This paper is about capacity development in higher education institutions (HEI) in developing countries. The paper reviews literature in three relevant knowledge domains: capacity building, organizational change and development, and higher education institutions (HEI). The paper also describes and illustrates the needs for increased performance of HEI in developing countries, and presents an integrated framework  indicating concepts and relationships relevant for organizational capacity development. The paper concludes that organizational capacity development in HEI is not conceptually different from organizational capacity development in general. Therefore, while HEI differ from other organizations and as such impacts effectiveness of change processes, concepts and relationships seem similar.