Results-based Management Approach Research Articles

Management by Results in Public Works and its Relation to the Quality of Life of the Population of the Department of Amazonas

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to examine the evidence and substantive contributions of managing for results in public works projects and their impact on quality of life.
 
 Theoretical framework: It is based on the results-based management approach, which refers to the allocation of resources based on the achievement of measurable and quantifiable results. Also mentioned is the PRISMA statement, which sets out guidelines for conducting a systematic literature review.
 
 Design/Methodology/Approach: The study is based on a systematic literature review of descriptive typology. It follows the guidelines set out within the PRISMA statement to ensure a rigorous and replicable approach. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were established to select relevant papers, which were then synthesised into a matrix to conduct a content analysis by year, country of resource, areas of knowledge and substantive contributions of the review.
 
 Findings: The findings indicate that results-based management contributes significantly to the improvement of public works projects and to the overall quality of life. Evidence is cited from the perspectives of both specialists and those within government units. However, deficiencies in budget implementation capacity and weak budget execution are also identified, which have affected the achievement of sustainable development goals.
 
 Social, practical and research implications: At the social level, the study highlights the importance of efficient results-based management to improve the quality of life of society at large. In practical terms, it identifies gaps in budget implementation capacity that need to be addressed to achieve significant impact. In terms of research implications, the need for further study and evaluation of the relationship between results-based management, quality of life and sustainable development is highlighted.
 
 Originality/value: Workers at the Regional Planning and Budgeting Office of the Regional Government of Amazonas - Headquarters have a generally positive view of budget results and quality of spending, but a more negative view of budget management due to a number of shortcomings in budget execution capacity.

Towards Building a Functional Whole-of-Government M&E System for Zambia: The Supply Side

Monitoring and Evaluation Systems have been identified the world over as powerful tools for good governance, they provide relevant information about development projects, programmes and policies. For that reason, governments, bilateral and multilateral development agencies, including civil society organisations have adopted M&E systems to better their performance through accountability, feedback loops and continuous learning mechanisms. This study investigated the functional status of Zambia’s public sector M&E system. Using a designated diagnostic checklist and analytical framework, the country’s whole-of-government M&E system was found to be weak in several aspects. Specifically, the study argues that for any M&E system to function satisfactorily, it is required that both its ‘supply-side’ and ‘demand-side’ are well developed and sustained. The diagnostic findings have revealed that Zambia’s whole-of-government M&E system had both its supply-side and demand-side weak. However, the study has not focused on both sides, instead, the supply-side has been fully explored and clear suggestions for improvement are made herein. Consequently, the study has proposed a new model which when implemented would holistically strengthen the Government –wide system for M&E. It remains to the powers that be to adopt and implement the recommended model. Government will need to strengthen and sustain its M&E political championship, restructure all government functions towards a results-based management approach—statistics, information technology, skills, policies, laws, etc to support an M&E regime. Likewise, the issues covered in the proposed model could also be of use to other organisations seeking to strengthen their M&E systems. Particularly, the methodology used to undertake the needs analysis could be of utmost applicability by others before embarking on a fuller process of building and strengthening their systems for M&E. Another study was underway to support the demand-side of Zambia’s M&E system.

Speed Management in Iran: A Review Process

The level of road trauma is high in the Eastern Mediterranean Region with the Islamic Republic of Iran having a particularly high fatality rate at 20.5 per 100,000 population. The Government, assisted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), committed to implementing demonstration projects in three provinces that will form the basis of road safety actions to be advanced by the WHO across the Region. In recognition that speed management is a pivotal factor in achieving a safer road and traffic system, and as a component of the project, a review was carried out in 2019 by a team of international experts in the field in collaboration with national consultants. This review was undertaken in consideration of the Safe System Approach and the Results-Based Management Approach. The findings of this review and their implications for future actions in Iran are discussed in this paper.

Coordinated Capacity Development to Maximize the Contributions of Space Science, Technology, and its Applications in Support of Implementing Global Sustainable Development Agendas—A Conceptual Framework

Space science, technology, and its applications have the potential to make essential contributions to the implementation of global development agendas which encompass the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Member States of the United Nations are ultimately responsible for implementing the development agendas at the national level. The use of Earth observation tools can provide timely and reliable input data to the Global Indicator Framework to directly follow-up and review some of the sustainable development goals 169 targets. The continued user of these tools gives Member States the capability to evaluate the effectiveness of actions taken to reach specific targets and to report on progress achieved or shortcomings that need to be addressed. For many countries, capacity development is an essential factor for making optimal use of solutions offered by space activities. A large number of stakeholders, including international, regional, and national entities, are providing relevant capacity development activities. This article provides a pragmatic conceptual framework for improved collaboration and coordination of capacity development to assist Member States to fully utilize the contributions of space science, technology, and its applications to implement the global development agendas and to benefit society. The proposed coordination of capacity development needs to be integrated into an overall results-based management approach for optimizing the use of space science, technology, and its applications in support of global development agendas.

Results Based Management (RBM) as a Tool for Good Governance

<em>Governments and other public institutions worldwide are facing increasing demands for good governance and the achievement of sustainable socioeconomic development. They are thus seized with searching for the appropriate strategies albeit with considerable difficulties. Literature shows that several nations that adopted and effectively institutionalized the Results Based Management approach have managed to meet the demands with relative ease. This study sought to investigate the linkage between the institutionalization of RBM and the improvement in good governance as well as the delivery of development results. The findings are aimed at contributing to literature on good governance, RBM and development program management in general. Premised upon a qualitative approach, data for this study were gathered through the review of print and electronic documentation on good governance and RBM, primarily relating to Malaysia Rwanda, nations that have registered marked improvements in good governance, implementation of RBM as well as the delivery of development results. Analysis of data showed that RBM is an effective for good governance that can lead to the successful delivery of development results. The effective implementation of the approach is therefore highly recommended as is further research on the relationship of the two notions.</em>

Changing the Game - Can A Sport-Based Youth Development Programme Generate a Positive Social Return on Investment?

This study examines a sport for development and peace intervention initiated by Grassroot Soccer South Africa that promotes youth employability and leadership. A results-based management approach and a social return on investment methodology were used to track the young people during and after the intervention. Preliminary results offer encouraging evidence of progress into employment, education and training with positive social returns for the youth and external stakeholders, suggesting that this investment is cost-effective and impactful. The results indicate that structured sport-based programmes can put young people to work and study in a constructive manner, thereby stimulating economic growth and development. It is concluded that initiatives using sport to promote youth work merit greater investment, recognition and research.

Sound, participatory monitoring and reporting for effective implementation of the results-based management approach

The results-based management (RBM) approach has been widely adopted across the globe in efforts, by governments and development organisations, to improve livelihoods through the achievement of sustainable development results. The Government of Zimbabwe adopted the approach in 2005 and subsequently formulated brilliant economic development policy documents and programmes. Progress towards attainment of the related goals appeared to be rather limited as was the case in most nations although, according to the literature, success with the approach has been recorded in several nations. Such success is mostly attributed to the design and execution of effective monitoring and reporting processes. This study sought to identify trends, strengths and shortcomings in performance measurement processes relating to the implementation of projects and programmes in Zimbabwe and other nations that had recorded success stories with the approach. In addition, it sought to contribute to the body of knowledge on RBM and performance management through the identification of strategies for improving performance and ultimately impact of the related initiatives. The findings showed the essence of a sound, participatory results-based monitoring and reporting function, found to be lacking in Zimbabwe, in enhancing the achievement of development results. It, therefore, concluded that the function, if effectively implemented, can significantly enhance the delivery of development results and consequently the impact of related programmes. Recommendations for improvement as well as further research to help address limitations of this study were provided.

Towards a results-based management approach for capacity-building in space science, technology and applications to support the implementation of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) has the mandate to assist Member States with building capacity in using space science, technology and their applications in support of sustainable economic, social and environmental development. From 20 to 21 June 2018 the international community will gather in Vienna for UNISPACE + 50, a special segment of the 61st session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first UNISPACE conference and to reach consensus on a global space agenda for the next two decades. “Capacity-building for the twenty-first century” is one of the seven thematic priorities of UNISPACE + 50, identified and agreed upon by COPUOS. The Committee has tasked UNOOSA with undertaking the work under this thematic priority and with reporting regularly to the Committee and its Subcommittees on the progress of its work. It is therefore appropriate, in this context, to take stock of the achievements of the capacity-building activities of the Office, to review the relevant mandates and activities and to consider the necessity to strengthen and better align them with the future needs of the World and in particular with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This paper describes the efforts on-going at UNOOSA, building on its experiences with implementing the United Nations Programme on Space Applications and the United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER) and working with Member States and other United Nations entities, to develop a results-based management approach, based on an indicator framework and a database with space solutions, for promoting the use of space-based solutions to help Member States achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and successfully implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Capacity development through international projects: a complex adaptive systems perspective

Purpose– International development practice has had as its dominant paradigm the rational-analytic model of project planning, management and evaluation. This is reflected in the widespread adoption by donor agencies of results-based management (RBM), side by side with conventionally used tools for monitoring and evaluation (including logical framework analysis (“logframe”), logic model and results frameworks). Donor agencies rely upon such tools to generate the evidence base for measuring “success” across the spectrum of their work, even though projects differ enormously in their nature, scope and time-span. Process-led capacity development projects and input-led infrastructural or straightforward service delivery projects require very different yardsticks of performance monitoring and appraisal. Drawing on insights from the complex adaptive systems (CAS) literature, the purpose of this paper is to explore how projects focused on capacity development necessitate a more eclectic approach, including – but not restricted to – RBM methodology.Design/methodology/approach– Using the insights of CAS theory, and with particular reference to projects which have capacity development as their prime focus, this paper explores a broadening of conventional project management practices.Findings– The paper posits an integrative approach to managing international development projects focused on capacity development – one which would recognise the values of instrumental utility and goal-setting associated with the application of the tools of RBM, while situating that within a more open, system focused and holistic approach to projects and their outcomes, placing emphasis on context, adaptability and learning.Research limitations/implications– The research enquiry presented is discursive rather than empirical, and builds on established theory and constructs of three distinct conceptual fields: first, the RBM approach to project and programme implementation; second, the “complexity” strand of organisational management literature; and third, the capacity development strand of international development discourse.Originality/value– The paper intersects disciplinary boundaries between project management, organisational studies and international development theory and practice.

Results based costing (RBC) system: questioning the unit of analysis in ABC

This paper aims to introduce Results Based Costing (RBC) System as an alternative accounting tool by questioning the unit of analysis in ABC. By focusing on ‘Results’ instead of ‘Activities’, it investigates its manifest and underlying agendas as a newly innovative idea, with a view to determining its degree of cost management focus and Results Based Management (RBM). Adoption of ABC in different countries especially developed countries has not fulfilled early expectations. Its influence on organizational performance, depending upon how successful performance is defined, has not been evident (see Langfield-Smith 2008). The study thus uses historical and website analysis methodologies for investigating innovative diffusion philosophies related to ABC practices and discourse. These are examined through the theoretical lenses of institutional logics theories. It thus distinguishes between institutional logics and situated logics, and their variances. ABC implementation can be characterized as an encounter between the ABC’s inscribed institutional logic and the situated institutional logic that is embedded in the existing practices in a given organization. The paper moves on to consider the surrounding emergence of RBM approach and then introduces RBC as new accounting tool along with its developments, its processes, intentions and claimed advantages. RBC’s dominant agenda are overhead cost reduction, cost management, performance management and results orientation. Accounting research into the management accounting system and its processes is much needed. This has been largely neglected in favor of management accounting change and innovative diffusion literature. In a world dominated by IT industries, RBC system as a center of organizational and accounting management merits greater attention by researchers. Practitioners in this way can better design and implement systems that build on past knowledge and learning. This study thus presents itself as a first study about RBC currently available in the accounting and management research literatures. It also represents one of the very few referred studies of the Results Based Accounting in the accounting research literature globally.

Discarding of cod in the Danish Fully Documented Fisheries trials

Abstract Denmark was the first nation in Europe to promote the use of Fully Documented Fisheries (FDF) through Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) and CCTV camera systems, with pilot schemes in place since 2008. In theory, such a scheme could supplement and even potentially replace expensive control and monitoring programmes; and when associated with a catch quota management (CQM) system, incentivize positive changes in fishing patterns in a results-based management approach. New data flows are, however, required to ensure the practical implementation of such a scheme. This paper reviews the quality of the FDF data collected during 2008–2014 and their potential in strengthening information on cod discards. The analyses demonstrate the improved reporting of discards in logbooks and overall discard reductions, but they also show that some uncertainties around the absolute estimates of discard quantities have remained. Regular validation of weight estimation methods and close collaboration between scientific monitoring and control are important to support the use of reported discards as a reliable source of information. We discuss the potential of electronic monitoring in the context of the EU landing obligation.

Building Goal Alignment in Federal Agencies’ Performance Appraisal Programs

Public managers wrestle with how to influence organizational performance. Results-based management approaches point to the goal alignment’s importance in performance management programs for meeting organizational goals. This research examines the extent to which federal agency organizational factors allow for performance appraisal goal alignment. Goal alignment is operationalized in two ways: embedding of strategic plan goals into employee performance plans and employee knowledge of how their work relates to the agency’s goals and priorities. Using data from U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s evaluation of federal agency appraisal programs, results indicate leadership support of the program is a determining factor of plan alignment. Communication of the organization’s goals, the climate fit for achieving results, and whether the strategic plan was written for the agency program level tend to predict employee alignment. Strategic plan level is particularly important for strategic management literature, which has limited empirical evidence for the effectiveness of program-level strategic plans.

Learning about the effects of development education programmes: Strengthening planning, monitoring, and evaluation (PME) through reflective practice

This article reports on the results of an action research project (2010–13) in which ten Belgian organizations who implement development education programmes explored different planning, monitoring, and evaluation (PME) approaches with the aim of learning more effectively about their results. PME approaches piloted included outcome mapping, most significant change, and scoring tools. This article seeks to further the debate about the implications of the complexity of development education programmes for their PME. Such debate is needed in view of a growing call for results-based management of externally funded development education programmes. Based on the literature from the fields of international development cooperation and development education, and supported by our study results, we argue that there is a need for alternative results-based management approaches that promote learning and help actors involved in development education deal with unpredictability and non-linearity.

Building Goal Alignment in Federal Agencies' Performance Appraisal Programs

Public managers wrestle with how to increase organizational performance in public organizations. Proponents of results-based management approaches point to the importance of goal alignment in organ...

Logic Models, Logical Frameworks and Results-Based Management: Contrasts and Comparisons

ABSTRACT This article compares the results-based management (RBM) approach with the logical framework (LFA) and program logic model (PLM) approaches which preceded it. Each of the methods is presented with the elements of the results chain, and their impacts are compared. RBM approaches have de-emphasized inputs, therefore de-emphasized classical efficiency concerns. The author points to the importance of emphasis on results for project managers, the failures in the past of not having an exchange among the approaches, and recommends the importance of such an exchange in the future.