Finding a Way Forward

After some correspondence with Eddie, Dennis and Alec... I think I have gathered my confidence that all is not lost! (Read about my panic attack here).

Right after the meeting with Dennis, it seemed clearer what I needed to do. I tried to organise the documents I have and what information I am going to gather from those documents to address my research objectives:

Weekend in Devon

We had an amazing weekend at Alec's place down south in Plymouth, Devon.

It was a work/leisure weekend. :-)

With regards to work...

We got to tease my literature review and got some great pointers from Alec! Alec kept emphasising on creating a logical line of reasoning for the whole of the thesis. I think I get his point and I think I have a better idea of how I am structuring my thesis.

We also talked about how I am going to go about the thesis and Alec made a diagram from our discussions:

I am content with what  I plan to do, I just hope I have enough time to do it! :-)

10-11 May 2012 Tutorials

My thesis is forming up a bit, and  I think I have nearly nailed down the question that I am trying to answer. I am glad that we did the sessions, and it is just clear that I really need to figure out what is it exactly I am doing. 

For the most part, I have the generic baseline stuff that I need to form my thesis. I already know the type of data I will be using. And I have the generic idea of what my literature would look like. The real problem is the question... so after much discussion with Alec and Dennis, I sat down in the learning grid to clear things out... I think I almost have it:

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.

18 Feb 2012 Tutorials

Questions for my questions...! Today's tutorials raised a lot of questions. But at least I somehow found some possible routes through the fuzziness of this research. I'm putting my current research question in a separate post.

Here I am just highlighting the inputs and questions I got from my supervisors:

Dennis:

1. UNDP Risk Management Process -- should risk retirement be included?
2. Step 4 and 5 in the ERM cycle (Action and Monitoring & Reporting) can be the potential focus of my research
3. Should the research be limited to CMM to risk management? Perhaps a more cohesive approach?
4. Can programme outcomes be related to risk management level? - There is a possibility that research will be inconclusive. There is a latency in between risk management implementation and seeing the programme outcomes.
5. A possible approach to the project is to look at parallels. Is the success of risk management in other industries transferable to the UNDP context?

Eddie:

1. What is UNDP's appetite for risk?
2. True commitment/implementation to risk management in UNDP might be nil!
3. Look into Prince2 strategies, UNDP has put in a lot of effort in 'benefits strategy'. Now UNDP is starting on 'risk strategy'... Look into this.
4. Perhaps a more cohesive approach to risk management? Balanced scorecard approach, taking into account benefits, quality, configuration etc?

Alec:

1. Possible approach for research is to look at end results, lessons learned and see where risk management could have been applied. Track back... reverse engineering(?)
2. Is the UNDP risk management framework fit for its purpose? How is it different from the framework of corporations? Is it the same?
3. What is so special about the risk management framework in UNDP?
• If the same, how can it be applied more efficiently?
• If different, how can the framework be tailored to the context of UNDP
4. Is there a discernible outcome where risk management is applied (or not applied?) in UNDP projects?
• If not, why not? Is it because risk management is not properly applied or is it because the framework/method doesn't work?
5. Suggest to first conduct study/research on risk management and the risk management framework of UNDP
• But! prioritise what data is publicly available, and what data should  be asked from Eddie.
• Availability of data is crucial!

Augh!!! I'm not sure if my research is getting fuzzier or clearer. So much questions to answer... so much work to do! 

18 Jan 2012 Tutorials: Takeaways

Today's takeaways:

On Research Methodology

1. Diagramming - I am impressed by Alec's use of Unified Modeling Language to map out my thesis topic. It is amazing how it helps organise the knowledge and ideas that I brought in to the table. As suggested by Dennis I can use a diagramming technique to draw out how UNDP is structured (in related to the programmes and projects). Great idea... I think it will make things clearer; as of now everything is just in my head! I should translate it to paper.
2. Writing style - I'm happy that the tutors think I have good written English. Considering... I was just an average English Language student during my undergraduate years. An area to improve on: shorter sentences... specially in writing down my research question!
3. Research question and objectives relationship - the objectives should contribute to the question. The achievement of the objectives should help in  answering the question.

On Thesis Topic:

1. Risk Management Knowledge - I know that I don't know enough on risk management; and it just showed during the consultation. I can't even properly define issue versus risk! Tsk tsk...
• My lack of knowledge and experience on risk management is identified by the tutors as the major risk in my project
• Literature is readily available on risk management; the question is my grasp on the subject
• Key terms that came out during our risk management discussion:
• Issue, risk, uncertainty, proximity, benefit management, threshold, early warning indicator, risk appetite... etc
• In relation to UNDP; I should read about risk management in the context of MSP, Prince2 and P3M3
2. UNDP Context - I need to structure what I know about UNDP. Lay down the context. 
• How does it flow from New York to Country office?
• How is the country office structured? Where is UNDAF, CPAP etc... in this structure?
• How is the MDG played in the UNDP context? As a portfolio, programme, project?
• Who are the stakeholders? What is their influence?
3. UNDP and Risk Management - 
• What are the risk management policies and guidelines on risk management?
• To what extent is risk management is applied in UNDP? Do they do it? Is it properly integrated?
• The availability of data in this area is the most important for my project!
4. Capability Maturity and RBM - also need to know how risk can be measured as well as how is it in the context of RBM in UNDP

A lot of work needs to be done! :)

18 Jan 2012 Tutorials: Feelings

Warning: This entry is just about my feelings, worries about my project and the tutorial session. Really, nothing constructive on the project. I just want to lay it down. I'll talk about the takeaways and the important aspects of the tutorials on the next entry.

---
Another day of tutorials.

A lot of my time these past few weeks were spent reading on UN history and on 'One-UN' (which turned out to be a deadlock for me).

I just recently returned to my original thesis topic on risk management! So to be honest, I was not confident at all to go to consultation today. I was dreading the meeting, knowing that I don't have much literature on risk management! But thankfully, it was yet again a constructive session. I particularly appreciated the tutors' honesty about my weakness and the potential risks it implies on my project.

I guess it turns out I am harsher on myself.  I feel I should have done more by this time. Now I have 3 weeks to send-in the first project deliverable (plus I have 12 days to hand-in my OPP module assignment).  And February will be packed with 3 modules!

I'd love to hand in quality work both for my thesis and my module assignments... I'm just worried if I have enough time.

FOCUS... Please.

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