TY  - JOUR
T1  - BEYOND THE BLUEPRINT: A MULTI-STAKEHOL⁠DER ANALYSIS OF THE PERCEIVED BENEFITS AND LIMITATIONS⁠ OF ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT IN⁠ INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT – A CASE STUDY OF CHRISTIAN AID IN SIERRA LEONE
AU  - Dimoh, Mattia Andrew Koi
PY  - 2026
DA  - March
Y2  - 2026
DO  - 10.5281/zenodo.19282693
JF  - IJASOS- International E-journal of Advances in Social Sciences
JO  - IJASOS
PB  - OCERINT International Organization Center of Academic Research
WT  - DergiPark
SN  - 2411-183X
SP  - 15
EP  - 25
VL  - 12
IS  - 34
LA  - en
AB  - This study examines the practical application of Adaptive Management (AM) within the international development sector, a field marked by complexity and volatility. While AM is increasingly promoted as a flexible alternative to rigid, blueprint style project management, a significant empirical gap remains regarding its implementation across the aid chain. Using in depth qualitative research in Sierra Leone, the study draws on interviews and focus groups with three stakeholder groups: international NGO staff, local implementing partners, and community beneficiaries. The findings reveal divergent perceptions shaped by each group’s position within the development system. International staff view AM as a strategic imperative for donor accountability and project relevance. Local partners, however, experience it as an administrative burden and a new form of conditionality, facing a dilemma of responsibility without authority. Beneficiaries judge AM not by its formal methodologies but through the quality of frontline relationships and tangible responsiveness to their needs. Four interlocking dimensions emerge as critical: power and agency, structural and bureaucratic constraints, the tension between learning and accountability, and contextual cultural fit. The study concludes that institutionalizing AM requires more than technical adjustments. A genuine shift demands fundamental changes to donor contracting, a deliberate devolution of decision making authority to local actors, and efforts to decolonize knowledge systems. The research contributes to project management theory by grounding the ideals of AM in the political and relational realities of practice, offering empirically grounded recommendations for more effective and equitable adaptive programming.
KW  - Adaptive Management
KW  - Complex Project Ma⁠nagement
KW  - International Development
KW  - NG⁠Os
KW  - Stakeholder Theory
KW  - Perception
KW  - Christian Aid
KW  - ⁠ Localisation
KW  - Powe⁠r⁠
KW  - Sierra Leone
KW  - Par⁠ticipation
KW  - Monitoring & Evalu⁠ation
KW  - Learning.
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UR  - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19282693
L1  - https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/5403599
ER  -