Institutional Assessment: A Framework for Strengthening Organisational Capacity for IDRC's Research Partners

This IDRC publication answers to the need to address so-called the "capacity gap" of its Southern partners. Noting the lack of tools for institutional development, the book provides a model to assist both internal (self-assessments) andexternal (funding agency) efforts for assessing and strengthening organisations.

It proposes a diagnostic framework based on four main dimensions:

• external environment; experience with research institutions world wide suggests that understanding the environmental context is fundamental to an analysis of how an organisation performs. The environment may present difficult constraints, yet the organisation may still be doing important and relevant work. Analysing key external forces leads to a fair determination of capacity and performance relative to the context.
• organisational motivation; motivation relates in many ways to the environment, but experience has shown that many successful organisations rise above contextual constraints. Leadership and collective vision are crucial aspects in organisations to find resources and produce quality research despite a non-supportive context.
• organisational capacity; because performance is relative to an organisation's basic capacity, the analysis of capacity sets the stage for understanding organisational performance. Capacity is presented as a concept including components of strategic leadership, human resources, core resources, programme management, process management and inter-institutional linkages.
• organisational performance; performance is seen as a function of motivation, capacity and external context, and needs to be assessed in both qualitative and quantitative terms. Performance is conceived as falling in three areas: effectiveness (to what extent is the organisation’s mission realised), efficiency (use or resources) and sustainability (ongoing relevance).

This framework provides a comprehensive approach for diagnosing and documenting the strengths and weaknesses of the kinds of institutions IDRC works with, which undoubtedly can be of use and interest to organisations working in different contexts. The model takes the view that institutional development is based on concepts related to institutional performance, but each organisation defines its performance in its own unique way. The approach is thus descriptive rather than prescriptive. The relative importance given to the various elements in the framework, and the way they are
assessed, depends on the particular contexts in which it is used.