Managing Economic Development Organizations (EDOs)

Economic development organisations are judged on jobs, investment and growth, yet many are managed on activity counts, unclear mandates and fragmented stakeholder relationships. This programme gives leaders of investment promotion agencies, development authorities and similar bodies a practical approach to strategy, governance, stakeholder engagement and results-based management.

Calendar04 - 08 October 2026LocationKuala LumpurTime5 Days
PriceUSD 4,500

Economic development organisations often sit between government, business and communities, with broad mandates and limited direct control over outcomes. Common problems include strategies that try to do everything, boards and councils that are not engaged, overlapping roles with other agencies, programmes that are never evaluated, and reporting that counts events and enquiries rather than investment, jobs and business growth. This makes it hard to secure funding and to show value.

This programme looks at the organisation as a whole. It moves through five stages: clarifying mandate and strategy, setting governance and working with boards and councils, engaging investors, businesses and communities, managing programmes and resources, and measuring and communicating results through outcome-based performance management.

Built on recognised practice. The programme references professional practice promoted by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), OECD work on local economic and employment development, the OECD DAC evaluation criteria, results-based management and logic models, and investment promotion practice promoted by international organisations such as UNCTAD and the World Bank Group. They are used as reference points to design practical tools.

Decisions this programme improves. Which sectors, target groups and services to prioritise; how to divide roles with ministries, municipalities and other agencies; how to engage the board and stakeholders in decisions; which programmes to expand, redesign or stop; which outcome measures to report; and how to justify budgets to funders.

How it is delivered. Twenty hours across five sessions, built around one running case: a regional development agency preparing a new three-year strategy, a board presentation and a performance framework. Participants build a logic model, map stakeholders, prioritise programmes and design an outcome-based scorecard.

In-house option. For organisations, the programme can be tailored to your own mandate, national or regional development strategy, programmes and reporting obligations, and delivered to leadership teams and board members together.

Kuala Lumpur

Explore professional training in Kuala Lumpur across Elite Academy’s full range of disciplines. The city’s position as a well-established Southeast Asian business hub with strong international connectivity makes it an attractive international setting for scheduled courses and programs arranged to your preferred topic and dates. Elite Academy can deliver its full range of professional training programs in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Because the city is a well-established Southeast Asian business hub with strong international connectivity, it provides a strong international environment for participants from organizations as well as individual professionals. The courses shown on this page represent the programs currently scheduled in Kuala Lumpur; they do not limit what can be delivered there. If your preferred course or date is not listed, you can request any program from our portfolio to be arranged in Kuala Lumpur, subject to scheduling and delivery requirements.

Related Topics

Hospitals and healthcare centres face rising demand, workforce shortages, cost pressure and higher expectations from regulators and patients, while their management systems often still work in departmental silos. This programme gives hospital and healthcare centre leaders a practical framework to run services safely and efficiently, from strategy and governance to patient flow, finance, workforce and quality.

Location IstanbulCalendar04 - 08 October 2026

Many PPP and BOT projects fail long before operation starts: the business case was never tested against a public alternative, risks were transferred to parties who could not manage them, and the contract was signed without a plan to administer it for twenty or thirty years. This programme gives public and private teams a practical route from project selection to contract management and hand-back.

Location ParisCalendar04 - 08 October 2026

Training budgets are increasingly questioned because most L&D functions can report attendance and satisfaction but cannot show whether learning changed performance. This programme gives L&D leaders a quality system for the whole learning cycle, from needs analysis to impact evaluation, and practical methods to show what learning contributes to organisational results.

Location DubaiCalendar04 - 08 October 2026