The "HOW" question

In the introduction to this research we presented two contrasting uses of RBM: as a broad management strategy, and as a management and evaluation tool. During the interviews we asked the project practitioners whether they think their organization was using RBM as a tool or rather as a strategy. Five out of ten respondents expressed a view that their organization uses RBM as a strategy and also five were more inclined to admit that their organization applies RBM as a management and evaluation tool. The interesting thing about these answers was that there was no consensus on how RBM was used among the managers in the saine organization. The main reason for that may be that the role RBM plays within organizations is not clearly defined.

Therefore, whether the manager uses RBM as a tool to implement his or lier project's activities, do the follow-up, monitoring and reporting or whether lie or she goes beyond that basic use of RBM and starts applying RBM methodology to strategic planning of projects and programs and lessons learning, depends only on his or lier personal choice.

Here is how the respondents understand what it is to use RBM an organizational management strategy or as a management/evaluation tool. What our respondents had to say about these two approaches to RBM added some new elements to our literature-based definitions of RBM as a tool and as a strategy.

RBM as a management strategy. To use RBM as a strategy is to use it long-term at a strategic level. It has to be integrated into and to guide the process of organizational strategic planning, monitoring and reporting, performance measurement of staff, budgeting and fundraising. It is used to identify the global organizational strategy and to align country strategies and

programiproject goals with it by assuring a flow-through of results from the global to the program and the project levels. It is a clear vision focused on achieving reai change that is internalized, shared and referred to by the organization' s staff. It impiies a change of organizational work culture and the mindset of staff from activity te, resuits. Its tools: the logic model, the

performance management framework (PMF) and the risk register have to be used, revised and referred to on a regular basis. At a programlproject level, RBM as a strategy implies using ail available resources to achieve measurabie results that are mutually agreed on by an organization with its local partners and project beneficiaries.

RBM as a tool. To appiy RBM as a tool is to use it in a short-term and instrumental way. As a tool RBM is used to communicate the global organizational strategy and country strategies to the public, donors, local partners and beneficiaries rather than to assist the organization in identifying their strategic results. RBM as a tooi is not used at a project initiation stage to identify project's goals and activities, but the project is later 'retrofitted' into RBM formats as a part of proposai.

As a tool RBM facilitates project implementation, monitoring, reporting and evaluation by determining project activities and then measuring the progress against the targets. RBM as a tool

"only gives a small snapshot of the overall project or what is really happening in a specific context", as one of the respondents noted.

Overall, it can be said that RBM as a tool is more "punctual" because it is related to

demonstrating results: it serves to gather some performance data, to take corrective actions and to report to a donor on results achieved. Therefore, the purpose in this case is to show that the stated resuits were actually achieved. In contrast, RBM as a management strategy is broader, as it is

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related to managing for results and the whole project, and ail of its management processes, are built around resuits.

Based on both interviews and document analysis we can conclude that, even though RBM is aiways extensively used at the projects' implementation phase, with the primordial role played by the Performance Management Framework, the organizations are starting to use the RBM

approach beyond this basic instrumental application as a management and evaluation tool that assists them in achieving and demonstrating results. More and more, the RBM approach is being integrated into the whole project's life cycle. As Mariana said: "RBM has been used during the whole project cycle - as a planning tool during the inception, as a key part of the proposai, and now it is being used as the main reference document for the project - guiding planning, for M&E and for reporting". However, RBM methodology is still infrequently applied in lessons learning and strategic planning. As Mariana described: "RBM is used for ail program development in the organization. However, it is not used in the organization's strategic planning or reporting to the board."

Also, in the organizations' Country Offices RBM methodology is being gradually rolled out to non-CIDA projects as well. In fact, majority of the organizations that participated in this study are flot only using this approach in their Country Offices in Bolivia, but are moving towards a more strategic application of RBM at a regional or even global level. As Maria said: "so for projects that have funding from other donor, even sometimes with private donors ( ... ), we do apply an RBM approach, sO it's something that institutionally we've applied beyond, beyond CIDA, as just our way of managing projects and this is something that ( ... ) we've been rolling out to other offices." Gabriela said that her organization globally "has gone through a big shift

( ... ) to trying to present more results-based data and this has been an organizational shift that aithough it hasn't been RBM-driven, is something that ( ... ) made sense for us to be appiying RBM just giobaily for projects." This does not mean that CIDA-specific methodology is the one that is being adopted by the organizations, because they often create hybrid versions of RBM tools for their internai use.

In addition, there is undoubtedly a move towards more results-oriented way of managing within organizations. Ana said that RBM plays "a very large role" in her organization" and that "the use of RBM is extensive but broad" in that for example "every contract and ail the activities ( ... ) are clearly identified and clearly linked to the broader logic model ( ... ) for either the country

program or more so the international or global logic model." One NGO even uses RBM approach in its strategic planning at die headquarters (HQ) and in reporting on the global performance with the use of impact results indicators (poverty reduction in the targeted population).

After ail, it looks like "RBM is here to stay".

5.2. Recommendatjons

In this last part of our research we present eieven recommendations addressed both to CIDA as well as CIDA's executing agencies (implementing partner organizations). Based on the interviewees' responses to our questions as well as the analysis of the project documents we are of the opinion that using RBM tools and approaches, despite ail the disadvantages, is beneficial to organizations and worth investing in. Ironically, it is because RBM is a donor requirement that CIDA partner organizations started applying it and eventually saw benefits of this methodology

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in improving effectiveness and efficiency of their projects. Nevertheless, despite this rather positive picture of RBM there are several very important limitations or weaknesses in the methodology itself, as well as in the way it is interpreted and applied by CIDA and its implementing partner organizations, that we feel should be addressed. While the majority of recommendations to CIDA executing agencies relate to their strategic planning and policies, the recommendations to CIDA concern the need for streamiining its business processes.