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GRI Conference - 27 May - Agyemang - NGO Accountability

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Dr Gloria Agyemang Royal Holloway School of Management Presentation for Academic Conference Session – NGO Accountability at The GRI Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability &Transparency Thursday 27 May 2010
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Page 1: GRI Conference - 27 May - Agyemang - NGO Accountability

Dr Gloria AgyemangRoyal Holloway School of Management

Presentation for Academic Conference Session – NGO Accountability

at The GRI Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability &Transparency

Thursday 27 May 2010

Page 2: GRI Conference - 27 May - Agyemang - NGO Accountability

NGO Accountability and Knowledge Sharing for Sustainability in Less Developed Economies

• Research in 2007 /8 on effectiveness of NGO accountability mechanisms in range of NGOs in Ghana

• Engagement with NGOs fieldworkers

• Perceptions about the effectiveness of

– Upward accountability reports to donors and funders

– Participatory downward accountability methods used with beneficiaries

Page 3: GRI Conference - 27 May - Agyemang - NGO Accountability

Reporting upwards and knowledge sharing

• What do the reports contain?

• Do upward accountability mechanisms offer opportunity for sharing knowledge?

• Sharing knowledge is important – For organisational learning– For sustainable development

Page 4: GRI Conference - 27 May - Agyemang - NGO Accountability

What is knowledge sharing?

• Guiding someone through your thinking

• Using your insights to help another person to see the situation better

• Explicit knowledge and Tacit knowledge

• Internal and external factors impact on the sharing of knowledge

Page 5: GRI Conference - 27 May - Agyemang - NGO Accountability

Upward accountability mechanisms

Table 3 - Existing NGO upward accounting and accountability mechanisms identified in this study

Accountability mechanism

Financial information

Narrative Quantitative performance indicators

Written or oral

Frequency Stakeholder focus

Disclosure statements and reports Annual reports Yes Yes Yes Written Once Range of

stakeholders

Interim reports Yes Yes Yes Written Monthly, quarterly, and half yearly

Donors

Performance assessment and evaluations

Assessment Reports

Yes Yes Yes Written Continuous Donors and internal stakeholders

Evaluation / Final Project Report

Yes Yes Yes Written At end of project

Donors

Page 6: GRI Conference - 27 May - Agyemang - NGO Accountability

Do upward accountability mechanism enable knowledge to be shared?

• Reports focus on– Project objectives– Project funds– Project activities

• Fieldworkers synthesis of knowledge– “standardised common understanding”– Formality of reports enabled knowledge sharing– Reporting templates

• Operational knowledge was shared– Explicit knowledge

Page 7: GRI Conference - 27 May - Agyemang - NGO Accountability

Sharing knowledge about performance

• Accountability mechanisms for performance evaluation not enabling– Context is important– Insufficient capture about context– Sense making and interpretation important to

understanding– Tacit knowledge

Page 8: GRI Conference - 27 May - Agyemang - NGO Accountability

Examples of non-knowledge sharing

– Where is appropriate location of projects– Appropriateness of technology– Issues about education and training of beneficiaries – Timing of projects– Why projects fail

• Situational knowledge– Drivers of sustainable development– Intangible success factors

Page 9: GRI Conference - 27 May - Agyemang - NGO Accountability

Why is situational knowledge not shared by NGO fieldworkers?

• Fear of loss of funding• Importance of fieldworker work being recognised

as valuable• Perceptions about lack of donor interest

– Qualitative information– Not sure what follow on actions ensued– Quantitative information preferred

• Lack of skills on part of fieldworkers– Might need training

Page 10: GRI Conference - 27 May - Agyemang - NGO Accountability

The nature of the accountability mechanisms

• Standard templates lead to

– Compliance ?

• And not to

– Discursive critique?

Page 11: GRI Conference - 27 May - Agyemang - NGO Accountability

Concluding remarks

• To facilitate knowledge sharing that enables sustainable development it is necessary to reconsider the “how” question with respect to accountability.– How will information be used?– How is information gathered?– How will feedback be provided to fieldworkers

to show that their work has had an impact?– How will fieldworkers be supported in their

work?


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