BDS market development guide.pdf - PACA

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62 1. Outreach: how many (breadth) and who are they (depth)?—the quantitative scale of a project and the identity of people, SMEs, and providers touched by it. 2. Efficiency: are we doing things right?—the rate at which inputs are turned into outputs. 3. Effectiveness: are we doing the right thing?—the extent to which higher-order impacts—related to changes in the real world of SMEs—have been achieved. 4. Sustainability: will it last?—as previously defined, this refers to the market capacity to ensure that relevant, differentiated BDS continue to be offered and consumed by SMEs beyond the period of an intervention. Questions to Be Answered As in any business development project, in designing monitoring and evaluation systems the big questions to be asked (and answered) are the same here: • What do we need to know?—(defined in the form of indicators). • Who needs to know?—(understanding the needs of different stakeholders such as donors, facilitators, and providers). • When do they need to know? (timely availability of information for decision making). • How will this information be collected and analyzed? (methods and tools of analysis). • Who will be responsible for this process? (who does what in a donor-supported intervention). Factors to Consider in Developing Indicators Again, as in any business development project, the process of developing indicators needs to take into account a checklist of other factors such as 41 : • Relevant?—throwing light on the right area: indicators need to relate directly to the objective they seek to measure. • How much?—ambitious yet achievable: indicators should contain targets. How much these should be is a matter of discussion and, in the absence of benchmark “industry standards,” can be assessed only within the confines of an individual project. 41 See Gibson, A; "Developing indicators in small enterprise development (SED) - a tool for people involved in designing, implementing and evaluating SED projects"; SDC-SED Working Paper No. 1; SDC, May 2001 Microenterprise Best Practices Development Alternatives, Inc.
63 • How well?—the quality dimension to performance: indicators should offer insight into the quality of the change they have helped to bring about. • Is it feasible to measure? there really is a difference between what we would like to learn and what can be learned: indicators need to be set that can be measured given the practical limitations of resources and expertise available. • Are there “intermediate indicators”?- a plausible pathway to the bottom line: indicators should reflect changes closer to the point of consumption of BDS and not rely only on bottom-line changes in SME performance that may be influenced by many other factors. • Precise?—”tightness” in definition: without real specificity in the definition of indicators, interventions lack focus. • Is it business-like?—the overarching need to “think business”: indicators need to reflect SMEs and providers own priorities and business realities. Anything else undermines the general business-like message of BDS. Big Problems that Don’t Go Away The world of small businesses that BDS interventions seek to improve in some way is inherently complicated. SMEs do not exist by themselves; they compete in markets against other businesses, have relationships with a range of suppliers, are influenced by government actions, and are subject to the whims of market trends. Their world is complex. Indeed, often in small informal businesses where the distinction between business and household is blurred, this complexity is greater than in the formal sector. This complexity poses great challenges for monitoring and evaluation. A question illustrates this point: if an SME has changed positively apparently as a result of a project, how do we know that? • This change would not have happened without us; all the other myriad influences on a business have not caused change, rather than our project alone; and • This change is not at the expense of another SME nearby; it does not merely displace economic activity from one place to another without any real net addition. These issues of attribution are always relevant in business development situations, and (regrettably) there is no magical fix to call on to address them 42 . 42 See Oldsman, E; "Evaluation as an effective management toool"; Paper presented to conference on "Business services for small enterprises in Asia: developing markets and measuring performance"; Hanoi, 3 rd -6 th April, 2000 for a more detailed analysis of fundamental challenges inherent in rigorous approaches to evaluation. Chapter Five—How do We Assess Our Performance?— Monitoring and Evaluation BDS Interventions
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BDS Market Development: A Guide for
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Alan Gibson is a co-founder of The
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ii CHAPTER FOUR HOW DO WE GET THERE
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iv Table 1 Implications of Differen
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vi How to Use This Guide: A Quick R
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2 • To address poverty, governmen
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4 • Potentially, a range of provi
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6 Figure 2: Flows of Services in th
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8 • Efficiency—The cost bases o
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10 • Advocacy: for the business c
Page 23 and 24: 13 CHAPTER TWO WHERE WE ARE NOW—A
Page 25 and 26: 15 The flow diagram of an effective
Page 27 and 28: 17 KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE
Page 29 and 30: 19 Figure 7: Quadrant of Supply-sid
Page 31 and 32: 21 • Consumers—such as female-o
Page 33 and 34: 23 WHERE SHOULD INTERVENTIONS FOCUS
Page 35 and 36: 25 Figure 10: Matching Market Analy
Page 37 and 38: 27 CHAPTER THREE WHERE DO WE WANT T
Page 39 and 40: 29 Markets are institutions. Develo
Page 41 and 42: 31 What Needs to Be Done?—Key Sup
Page 43 and 44: 33 Box 7: Key Considerations in Ass
Page 45 and 46: 35 Figure 12: Functions of the Stat
Page 47 and 48: 37 Table 2: Sustainability Framewor
Page 49 and 50: 39 CHAPTER FOUR HOW DO WE GET THERE
Page 51 and 52: 41 Figure 13: Where to Intervene to
Page 53 and 54: 43 • Consistent Policies and Appr
Page 55 and 56: 45 • Have been developed to be pe
Page 57 and 58: 47 Avoiding overloading may involve
Page 59 and 60: 49 C For new product development, a
Page 61 and 62: 51 • Precisely, what are they goi
Page 63 and 64: 53 Existing MARKET (sub-sector, ent
Page 65 and 66: 55 To Reach Female-Owned Businesses
Page 67 and 68: 57 C Informal, and C Individuals. T
Page 69 and 70: 59 The drawbacks of tender-based se
Page 71: 61 CHAPTER FIVE HOW DO WE ASSESS OU
Page 75 and 76: 65 day income * This highlights key
Page 77 and 78: 67 Beyond SMEs—Unchanged Indicato
Page 79 and 80: 69 Figure 16: Measurement Methods i
Page 81 and 82: 71 • Donors may be interested in
Page 83 and 84: 73 and poverty reduction? Or is the
Page 86 and 87: A-3 KEY REFERENCES Anderson, Gavin,
Page 88 and 89: A-5 Hitchins, R and Gibson, A; "The
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