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Chapter 4
Planning and control:
making things happen
(6- Readings)

Reading - 1 Making things happen
-Every organization is unique in how &what it does. However, they all use resources of various kinds to either produce goods , services or both.
-The process of using resources to create outputs is often referred to as the transformation model.
-Before making sense of any planning and controlling activities, it is needed to be clear on what is being planned and controlled.

The input resources are called transformed resources .They are usually a mix of materials, information, customer , clients. Some tasks and processes transform clients physically (hairdressers, surgeons ); others transform client’s psychological state or knowledge (schools entertainment companies); others transport customers( taxi services)
Several different transformations are usually required to produce goods or service. The overall transformation can be described as the macro operation and the ones within are called micro operations.
Beside transformed resources other transforming resources are required. These are resources needed to carry out the transformation process but do not themselves form part of the output ( ex. Facilities or fixed assets, staff).
Undesirable outputs could result from the transformation process. These are wastes generated in the production process. Some waste products can become the input for another transformation process (ex. wood waste can be turned into farm fertilizer).

Transformation at a more ‘local’ level

Most organizations as macro operations must avoid financial problems. This means that the value of outputs must be greater than the value of inputs.
The challenge for managers is to be clear about the inputs and outputs for their micro operations.

Performance indicators ( 4 Es)

Value of outputs need to be compared to check whether transformation has added value to inputs: that is, whether activities have been effective. However , one must decide on performance indicators which are grouped under four headings:

1- Economy : refers to how cheaply inputs can be purchased (simply measured).

2- Efficiency : refers to the relationship between inputs and outputs. An organization becomes more efficient if it produces more with the same resources, or reduce resource use without proportionate reduction in output

3- Effectiveness : This is a measure of outputs .Defined as how well outputs of the macro operation and the micro operations achieve their defined objectives . It is more difficult to measure than efficiency.

4- Equity :The ethos of a public service organization requires it to treat all its clients or customers and users fairly. ( imp. In public services)

Reading-2 Planning and control

To make things happen effectively , managers need to make plans , implement them , exercise control to ensure that events stay on course and to make adjustments when things go wrong or when circumstances change.
Planning and control are often referred to as a rational process. The term ‘rational’ is used to mean ‘logical and structured’ rather than based on judgment or intuition.
According to Lindblom (1959), to be effective, a manager need first to understand the rational principles on which planning and control are based and then later incorporate inspiration, creativity or intuition.

* Rational theory principles of planning and control is known as the ‘control loop”( figure 4.2). Planning is the process of working out what to do and how to do it (stages 1 and 2 ) in order to achieve some goal. Control is the process of ensuring that the planned tasks lead to success ( stages 3 and 4 )

Stage 1 - Set objectives : A manager should be clear about what he is trying to achieve and to set out some criteria for success to know whether objective is achieved or not.

Stage 2 - Plan, identify markers and carry out tasks : Markers are needed as criteria for judging whether objectives are being achieved.

Stage 3- Monitor progress : A manager needs to ensure that suitable progress is being made. Throughout a task , checking is needed of what is happening and comparing actual progress against markers.

Stage 4- Act on results of monitoring : Monitoring progress may reveal that the markers have all been reached or could show that progress is not as planned, or even that the original objectives have changed, then three alternatives are :

1- To continue as you are .

2- To revise the tasks.

3- Or even to revise the original goals.

Then manager should continue the process of monitoring, reviewing, making decisions and re-planning if necessary, going round and round the control loop until the task is done.

4- Do nothing: if any deviation from the plan is quite small, to take corrective action could risk making things worse and it could be too late in any case.

Changing plans may lead to more, or less, success than leaving them as they are.
Successfully deciding what to do when plans are not being achieved is a key management skill. There are many possible actions. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.
Planning & control are excellent learning opportunities since when we monitor progress we gain experience about how long things take and we learn that certain issues cause problems, and this learning should translate into better planning next time.

Reading -3 Dealing with complexity

The context in which plans are carried out is complex and can change Problems raised can be overcome by moving iteratively, backwards and forwards between planning, implementing, and monitoring.

The initial stages of planning techniques :

A . Potential problem analysis .

B . Contingency planning.

A . Potential problem analysis:

To identify some of the likely problems ahead and either avoid them or minimize them . The steps in potential problem analysis are:

1. Identify all key outputs, actions and events in the plan.

2. For each identified in step-1, identify all the possible problems that could occur.

3 . List the possible causes for each potential problem.

4 . Assess the risk of each of these problems occurring.

5. Assess the impact of each problem. Problems that pose the highest risk and impact should be given the most attention. Where possible, identify ways to prevent potential problems from occurring or minimize their effects. Since preventive or minimizing actions may not remove risk altogether, consider how much residual risk might remain.

B. Contingency planning:

Contingency plans are needed where:

a. You have identified a problem which would have a serious effect but which you can’t do anything about.

b . There is a high residual risk.

Contingency plans indicate what to do if unplanned events occur.
Are valuable where change is continuous.
Depending on circumstances, managers should decide how much time to spend on contingency planning .

Attention to people

During plan execution , difficulty may raise when people start challenging your plan because they claim they were not consulted.
People may have all sorts of personal reasons for opposing your plans . Ex. feelings or when a person’s sense of self-worth is challenged.
The impact of change on individuals should be studied. Thus, you should ask the following questions:

a. Who will be pleased about this project or initiative?

b. Who might feel threatened by it?

c. Who do I depend on to help me?

Recognizing that someone may feel threatened by your plans should prompt you to address that problem early on, rather than reacting to a crisis later.

Communication and consultation

Are essential since people expect to be consulted and involved in planning . It is important to be clear about what is & what is not negotiable when consulting a stakeholder and to arrive at a shared understanding.

Evaluation: how well are we doing?

Monitoring : describes the situation at a given point. It involves collecting information to know what the situation is.
Evaluation: seeks to assess the effectiveness of an organization, of a department , of a particular operation, of a plan or project. It answers questions : ‘Did it work?’, ‘How are we performing?’ . It Involves analyzing performance , assessing the extent to which objectives have been achieved.
An important part of evaluation is done informally through judgments – based on impressions, comments or observations . However, it is important to make more formal and systematic evaluation to get a more accurate picture of our achievements.

Reading-4 What is being evaluated and how?

Every evaluation :

1- Must have a clear focus on the outcome objective.

2- Must be clear about process objectives.

Assessing wrong things , wastes resources and creates conflict with stakeholders.
Where objectives conflict, an evaluation is likely to highlight any differences in goals, values or objectives that exist.
Types of evaluation:

1- Strategic evaluation : Asks questions about the overall purposes of a project or organization ( outcome objective ). Are we doing the right thing in firm?.

2- Impact evaluation: Concerns whether outcomes – the intended effects – are achieved . Did we make any difference? Are there unintended effects? It is a difficult evaluation because of other factors that are beyond organization control and affect objectives.

3- Performance evaluation ( process) : Focus on asking questions about relationship between inputs and outputs . Takes the specific objectives and targets set for micro operations and aims to measure achievement, considering both quantity and quality (i.e. economy ,efficiency).

4- Process evaluation ( process) : Involves asking questions about how particular aspects of the organization work: ex. How decisions are taken, how policies and practices are decided and then administered.

5- Composite evaluation ( both outcome and process): Are rarely clear-cut in practice and often needed for an evaluation to focus on more than one area. This is because issues of performance, process, impact and strategy are frequently interrelated.

Reading -5 Designing a formal evaluation

Formal evaluation of activities – answers ‘How well are we doing?’ Stages of a formal evaluation are:

A . Preparation : Before evaluation, consider the following:

Define aims and objectives of the macro or micro operation.

Define purpose and type of the evaluation.

What is being evaluated and for , how wide is it?

Who needs to be involved in the evaluation? Who has an interest in the activity and might have something to gain or lose from an evaluation?

Who is the audience for the evaluation?

What information already exists about the project?

How much time and resources can you allocate to the evaluation?

B. Choice of evaluator : whether bringing in an external person or to allocating the task to staff. There are advantages and disadvantages to both choices ( next slide table)

Evaluator	Advantages	Disadvantages
Internal	Cheaper .Has project details. High level of commitment . Easier to implement results. More credible with colleagues . Can promote staff maximum involvement and participation. Helps to build internal capacity to conduct future evaluations.	May have insufficient skill/ experience May not be objective . Staff collusion to misrepresent a situation is harder to avoid. Draws on personnel resources that may be limited . Staff may not speak freely to someone they will see again . May have access to confidential information about clients or staff (a potential source of bias) . The findings may be less credible with respect to management and other stakeholders
External	More objective . Brings technical evaluation expertise. More efficient because of skills and experience . Have greater credibility .May offer a new perspective and fresh insights	Can be expensive and seen as an intruder, possibly disruptive . May not have adequate understanding of project . May lack sensitivity to particular population . Stakeholders, staff may feel threatened . Staff may be less involved in the evaluation because they see it as someone else’s responsibility. There may be concerns about accountability

C. Choice of approach and methods:

Evaluation methods are either quantitative (measurable , ex number of jobs created as a result of a project ) and qualitative methods ( ex. A person’s view).

The two are often linked. Qualitative information can be very useful for interpreting the quantitative information.

Next slide shows advantages & disadvantages for each.

A framework for choosing the best methods

In evaluations there are three areas where you need information:

1 . Performance criteria: Are markers against which success is measured.

2 . Results: Information from monitoring whether the quality criteria are met.

3. Context: What information do we need to interpret these results?

Choice of method will be determined by :

Resource availability.

Cost of obtaining information in relation to its contribution to the evaluation.

Time it will take to obtain and analyze the information.

The reliability of the information obtained.

Political aspects of the process and amount of support gathered.

Managers then should think carefully about how to communicate evaluation results and disseminate them to all stakeholders (internal and external).

Reading- 6 Some evaluation issues

A . How much participation?

In theory, a greater participation in evaluation is valid. However , in practice, over- participation can lead to complex, time-consuming evaluations with competing or conflicting parties.
It is important to involve stakeholders who are both easy and not difficult to collect information from and to involve those with different levels of power of stakeholders .

B. Clarifying mission statements

Mission statements, goals and objectives should be written in general terms which allow to satisfy different stakeholders wishes.

C. What do stakeholders want from evaluation?

Different stakeholders may want different things from evaluations :-

1 . Funders may want to demonstrate effective use of funds.

2 . Politicians and committee members may want to make best use of resources, to have evidence of effectiveness and to control quality.

3 . Staff may want feedback on their performance, to address and resolve issues that prevent them from doing their job .

4 . Service users may want an opportunity to have their views heard or to influence the services offered.

5 . Volunteers may want to see the effectiveness of their own efforts and how service users value them.

D. Involving service users :

Service users have high expectations of their involvement in evaluations and of the service provided.
An organization with a history of joint planning with users may find it appropriate to plan the evaluation in the joint, iterative way with which the organization and its users are familiar.
In summary:
The greater stakeholders participation in evaluation is a valid aim in theory since the implementation of any changes may affect all stakeholders. If they have been excluded from the process, they may resist implementation. In practice, over-ambitious goals of participation in evaluation can lead to over-complex, time-consuming evaluations with conflict between stakeholders.

Why do evaluations find poor performance?

Because 0f :

A. Hidden inefficiencies : Exist more in large organizations where the overall task is broken down into separate areas of work and where waste can more easily go unnoticed. There are two reasons why inefficiencies emerge:-

1 . Where changes are happening gradually, slack is never obvious to poor managers .

2 . Members of staff usually like their way of doing things.

B. Over-commitment : Organizations can develop a culture of over-commitment in which activities are taken on without the resources. This leads to poor performance.

One reason why controlling commitments is difficult is that once a service has been provided to users, it is difficult to reduce or stop the service. As a result, organizations find it easier to make general cost savings (in travel, telephoning, equipment, training, support services) rather than shut down a particular service. Accordingly staff in the underfunded service can become de-motivated and then service quality falls.

C. Resistance to findings: Evaluation is often contested especially when it recommends changes to activities, structures, systems and procedures.

Being told to do something differently, or that your efforts were largely wasted will rarely be welcome news. However, if the evaluation process have involved and consulted stakeholders through each stage, there should be fewer surprises.
The learning process in evaluation can be considered in two phases:

1. First, there needs to be time for those intimately involved to consider the findings.

2. Second, proper consideration should be given to the need for longer-term changes.