view, the students weren't always able to do the work. "Now the program is academically sound, and we're taking more people who will become leaders of their countries," he says. "Before we were just taking their money. Most of their courses they were taking outside the K-School. We really weren't doing a good job."

The K-School's approach to development issues has expanded since then, with several more case studies of the Third World integrated into the curriculum. In response to student complaints about approach, Klitgaard says also that "tools and policies are applicable across countries. The choice a country makes is contingent upon a host of local features."

He suggests that the School can improve the program on two points: increase the international scope of its curriculum and improve recruitment. "We can do better in terms of choosing future leaders from the Third World," he says, suggesting a required Graduate Management Aptitude Test score of all applicants, rather just the test of English as a foreign language exam. "This will be better not only for the program." Klitgaard says, "but for the School's other students." Thomas says he would also like to see more emphasis placed on development issues, with perhaps a visiting faculty member from the Third World. "If Harvard is going to be in Third World issues, there must be a greater number of Third World faculty," one Fellow said.

It is unlikely that the K-School will take a new approach to studying development. "There are no radicals at the Kennedy School," Thomas says. However, according to Broadnax, as the K-School grows, "It becomes more and more likely that it will take on a more cosmopolitan environment as we work towards achieving an optimum mix of foreign students and move those issues confronting developing countries to the front burner."

There is no question that the Mason Program will continue. Next year's class will stay at 50, Pyle says. But if Harvard is to have an effect on the Third World, some of the problems noticed by this year's Mason Fellows must still be addressed. "The question is not whether Harvard can afford to make room for Third World concerns," Devarajan says. "The question is whether it can afford not to. The problems of the Third World are there and are immense in magnitude. To some extent we all feel an obligation not to ignore those problems. Harvard has excelled in the systematic analysis of public policy. It makes sense to me that Harvard should take a role in this."