Memoire Online - Project selection and management in international development organisations

Based on the discussion in the literature review and the findings on the current practices in the five selected International Development Organisations, the following Programme/Project Portfolio Management Framework is being proposed:

Needs' Assessment: This first stage is concerned with the assessment of a country's needs which will be used when developing the country's strategy.

Country Strategy: this stage is concerned with the development of the country's strategy based on the needs identified during the needs' assessment phase and the demand in the country.

Project Identification: this stage will consist of a pre-screening and a screening process. Programme and project proposals will be reviewed to ensure that they are in line with the country's strategy (pre-screening) before they are matched to one of the strategic buckets identified when developing the country's strategy (screening).

Proposals that are not aligned with the country's strategy will be rejected and those that are aligned to the strategy and fit one of the strategic buckets will be carried forward to the next phase.

Selection and Prioritization: during this stage, programmes and projects will be scored and ranked using the weighted Scoring Model developed for the framework. Programmes and projects with the highest scores will then be carried forward to the next phase which is the implementation.

The Programme Selection Committee will be responsible for the above four phases.

- Pre-screening - Screening

- Scoring - Ranking

Management and Monitoring: this phase is concerned with the implementation of the programmes and projects under the supervision of the Programme Team. The RAID Log of each individual programme or project will be updated throughout its implementation and status reports will also be prepared periodically. It is during this phase that programme and project activities will be broken down into manageable work packages to facilitate planning. Programmes and projects will go through their normal life cycle until they are completed.

Evaluation: during this phase, the programmes and projects outputs and outcomes will be reviewed and evaluated in contrast to what was initially planned and lessons learnt report will be produced. This evaluation phase will also be used to capture

stakeholders' satisfaction. The evaluation phase will be under the supervision of both the Programme Selection Committee and Programme Team.

- Progress Reports - RAID Log

- Final Report

- Lessons Learnt Report

- Stakeholder's satisfaction

This research has shown that Project Portfolio Management links an organisation's strategic goals and objectives to its project selection process through the use of tools and techniques that ensure that the selected projects or group of projects are aligned with the organisation's strategy. To align an organisation's strategy to its programme or project selection process, project portfolio management advocates the establishment of a management team that will be responsible for the identification, screening, selection and ranking of programmes and projects that will be implemented. By doing so, organisations can be assured that only the right mix of programmes and projects are selected.

6.2 What is the nature of International Development Organisations as opposed to traditional Organisations

This research has shown that International Development Organisations aim to improve the well-being of populations directly or indirectly through programmes and projects. They therefore must adopt a programme/project selection framework that not only support their strategies but also put cost-effectiveness at its forefront. The findings revealed that there is no universal framework that is used by all International Development Organisations but that they all develop a framework that helps them implement their strategies, suits their needs and make it easier for them to track changes occurring throughout the implementation of programmes and projects while at the same time making it possible to learn important lessons that will help improve their organisational processes. As opposed to traditional organisations, development organisations rely on non-financial models when ranking and prioritizing projects. The use of non-financial models also results from the humanitarian nature of these organisations.

6.3 What is the proposed framework for the selection and management of International Development Programmes and Projects

The framework proposed in this dissertation follows Souder (1973)'s criteria for project selection models in that it takes into account an organisation's strategic objectives and its resources, it deals with uncertainties by proposing the use of tools that help identify events that can have a negative impact on the implementation of

selected programmes and projects (RAID Log), it is flexible in that it can be used by any development organisation, it is easy to understand and use. The framework incorporates the principles of project portfolio management by proposing the establishment of two management teams that will ensure that only programmes and projects that are in line with an organisation's strategy are selected and

implemented. The framework also incorporates some of the key success factors proposed by Diallo and Thuillier (2004) mainly creating learning opportunities and stakeholders' satisfaction therefore making it a good alternative framework for the selection of development programmes and projects.

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Project selection and management in international development organisations

5.3 Programme and Project Selection Framework