Coordination a complex topic

Topics Last Week n Gerry Martone on Personnel and General Management Problems: u Leading u Planning u Organizing and Coordinating u Controlling

Topics n Housekeeping: u paper? n Coordination: u Afghan case u Economic theory u Management theory u Coordination in the UN u How to improve coordination n Not explicitly the military

Coordination n When is coordination not necessary? u If there are no disasters u If the government functions well u If there is only a one-sector problem (highly likely) u If local coping mechanisms & survival strategies are powerful enough n Then there is no need for a multitude of outsiders.

Course Contents n The origins of--and the necessity for-- coordination lie in the processes of functional differentiation and integration. The process of differentiation takes place in three related ways, namely: u Division of labor between employees and parts of organizations; u Functional differentiation between organizations (mandates, demarcating domains); u Separation of decision- and policy making and their execution (=implementation).

Course Contents To coordinate literally means "to place or arrange things in proper position relatively to each other and to the system of which they form parts; to bring into order as parts of a whole". Just like the coordinates do on the axes of a Cartesian system.

Course Contents Benefits of coordination: n Coordination can be used as a means for increasing the quality of public service delivery systems; n Coordination is a way to improve efficiency; n Coordination enables organizations to cope with shrinking resources by sharing them in such a way that it will: u prevent "double dipping" of clients, u economize activities by sharing the costs of new or extended programs, u reduce the risks of innovation (more users, shared acceptance by several organizations).

Course Contents But: Why is it that everybody wants to coordinate but nobody wants to be coordinated? u Political u Cooperation at the edge of competition

Afghanistan n Which three forms of Coord. did Donini distinguish? u Coordination by command F Aga Khan F Resources & expertise (demining) u Coordination by consensus F There rarely was consensus (Peshawar vs Kabul) u Coordination by default (insufficient) What perspective does Nienhaus use? Economic What would he say about coordination by consensus?

Economic theory n Coordination deals with the problems in providing public goods: HAid. A free rider problem: u lack of sanctions u marginal contributions n Neither commitment nor communication or consensus are sufficient enough to achieve a common goal if public goods and a large number of actors are involved.

Economic theory n So we need institutional arrangements to provide incentives and rewards. n Principal/Agent problem: u Principal: the actor(s) who set goals u agent(s): the actor(s) that work to achieve goals n The art is to design institutional structures or to set up incentive systems which bring the aims of the principals into harmony with the agents

Economic theory n Three main general problems: u Problem of information u Conflict of interest/agents can shirk u Problem of monitoring/performance control n These can partly be resolved through good contracting (out) and sound management (hierarchy, standards, codes of conduct, monitoring & evaluation). However, this all costs money not spend on aid.

Economic Theory n Problems of Humanitarian Orgs u Internal u External: Donors as Principals & HAOs as agents: F Standards for evaluation F Performance Standards: Sphere u High Probability of Inefficient Allocation F Beneficiary Involvement F Performance Standards

Criticize Economic Theory n Political aspects/economy of war u Local Population should be the principal u Who sets the performance standards n Other substantial problems, e.g., demining n Stylized view of a person as an economic creature n Ch. 4 not important, Ch. 5,6, and 9 are more background reading. Perhaps management theory can help. Well….

Management theory n Coordination can be an intra- as well as an interorganizational phenomenon; n Divide coordination mechanisms between "reducing the need for information processing" and "increasing the capacity to process information;" n Coordination can be achieved as a process or as a structure. n Coordination, and its outcomes, will differ from organizational level to level. In the case of interorganizational coordination differences occur between the organizations. Hierarchy is in itself already a coordination mechanism;

Management theory n Various coordination mechanisms can be distinguished; n The various coordination mechanisms can be applied simultaneously in different combinations; n The number and impact of antecedents to--or conditions of--successful coordination remain unclear. Sometimes they even contradict each other. Moreover, despite hopeful expectations, it has been difficult to assess the consequences of coordination. The results of coordination have at times been mixed or negative

Improving Coordination? Questions to improve Coordination: n What kind of interdependence exists? n What is the intensity of this interdependence? u Antagonism: resources or local population? => types of standards (minimum or maximum) n Which organizational activities should be coordinated? (functional/regional) n Which organizational levels? (HQ/Field) n How far will inter-organizational coordination go? n Which mechanisms will be used to achieve coordination

UN Coordination n Mandates/mission: often in one functional sector, e.g., UNHCR & refugees n In normal development situations: UNDP Res Rep n Complex emergencies: u HQs level: F OCHA (formerly DHA), Don’t confuse with “Afghan “ UNOCA & UNOCHA secretariat of IASC tools for the field not an implementing org/no large resources. other orgs retain autonomy F So, OCHAs effectivenss is limited

UN Coordination n Complex emergencies (cont’d): u Field level: F Lead Agency (Tom Weiss) F DHA F Humanitarian Coordinator (often now ResRep) F Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) F NGO tend to go their own way F Relatively small role for private enterprise F Standards/codes of conduct

Conclusions n Question: who coordinates the coordinators? n Focus on implementation n Coordination is a continuous struggle u more actors u more complex situations (complex emergencies) u different types of actors F govt(?), private enterprise, UN, NGOs F different sectors F linking relief and development u Not all problems are coordination problems, e.g., in Afghanistan there were substantial and political problems

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