Summary
Following years of worldwide experience in evaluation, Universalia framed its own conceptual model of organizational assessment: the Institutional and Organizational Assessment Model (IOA Model). The model aims to help an organization defining and improving its overall performance through analyzing its environment, motivation, and capacity. Through these four areas (performance, environment, motivation, and capacity), the model offers a clear-cut methodology to diagnose institutional strengths and weaknesses.
Outline of the Approach
A schematic representation of the IOA model, of its four areas and their respective factors, allows understanding it clearly (a description of each factor is available when you click on it):
External Environment
Organizational Motivation
Organizational Performance
Click on word to see its definition
- Administrative/ Legal
- How the legal framework, administrative norms and other regulations affect the work of the organization
- Technology
- How the systems in the environment support technology needed for the organization’s work
- Political
- How the political environment affects the organization
- Economic
- Effects of the economic environment (economic policy, foreign investment, etc) on the organization. Ability to develop competition policy framework and examine industrial sectors, societal databases, levels of competition, low transaction costs
- Ecological
- Ability to assess environmental impact and to adapt
- Stakeholder
- How communities, government, donors, partners or others are involved with the organization and value it
- Socio-cultural
- Ability to shift social and cultural attitudes
- History
- Story of the organization’s foundation, growth, awards and achievements, notable changes in structure or leadership, as well as failures and near misses
- Mission
- Formal articulation of the organization's purpose that results from the organization's vision and that materializes into more concrete objectives/actions
- Culture
- Collectively accepted meaning of the organization (values, collective assumptions)
- Incentives/Rewards
- Reason for staff to join an organization, and the way an organization rewards and punishes its staff
- Effectiveness
- Extent to which an organization is achieving its goals
- Efficiency
- Ratio that reflects a comparison of outputs accomplished to the costs incurred for accomplishing these goals. A measure of how economically resources/inputs (funds, expertise, time, etc.) are converted to results
- Relevance
- Ability of an organization to meet the needs and gain the support of its priority stakeholders in the past, present and future
- Financial viability
- Ability of an organization to raise the funds required to meet its functional requirements in the short, medium and long term and to maintain the inflow of financial resources greater than the outflow
- Strategic leadership
- Leadership, strategic planning, niche management
- Organizational structure
- Governance structure, operational structure
- Human resources
- Planning, staffing, developing, appraising and rewarding, maintaining effective human relations
- Financial management
- Financial planning, resource mobilization, financial accountability, financial statements and systems
- Infrastructure
- Facilities management, technology management
- Program and services management
- Planning, implementing and monitoring programs/projects
- Process management
- Problem-solving, decision-making, communications, monitoring and evaluation
- Inter-organizational linkages
- Planning, implementing and monitoring networks and partnerships
The factors embedded in capacity, motivation and contextual environment all influence the performance of an organization. The overall organizational performance is defined in terms of effectiveness (mission fulfillment), efficiency (accuracy, timeliness and value of service and program delivery), ongoing relevance (the extent to which the organization adapts to changing conditions and its environment), and financial viability.
Find out More
To learn more about the IOA Model, we suggest the following book: Organizational Assessment: A Framework for Improving Performance, published in 2002 and written by Charles Lusthaus, Marie-Hélène Adrien, Gary Anderson, Fred Carden, and George Plinio Montalván. The book can be read, downloaded or even ordered on IDRC website at: www.idrc.ca.
To complete its model, Universalia has also designed a Pocket Guide for a Rapid Institutional and Organizational Assessment. This Pocket Guide is intended to provide a framework for rapid institutional or organizational assessment during brief visits (one to two days) to an organization. It provides some key concepts for you to reflect on as you analyze the four areas of the IOA Model, i.e. environment, motivation, capacity, and performance. These concepts can be used to write your organizational assessment report. Click here to open the Pocket Guide: Universalia Pocket Guide for a Rapid IOA
Lastly, you can also visit the Universalia website at www.universalia.com or contact them directly at:
5252 de Maisonneuve West, Suite 310
Montreal, Quebec
H4A 3S5
Canada
Telephone: 1 (514) 485 3565
Fax: 1 (514) 485 3210
Email:
