Project Planning and the Planning Cycle PIA 2501

Author of the Week: Next Week: Arturo Escobar  What Does Escobar say about the concepts Development Economics and Planning?  How does he "Deconstruct" development? What does that mean?  "What Is To Be Done?" according to Escobar.

Discussion: Authors of the Week  Isabel Allende- Clarrisa”  Jorge Luis Borges, “The Book of Sand”

The Problems of Development Management: Next Week  Quote of the Week: Revisit the Quiet American  Discussion "The Human Condition being what it was, let them fight, let them love, let them murder, I would not be involved." Graham Greene

Review  Neo-Orthodox View of Planning

To what extent is the state planning approach necessary? Mandated by technical assistance Expanded government meant specialized planning organizations and the rise of development economics as a discipline

To what extent is the state planning approach necessary? The issue of grass roots participation was raised There was rhetoric of a command economy as opposed to a market economy with two extremes and the soft state in-between The Reality is in-between: Public Private Partnerships

Limitations of Planning  To what extent is the state planning approach possible? Issue of growth vs. distribution Issue of planning vs. ways in which budget priorities are set Debate about the coordination of planning voluntary vs. hierarchical authority

Structural Reforms- Review  The Change: Overemphasized the Anti-State theme  Result Since 1985, privatization, public sector reform and structural adjustment  New Theories Neo-orthodoxy based upon Public and Social (Rational Choice) ideas  What was “Developmental” in the 1990s?

Contemporary Themes of Development- Review  Except for the Newly Industrializing Countries(NICs), the failure of Development Management as a method  Question: does failure occur as a result of state collapse? (Goran Hyden)  What is the future of Development Planning

Level of Analysis Issue & Planning  Public Policy Overall decisions to take action  Programs Ongoing areas of activity within a policy area, a nucleus to carry out program  Projects Discrete time-bound, often sector or spatially based activity

Contemporary Themes of Development  Problem of government as a negative; a state centric vs. society centric view  How does that translate into public private partnerships? (Robert Bates, Eleanor Ostrom)  Issue of "implementation," the neglected component of development policy (Pressman)

Contemporary Themes of Development Institution building is a pre- requisite Development Policy is environmentally bound; Importance of micro-macro linkages (Kathleen Staudt)

What is “Developmental” in the 1990s? The PROJECT as an operational concept

Project Planning The Blue Print Approach

Project Management Defined Setting of priorities for the use of a limited amount of scarce resources and a limited amount of time.

The New Orthodoxy The PROJECT as an operational concept  The Problems of Development Management  Project management means loss of control over programs and policy  Project Characteristics: -Discrete tasks -Time Bound -fixed amount of money

Triumph of the Donor  Need for the "Blueprint" approach  Donors vs. the Learning Process  The Blue Print problem and Project Management

The Blueprint Approach Defined by a series of steps: Identification of available resources and setting of financial priorities  Need to distinguish incremental budgeting from capital or development budgets  Capital or Development Budgets are one time investments Key: Built-in (sunken) costs and problem of maintenance and recurrent implications

The Blueprint Approach  Defined by a series of steps: Identification of or selection of appropriate means (Funding) Formulation of specific activities Provision for plan's implementation

Blue Print Secure coordinated action and cooperation  especially in problem of communications Seek funding for projects Make Go/No Go Decision Implementation: Monitoring and Evaluation

Location, Location, Location Location of planning Center: Manager of the Blueprints Ultimately a political question- Central Control President or Prime Minister’s Office Ministry of Finance and Development Planning

Location, Location, Location  Location of planning Center: Manager of the Blueprints Separate Departments or Commissions for Development and Planning Exercises  Depends upon International Technical Assistance  Private or NGO Contractor  Regional and local government  Social Funds

Location, Location, Location  Location of planning Center: Manager of the Blueprint  Use and overuse of inter- departmental committees Afghanistan, Office of President

Controversy over the nature of planner  Cadre of Economists, budget specialists and project analysts  Informal ties with planner/economists in other ministries  Special issue of foreign international expatriate planners  Planning as shopping list for donors (pork barrel projects)  Politicos emphasis on physical planning infrastructure--problem of maintenance

The Project Cycle  By 1990, largely a donor-driven process  Overview: Projects discrete time bound Sector or spatially based activity Responsibility for generating specific results within time specific space

The Project Cycle  Types of Projects Nationally sponsored  paid by country or (more often) private foundations Donor projects Local level community based  village development activities District or regional level sectoral projects  integrated rural development NGO/PVO projects

The Project Cycle  Role of Technical Assistance*  Grants Contracts Cooperative Agreements Sub-grants managed by non- profits *For Further Information on Technical Assistance and Contracts see presentations of PIA Skills in Development Management: Privatization and Contracting Out

Interaction of Major Agency Processes Office of Management And Budget (OMB) Evaluation Ex-Post Facto Evaluation Implementa- tion Pre- Implementa- tion Project Paper (PP) Project Review Paper (PRP) Project Identification Document (PID) Field of Concentration Strategy (DAPII) Country Program Strategy (DAPI) Prior Evaluation Operational Year Budget (OYB) Appropriation Congressional Presentation (CP) Budget Submissions Ongoing Projects Host Country Legis- lation Foreign Policy LDC Needs Agency Policy Global Sector Strategies Regional Strategies Research Strategy Management Objectives Financial MANAGEMENT Programming INFORMATION Management Reports Implementation SYSTEM External Needs Program SupportData Bank (CPDB, PAIS, DIS, ESDB) Personnel Administration SupportDatabase for Future Decisions, Policy Lessons Learned Evaluation Criteria Project Reporting Project Performance Tracking (PPT); Financial Reporting Planning Budgeting Design Approval Implementation Evaluation Reporting

BREAK

The Project Cycle  The Management Model The Blueprint model  Process information and define projects  National plan leads to programs Programs lead to projects funded by donors

The Project Cycle  Design Identifying nature of problem and possible solutions--specific needs and desired changes  Appraisal (Mandatory) data needed to prepare project plan

The Project Cycle  Analysis--collection of data: Social Analysis targeted groups: women, minorities, indigenous peoples Economic Analysis--Cost Benefit Institutional Analysis  Sustainability  Organizational Requirements  Recurrent Cost Implications  Human Skills Needed  Social Acceptance

The Project Cycle  Analysis--collection of alternatives: Prediction Selection of preferred alternatives The Logical Framework: (LOGFRAME)  If-then conditions The Cycle and the Documents

Source: Project Management System, Practical Concepts, Inc., Washington, DC Project Objectives Achieved 3. Evaluation2. Execution 1. Design The Project Cycle

Logical Framework Performance Networks Practical Concepts, Incorporated Project Objectives Achieved 3. Evaluation2. Execution 1. Design Evaluation SystemReporting System Evaluations assess performance against plans and analyze causal linkages Progress indicators and formats for communicating project information Networks display performance plans over time ACHIEVEMENT EXCEPTION Project Management System Provides Management Tools to Support all Stages of the Project Cycle

Preparation of Documents: Donor - USAID  Country Strategy Paper  Concept Paper  Project Identification Document (PID)

PP (USAID) (PP = Project Paper) Program Agreement (Donor) Technical Proposal (Contractor to Donor) Country Context (Contractor to Country) Implementation Documents

The Project Cycle  Implementation  The Go/No Go Decision Carrying out actions planned Personnel  local (and foreign) Physical and organizational Needs

The Project Cycle  Monitoring and Evaluation Understanding what has happened and assessing changes and quality of change Issue: sustainability regarding follow-on within the country and replicability from one country to another

Monitoring and Evaluation  Nature of Data: Interview vs. survey Seat of the pants observation  "the old quick and dirty" The problem of project goals:  Goals are to be limited and bounded  Specific activities are to be clearly defined and achieved  Short run success leads to successful evaluation  Short-term loop is five years

Monitoring and Evaluation  Nature of Data: Judgment: Evaluation vs. Assessment  Two views: a. Learn from experience b. Judge performance  Problem: judgment requires clear goals, in contradiction with learning  Problem: power of the expert

Monitoring and Evaluation  Nature of Data: Evaluation is a donor requirement  External activity  Targets blueprint activity (CPA)  Critical path analysis (Time based action)  PERT chart (Project Evaluation Review Technique) very technical, programmed  Evaluation often the need for more action

Monitoring and Evaluation  Nature of Data: Evaluation as an end product:  Separate from implementation  Action pre-determined in design prior to evaluation Separates evaluation from the on- going activity

Monitoring and Evaluation  Nature of Data: Problem with Evaluation concept  Implementation suggests a finished product  Bureaucratic action is ongoing  Part of larger system with ambiguous boundaries Assessment  Ongoing, part of implementation process  Inter-American Development Bank- Advocates On-going Evaluation as part of Monitoring Exercises

The Problem  Incrementalism: Planning vs. Implementation Planning challenges incremental behavior Organizations  Problem of innovation incrementalism is the operational reality

The Goal  Bottom Up Participation Planning vs. politics: myths of participation

The Goal Learning Process Model--“incrementalism“- theoretical alternatige  Bottom up and interactive  Village development committees vs. local planning officers  Paternalism of the district officer vs. patronage of local level minor networks  Street level bureaucrats vs. agents from center