Integrated rural development in Tanzania

Tanzania did not have the kind of agricultural policies, popular participation, or government bureaucratic capacity necessary for integrated rural development projects to perform well. Nonetheless the World Bank, EEC, and United States each implemented such projects there during the 1970s. The implementation and achievements of the projects varied considerably due to differences in their design as well as decisions made by the implementation teams. However the experiences of all three projects demonstrate two things: no agricultural development project can adapt to producer price disincentives; and both participation and project management require a ‘critical minimum’ level of finance and resources which the Tanzanian bureaucracy does not have. The latter observation raises the question of whether donors should attempt to build management capacity in fourth world bureaucracies or, as Goran Hyden suggests, avoid the government and work through other institutions and local organizations.     

Project identification,formulation and start-up by voluntary organizations (NGOs) in Thailand's rural development

This paper presents an overview of issues in NGO project identification, formulation and start-up in the context of rural development in Thailand. It identifies the types of projects, the methods used to identify them, the initial activities in projects, the problems faced in project formulation and the influence of various factors on the process, e.g. government regulations and the NGO staff in the organization. There is limited pressure on NGOs from the government even though recent regulations may lead to more control of their activities. The importance of leadership training in the initial stages of a project is emphasized. In particular, when comparing small with larger NGOs, the technical inputs in project identification and formulation seem to be a constraint for small NGOs. Usually project identification methodology consists of following up on existing projects. In larger NGOs more bureaucratic or formalized methods are used and the ideology of the organization is more important.     

Trainees,trainers and the training of trainers: Reform of local administration in Russia

Power at the centre of the Russian state is divided, weak and lacking in legitimacy although management in the regions, while formally bureaucratic, also depends for its effectiveness on relationships of patronage and exchange of favours. In these circumstances, the design and implementation of a reform programme for the civil service is a brave endeavour, and one which is likely to be protracted and punctuated by setbacks. Paradoxically, although there is acknowledged to be a great need for training and retraining, there are also large obstacles to applying the new knowledge and skills. This predicament is compounded by deficiencies in the provision for training. These inauspicious conclusions have implications for strategies of technical assistance and, in particular, the danger that such initiatives unintentionally become part of the problem rather than its solution. The article draws upon three visits by the author to Western Siberia as part of two EU TACIS projects.     

Administering rural development: Have goals outreached organizational capacity?

In a comparative analysis of 15 rural development projects the author finds five problem areas in their administration: project economics; design and location of infrastructure; design of project technical outputs (‘software’); support services; and maintenance and management of infrastructure. All but one of the projects reviewed were severely hampered by one or more of these problems. The author suggests that these problem areas are caused by three general patterns: disjunction between project designers and managers' working models of reality and reality in the field; goal conflict among diverse agencies involved; and the simple technical complexity of the rural development task. The author concludes by noting these three patterns are found throughout developed countries as well as the less developed, but may have more severe consequences in the less developed because of the absence of organizational and social redundancy to catch, correct and circumvent these perhaps unavoidable features of centraliy administered, complex projects. Fewer, but more organizationally enriched, projects may do more for rural development than the current pattern where many donors each design many projects, overwhelming at times the organizational capacity of less developed countries.     

Rebuilding Ukraine's hollow State: Developing a democratic public service in Ukraine

This article describes assistance that is being provided as part of an institution building project with a view to making a lasting impact on the development of a democratic public service of Ukraine. It explains the nature of the project and the strategies adopted to overcome difficulties. It compares and contrasts approaches adopted by technical assistance projects in assisting administrative reform. It also examines the special nature of the Ukraine project that arises out of the distinctive context and needs of Ukraine. The article continues by examining the role of external assistance in validating the Ukrainian Institute of Public Administration and Local Government's Masters in Public Administration and the contribution made to the development and delivery of the Masters programme. A special feature of the project is the series of one-month internships when IPALG students visit London. The internship programme allows students to identify aspects of UK experience relevant to changes that Ukraine wishes to make in its administrative culture. As part of this programme, students are placed in government organizations and NGOs. The placements are complemented by a series of change management seminars that enable students to evaluate options for change, to assess their own role in the change process and recognize the key stages in the change process. The project team has undertaken a full evaluation of the first presentation of the programme and the article presents the findings.     

Projects as instruments of development administration: A qualified defence and suggestions for improvement

Projects have become an important instrument of international assistance and of development administration because they seem to offer major advantages over other forms of planning and management. But projects have also come under increasing criticism in recent years. The benefits they offer to various interests involved in development ensure, however, that they are unlikely to be abandoned or to diminish in importance in the near future. Thus, ways must be found to make them more flexible and responsive methods of planning and managing social and human development activities. This can be done by planning, appraising and implementing projects as policy experiments, making their design and administration more learning-oriented, and using them as instruments of strategic planning and management.     

Management and training for development: The Hombe thesis

A fundamental reason why public service management in many Third World countries has improved so little, despite significant training inputs, is that the political and bureaucratic elite do not want it to. The ‘Hombe thesis’ is that the elite consists of executives skilled in managing the system to meet their own interests and to preserve the status quo. Further, aid organizations and third parties engaged in management development tend to collude with the elite. Three additional basic problems are explored. First, that of developing a style of management appropriate to the local political and social environment. Second, identifying the actual functions of chief executives in the public service and helping managers to develop expertise in their roles. Third, the difficulties of assessing real managerial training needs rather than expressing desires. The paper concludes with a plea to face the fundamental constraints to effective management and training instead of playing around with subordinate issues.     

Practical assessment of project performance: the ‘potential impact’ approach*

This article sets out an approach to assessing project performance, using ‘potential impact’ of the project. Its purpose is to assist project design and evaluation. In project design, potential impacts of alternative activities on the project objective are compared, in order to select activities with the greatest impact. In project evaluation, potential and actual impacts of a project are compared. Additional benefits of the approach are that it indicates ‘value for money’ of development assistance invested in projects, and easier tracing of reasons for underachievement in projects to weaknesses in their design or management. Limitations are that it relies on informed judgement of the planners or evaluators and the categories for rating performance may unavoidably be broad. It complements the logical framework approach by providing a practical design and evaluation tool. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance management system in developing countries: A case study in Jordan

The performance management system (PMS) is critical to the success of any organisation, and this article investigates the PMS of the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) in Jordan, which is one of the largest public entities in the country. The article identifies various problems that are faced by GAM, such as HRM and staff, management behaviour, and performance management, which significantly affect GAM's performance. Additionally, the article discusses the process of goal and indicator setting and development of the PMS of GAM. The article adopts a phenomenological approach and a qualitative case study methodology to collect primary data from 15 purposeful semi-structured interviews with GAM's experts. Thematic analysis is used as the data analysis technique to identify the PMS activities and address problems and difficulties in GAM's performance. The findings highlight eight major activities of GAM's PMS, which include performance sourcing, targeting, development, setting and responsibility, gauging, information, results, and alignment. These activities need to be managed properly if GAM wanted to meet its performance targets. Hence, the article presents a set of recommendations to improve GAM's PMS and overcome the identified difficulties, such as improving HRM practices and staff role, enhancing management behaviour, and establishing a performance management culture. Overall, the article provides valuable insights into the PMS of GAM and highlights the importance of an effective PMS to achieve organisational success.     

Lessons learned from a small native American community

The decision not to build Orme Dam was a great political victory for residents of the Fort McDowell Indian Reservation in central Arizona. This article examines the conditions that gave rise to what most considered an unlikely outcome, and the lessons it suggests for understanding the politics of large water projects. These lessons include the importance of understanding that rationality takes multiple forms; that how value is expressed can be as significant as what, and how much, something is valued; that identity politics which elaborates and celebrates cultural differences can be an effective means for challenging even powerful bureaucracies; and that law can be an important mediating structure in the politics of bureaucratic decision‐making. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

What Drives Reforms in International Organizations? External Pressure and Bureaucratic Entrepreneurs in the UN Response to AIDS

This article explores organizational dynamics that go with the design and implementation of public administration reforms within the United Nations (UN) system. It focuses on management reforms carried out in the UNAIDS Programme, which brings together 10 UN agencies to combat the worldwide HIV/AIDS epidemic. The article suggests that understanding these reforms requires questioning the exposure of UN administrations to pressures emanating from their environment and at the same time, investigating the intentions of bureaucratic entrepreneurs who promote and drive reforms within the UN system. The empirical development demonstrates that the swift incorporation of the external pressure into a reform process in the mid‐2000s cannot be dissociated from the active support of some UN agencies who have had a common interest in shifting institutional arrangements inside UNAIDS to expand their bureaucratic authority. In conclusion, the article suggests analyzing reforms within international administrations as social processes driven by both coercion and opportunities.     

Still Moving Toward a European FBI? Re-Examining the Politics of EU Police Cooperation

This article builds a model for explaining the development of supranationalism in EU police cooperation, especially concerning Europol. This framework is also helpful for understanding the role of police cooperation in EU counter-terrorism policy. The article begins with a critical analysis of the analytical framework first development in my 2003 book and refines this based key events since 2002, as well a few important scholarly perspectives. According to the new model, supranationalism is explained by ‘interest shapers,’ which include the ‘spillover-enlargement effect,’ crises and shocks, and concerns for national sovereignty, democracy, and pragmatism. The development of these interests and the resulting supranationalism are also affected by ‘institutional dynamics,’ including entrepreneurship, path dependency, and bureaucratic resistance. These factors help to explain recent events and predict future developments concerning EU police cooperation.     

Subsidized housing and neighborhood racial transition: An empirical investigation

Abstract

Popular wisdom has it that the development of project‐based assisted housing will cause whites to flee or avoid the surrounding neighborhood, leading to rapid racial transition. This article examines the question of whether the development of several types of project‐based, federally assisted housing had an impact on neighborhood racial transition during the 1980s. In general, the development of assisted housing in a neighborhood did not lead to racial transition, nor did it approach levels suggesting “white flight” in the few instances where racial transition did occur.

The results of our analysis suggest that one of the major criticisms of project‐based assisted housing—that it contributes to racial segregation by causing white flight—is not supported by empirical evidence.     

The Emerging Federal Quasi Government: Issues of Management and Accountability

There has been a growing trend in the federal government toward reliance on organizations that commingle legal attributes of the government and private sectors. These hybrid organizations now constitute a quasi government that occasions both interest and concern by political leaders, practitioners, and scholars alike because these organizations touch the very heart of democratic governance: To whom are these hybrids accountable? How well is the public interest being protected against the interests of private parties? In this article, the author seeks to define the quasi government and place these hybrid entities into manageable categories from which legal and behavioral generalizations may be drawn. Are hybrid organizations a problem or a solution? Looking critically at this question, the author suggests the answer may depend in large measure on which of two management paradigms the reader accepts: the constitutionalist management paradigm or the entrepreneurial management paradigm, both of which are defined and discussed. The author concludes that the increasin reliance on hybrid organizations constitutes a threat not only to accountable management within the government, but to the fundamental values of democratic governance as well.     

Evaluation in the ODA. A view from the inside

Evaluation is an important part of the project cycle, but it is not confined to projects: any aid-funded activity can be evaluated. ODA spends about £1/2 million per annum on evaluation (including in-house staff costs). The policy on evaluation is controlled by the Projects and Evaluation Committee which receives the reports. As the same Committee approves all major new projects there is instant feedback. It is vital that senior management learn recent lessons from experience to supplement their own personal experience which may be out of date. Evaluations need to be done as soon as useful lessons are to be learned—if left too late the findings are likely to have been overtaken by recent changes in ODA procedures. Using outside evaluators brings a welcome element of impartiality. But a balance of in-house and out-of-house evaluators yields the best results. Evaluation reports need to be presented in a systematic way (as appraisals are), and they should be made widely available. Two lessons stand out: the need for in-depth appraisal and careful monitoring and the importance of good management for successful projects.     

The role of monitoring and evaluation in project planning,in relation to the upgrading of unauthorized housing areas

This paper explores the role of monitoring and evaluation in the planning process with reference to urban development projects, especially those concerned with the upgrading of unauthorized housing areas. Monitoring, it is suggested, may be separated from evaluation, which may itself be subdivided into ongoing or formative and ex post or summative evaluation, and definitions of these terms are offered. Potential audiences for monitoring and evaluation research are identified and their interests discussed. Monitoring and evaluation requirements in relation to upgrading projects are then analysed in more detail, in terms of organizational requirements, methodology, and the utilization of findings. The discussion is illustrated with examples of the monitoring and evaluation systems established in upgrading projects in Zambia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Finally, some of the substantive issues which are relevant to the evaluation of upgrading are outlined and briefly discussed. These include the efficiency of project implementation, progressive development and self help construction as a means of increasing the low cost housing stock, community participation in planning and implementation, affordability and project impact.     

Formal Procedures, Informal Processes, Accountability, and Responsiveness in Bureaucratic Policy Making: An Institutional Policy Analysis

This study examines the role of public notice and comment in the development of 42 rules. These procedures can provide useful information to policy makers about the preferences of those who stand to be affected by agency actions. More importantly, they serve as cues for the accommodation of interests and the resolution of conflict through processes that are grounded in agencies' accountability to political officials. Yet, an examination of the interrelationship between formal, procedural constraints and the informal processes surrounding them reveals that the effects of notice and comment in promoting bureaucratic responsiveness are limited in ways that have received little systematic analysis. A consideration of the tension between the instrumental goal of procedural accountability and the political tasks that often dominate bureaucratic policy making suggests that it is desirable to return to the original use of notice and comment as a device for exposing agencies to the views of affected interests.     

Planning and budgeting in Pakistan

Twenty years ago a pioneering study of planning and budgeting in Pakistan pointed to significant weaknesses. This article reviews the changes made subsequently to the formal processes and assesses how these are currently working. The planning agency is now a permanent organization. Planning and budgeting have been combined and these processes have moved closer to the centre of political power. On the other hand there are difficulties over linking planning and budgeting to the management of economic and fiscal policy; planning is geared to securing foreign aid funds; the planning processes favour large expensive projects which emerge from the more developed areas of the country and discriminate against the smaller projects with a shorter time horizon needed in less developed provinces–thus accentuating economic imbalances. Finally, although the importance of evaluation is recognized, in practice reporting and evaluation are not adequately practised.     

Institutional development in World Bank projects: Analytical approaches and intervention designs

This article examines a random sample of World Bank projects in order to identify the methods of institutional analysis (IA) and resulting institutional development (ID) strategies employed. The findings confirm impressionistic data which indicate that IA in World Bank projects is highly standardized, and concentrates on factors internal to the organization at the expense of external environmental factors, particularly as these are reflected in the needs of stakeholders and customers. ID is an integral part of most Bank projects, and the trend is shown to be towards increasing attention to ID. The nature of ID in World Bank projects reflects the inward orientation of IA, with strong emphasis given to training and development as a standard solution. It is concluded that IA and ID which are broader in scope will improve project design and impact.     

Local management of aid-funded projects

Local management means giving responsibility for the implementation and management of development projects to people and institutions in the recipient country. The main arguments for local management are that it offers the potential to increase the responsibility and accountability of national institutions and should help to build a cadre of experienced local project managers. These are all important contributions to sustainable development. There are, however, some constraints on the effectiveness of local management, including the limited supply of good managers and the difficulty of ensuring adherence by those implementing projects to donors' procedures and regulations. The role of donor agencies under local management is yet to be clearly defined. Donor agencies will face difficult professional judgments on whether, when and how to intervene where projects are not being competently managed by national institutions.