Coalition Building and Change Management for Development : A Technical Note on Delivering Successful Reforms and Policy Implementation

Overview & Synopsis

The success of reforms and policy implementation often hinges on how well the human aspect of change is accounted for rather than on their technical design alone. The objective of this technical note is to inform practitioners about how they can support the implementation of reforms and policies through an integrated and evidence-based approach to Coalition Building and Change Management (CB and CM). CB is the process through which groups of stakeholders are mobilized and organized to work together toward a common goal in a deliberate and sustained manner. CM is the process of helping people understand the need for change and to motivate them to take actions, resulting in sustained change in behaviors and attitudes. This note is organized in three parts that set the stage, provide examples of applications of CB and CM strategies, and review the existing evidence. First, the introduction outlines why many development reforms fail, examines the role of CB and CM in addressing root causes of these failures, defines key CB and CM terms, and provides an overview of the note’s intended use and audience. The second section presents applications of CB and CM using country examples to evidence how they have been implemented and the impact they have had on reform outcomes. The third section reviews the evidence from the literature on the impact of political economy CM, and CB interventions on development outcomes. This note also serves as a resource by consolidating in its annexes essential guidance and tools to develop a CB and CM strategy that is fit-for-context.