27-28 March 2012 Tutorials

I think I got some creative juice running after our philosophical tutorials!

27 March 2012

Today, we did not talk about our projects in detail; rather we discussed more about the philosophy behind research. It gave me some comfort that somehow I'm not totally lost in what I  am doing... I'm actually undergoing an inductive process where I am looking at the context of things and thereby (I might) form a theory.  Also we talked about the phenomenology of meaning in research. Is the meaning of the world given or is meaning derived from the way we interpret and observe things? I am a bit more of an interpretivist, I think meaning is formed from the perspectives of our minds (influenced by culture etc...); as opposed to a positivist who argues that meaning is out there and absolute (?).  It was a mind boggling discussion but it got me into a different way of thinking. Which I really need at the moment!

28 March 2012

I benefited a lot from our one-to-one session, it answered a lot of my worries. We talked about...

1. the possible discussion I can have with Eddie to get started with the data I need,
2. a different perspective on the approach to my research; which I think is fantastic! I can look at my research as a form of a risk assessment for UNDP,
3. a diagram of how how outputs-outcomes-impacts relate to each other and how risk is embedded in it,
4. my research question (and made some iterations),
5. the depth of risk management theory I have to look into
6. the comparison and contrast of MSP guidelines and the actuality of 
7. the course of action if the data returns to me is not what I expected

With these discussion raise a lot more questions that I need to answer (some basic, but some more in-depth):

1. What is a country office?
• How is it organised?
• What is the turnover? Is it a factor for risk management?
2. Define risk management
3. Given that I will do the project as a risk assessment of UNDP, what data do I need?
4. Are the asserted goals matched with the outcomes?
5. Does UNDP require risk management process to be aligned?
6. What does MSP say about the risk management methods? 
• Does UNDP conform to it? Why? Why not?

Generally a productive meeting. But I still feel like I'm in a fog, but I got an idea.! I'll share the idea once I get some fruition from it.

17 Jan 2012 Tutorials

I feel mind boggled every time we do consultations, but it  really is very helpful for me. I am glad we do these tutorial sessions because I get a lot of constructive insights and questions (both from supervisors and colleagues). Here are a few takeaways I got from today:

On Research Methodology

1. Network mapping on literature search - I have been doing this to some extent, but I do need to be more organised about it!
1. Mapping previous references - what is the thought process that formed the literature?
2. Mapping forward through citations - is the article cited by other literature?
3. Notice recurring authors; the thought leaders in the field.
4. Take note of the concepts linked to the authors.
2. EndNote citations export DIRECTLY from Google Scholar - this is simply wonderful! It will definitely increase my efficiency. I can't believe how much time I have wasted manually looking for EndNote citations in separate databases.  
3. Research journal - I have just started this blog a few days ago... Still trying to get the hang of writing things down... I think I haven't quite caught on with jotting important things down in here. I do hope I'll get more efficient about it.

On Thesis Topic

1. Questions on assumptions: 
• RBM relies heavily on the baseline assumptions; are they tested on the outset? Is risk management in place when making the assumptions? Do the assumptions hold true?
2. Concern on UNDP context/stakeholders:
• How is UNDP dealing with projects, what kind of projects, what number of projects?
• Are ALL stakeholders' input considered when making the assumptions?
• Who are the stakeholders? Are they adequately represented in UNDP's RBM? 
3. Maturity of risk management
• Does UNDP have risk management policies? Are they adequate? Are they applied?
• Can risk management operate in the context of UNDP?
• Will risk management make a difference?

The questions are very basic... makes me wonder what I have been reading these past few weeks???

A great session in one day. I need to read on relevant topics that were raised today and I need to be organised and efficient about my data search.

FOCUS 

Back to Square One

I'm now back to my original drawing board, not a total loss... in fact my soul-searching for a topic has helped me redefine my original intention.

For now (hopefully I'll stick with it) I'm looking into UNDP, Risk Management and Result Based Management (RBM) and quite possibly to some extent an application of a capability maturity model. So the new player in the picture is RBM. Here is a little insight about it, I quote from Ika and Lytvynov:

RBM as a means to of improving management effectiveness and accountability feeds back into other managerial components to enable better decision-making process.
RBM has two intended uses:

1.
internal use ‘when performance information is used in internal management processes with the aim of improving performance and achieving better results, this is often referred to as managing-for-results. Such actual use of performance information has often been a weakness of performance management in the OECD countries. Too often, government agencies have emphasized performance measurement for external reporting only, with little attention given to putting the performance information to use in internal management decision-making processes.’ (Binnendijk, 2000, p. 7).

2.
external use ‘when performance information is used for reporting to external stakeholder audiences, this is sometimes referred to as accountability-for-results. Government-wide legislation or executive orders often mandate such reporting. Moreover, such reporting can be useful in the competition for funds by convincing a sceptical public or legislature that an agency’s programs produce significant results and provide "value for money". Annual performance reports may be directed to many stakeholders, for example, to ministers, parliament, auditors or other oversight agencies, customers, and the general public.’ (ibid, p. 7).

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I realize that there are more and more abbreviations in my posts... so to keep track of them I'll post them here.


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Ika, L. A. & Lytvynov, V. (2009) “RBM: A Shift to Managing Development Project Objectives” JGBA Oct. 2009 Vol1, No. 1; 55-76. Journal of Global Business Administration, 1 (1):