Development Executive Programs (DEPs) are short-term, non-degree training and certificate programs on specialized topics that are relevant to development workers. Schedules of these courses can vary from three (3) days, five (5) days, two (2) weeks, three (3) weeks, and four (4) weeks. These trainings are intensive, practitioner-oriented, and combines a variety of methods: lecture, discussion, workshops, case method, and analysis. These programs are suited for participants who need to return to work and apply what they learned immediately.

Currently, the CDM offers three types of DEPs: the regular certificate programs, special development management topics series, and customized programs.

The regular certificate programs consist of the longer and more comprehensive two to four week programs. Included are: Program for Development Managers, Project Planning and Development Management, and Project Procurement Management programs. Regular short programs are also regularly offered for the health sector such as Strategic Management Course for the Health Care Industry, Health Care Service Delivery Management, and others.

The special development management topics series consist of short training and seminars on various areas relevant to the needs of development managers and institutions. Topics offered in this category include: Strategic Management for Development Executives, Cross-Cultural Management, Bridging Leadership, Development Finance, Strategic Negotiations and Conflict Management, Results Based Management, Project Planning, Project Management, Project Monitoring and Evaluation, Cities Management, and many others. The CDM regularly updates its calendar of special topics in its website, www.cdm.aim.edu

For development institutions with special needs, the CDM also offers customized programs tailored to suit their requirements. As one of the very few international graduate schools of management that offers both private and public sector programs under one roof, the center has a large pool of management experts in both sectors. In addition to AIM’s full-time faculty, it also has a broad network of specialists and adjunct faculty. Thus said, it has the capability to design and implement programs on a very broad range of topics in various areas of business and development management.

CDM offers other services including working with government agencies, NGOs, and community organizations in designing, developing and piloting customized training programs and modules on different development management challenges. With a wide network of specialists on various fields and a portfolio of highly qualified faculty experts, CDM is capable of engaging in various projects within its broad scope of interest and has great flexibility in its working models.

The centers most recent engagements include the design and implementation of a course on governance and strategic management for key officials of the government of Sudan last 2007 under a UNDP grant.  The center also implemented a series of development executive programs in Mindanao, Philippines in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and a project planning and procurement management course for the Ministry of Finance in Jakarta Indonesia the same year. In August 2008, the CDM was chosen to develop core modules for the professionalization of public procurement practitioners and functions under a World Bank grant to the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) of the Philippines.

The CDM also engages in research projects on various areas of interest. The center offers research that go beyond the theoretical and academic work offered by more academic institutions. Over the years, it has built a reputation for good research and management cases that do not merely describe but also enlighten readers on the management aspects of specific situations and provide insights on how they can be best addressed, while abstracting lessons that may be applied elsewhere.

The center has been commissioned by several local, national, international, and multilateral institutions to do research. Institutions that partnered with CDM for research include: the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation, the Philippine NGO Support Program, Inc. (PHANSuP), the Ford Foundation, the Ayala Foundation Inc. (AFI), the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).