Staff Assignment Rotation and Project Sustainability in South Sudan

The primary objective of this study was to determine the existence of a causal relationship between Staff Assignment Rotation vis-à-vis Project Sustainability in South Sudan. The research followed the qualitative methodology predicated on the “philosophical dimensions” of constructivism and interpretivism. The participants for the research consisted of 50 individuals drawn from four population groups: Refugees as the primary beneficiaries, humanitarian workers and project staff. Qualitative data collection was chosen as the research methodology and in-depth interview and focus group discussion as the research techniques in the data collection. Narrative analysis was the method of data analysis. The study revealed that 81 percent of the respondents indicated security as the single most important factor that impacts project sustainability. Staff assignment rotation followed with 16 percent. Data analysis was compartmentalized and looked at the profile of the respondents to see any noticeable variance from the functional perspective. Contextualizing the data helped to balance any perceived unbiased in the responses based on their functional affinity. In addition to Security as the prominent factor that impacts project sustainability, staff rotation, government regulation, and funding could also impact significantly depending on the context. The study recommends a comprehensive review of the current mandatory policy to align the operation management cycle; encompassing the project initiation, planning, implementation, monitoring and closure to the standard assignment length of staff assigned to implement these projects.

Construction frameworks in the public sector: Do they deliver what they promise?

We demonstrate that the use of Performance Frameworks for the procurement of construction projects by public sector organizations in the UK (specifically, in England) leads to significantly improved outcomes in terms of time, cost, quality, sustainability and closer relationships, than the traditional ‘open tender’ approach of procuring discrete projects, individually. We identify the factors that lead to such improvements. We label these: supplier’s task performance factors (project staff, execution approach, competence of firm and structure of firm); supplier’s contextual performance factors (trust and collaboration, culture and conscious behaviour); and client’s organisational factors (incentives, performance monitoring, procurement approach and communication). And we offer a performance improvement model that will help project managers to select the most appropriate suppliers at the procurement phase, to achieve successful project outcomes. The model can also be used to drive project performance further, by adopting client’s organisational factors during the procurement and construction phases. By applying the research conclusions, suppliers will be able to focus on communicating their strengths in the relevant aspects of task and contextual performance for technical tender proposals, and so increase the value of their services and the probabilities of winning work. And the analysis can be used by policy makers to help in drafting regulations and legislation on formal frameworks, in ways that will improve the delivery of policy objectives.

203 Historical Perspectives on the Equine NRC

The “Nutrient Requirements of Horses” is a publication of the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). The U.S. Congress established NAS in 1863 as a non-profit, non-governmental organization that could examine and report on scientific subjects. The NRC was established in 1916 as the working arm of NAS. About 15 years later the Committee on Animal Nutrition was created in order to oversee publications in the “Nutrient Requirement Series.” The “Recommended Nutrient Allowances for Horses” was released in 1949. The publication was updated and renamed “The Nutrient Requirements of Horses” in 1961 and since then there have been revisions in 1966, 1973, 1978, 1989 and 2007. Each revision was produced by a volunteer committee which was appointed by the Committee on Animal Nutrition until it was disbanded. Over time, both the size of the subcommittee on equine nutrition and the length of the document increased. Funds to support the travel of committee members to working meetings as well as support NRC project staff have been obtained from a variety of sources over the course of the publication. A large portion of the funds for the 2007 edition was from industry sources. Since 1973, the intervals between editions of the publication have been quite long, even though interest in equine nutrition and feeding among industry participants seems to be high. Fortunately, other excellent reference sources on equine nutrition are available. The need for a new revision of the Nutrient Requirements of Horses, as well as the feasibility of funding to support a revision will be explored.

Mathematical model of software development project team composition optimization with fuzzy initial data

Increasingly frequent changes in demand for products, reducing product life cycles, changes in the business environment during a crisis, the innovative nature of projects, the complexity of forecasting external and internal conditions, the impact of the human factor lead to increased uncertainty and inability to plan team activities with a given degree of accuracy. In this regard, the subject matter of the article is the task of creating an adaptive project team that can work effectively in the mentioned above conditions. This task is especially relevant for the sphere of software development. The sphere is dynamic and characterized by frequent changes in product requirements, technologies, working conditions, and restrictions on project implementation. Agile approaches are used to manage such projects, which can help the team respond to uncertainties and frequent changes. To date, there are many agile approaches to project management, but the issue of selecting team members in such approaches is insufficiently covered. Therefore, this work formalizes the task of deciding on the selection of software development team members, considering the uncertainty and subjectivity of the information that affects the selection of candidates for the team. The task of the work is to create a decision-making model based on the use of the mathematical apparatus of fuzzy sets and methods of operations research. Such a model should allow considering the uncertainty of estimates of project requirements and the level of competence of team candidates. The result is a mathematical model of a two-criterion constrained optimization problem. The first objective function is aimed at finding a team composition that maximizes the maximum competencies of its members. The second criterion is aimed at forming a team with the maximum sum of competencies for all indicators, considering the weight of each indicator. The first constraint assumes that at least one team member meets the competency requirements expressed by a specific indicator. Additionally, it is required that the available time fund of the team members allows the project to be completed on time. It considers the limitation on the salary of the team. Conclusions. Solving the problem in accordance with the proposed mathematical model will allow making a team as readily as possible to meet the existing and new requirements for the project staff. The last circumstance is especially important when implementing a software development projects.

Organizational Leadership Styles and Utilization of Evaluation Results

The greatest concern in programme management, given the potential of programme or project evaluations to inform decision-making, remains how to ensure the results of an evaluation are used for the intended purpose and how information from an evaluation process and/or the products are applied to practices and decision-making processes. This article presents a research that sought to explore the degree to which organizational leadership style impacts the use of evaluation findings for programme improvement. Based on the pragmatic paradigm and informed by the Utilization Focused Evaluation Model and Knowledge Use Theory, the research adopted a descriptive and correlational design using mixed methods. The study’s sample comprised of 232 project staff from Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) based in Kisumu Central Sub-County, Kenya. Content analysis method that involved coding and identifying themes from respondents’ responses was used to analyse the qualitative data obtained from key informant interviews. Both percentages and frequencies were used to summarize the quantitative data. The instrument reliability was assessed through pilot testing and Cronbach alpha of 0.908 attained. A hypotheses H01: Leadership style does not significantly influence utilization of evaluation results was tested at α = .05 level of significance, but it was rejected because P = 0.000 < 0.05. The study established a statistically significant relationship between organizational leadership style and the utilization of evaluation results. In so doing, it reinforces the existing literature by helping to understand the way organizational leadership style influences the utilization of evaluation results. It fills a gap in the literature, thereby contributes to the appreciation of the factors that enhance and predict the utilization of evaluation results.

ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY AND UTILIZATION OF EVALUATION RESULTS

A major concern in programme management, given the potential of programme or project evaluations to inform decision-making, has been how to ensure the results or findings of an evaluation are used for the intended purpose. How information from an evaluation process and/or the products are used in practice and decision making is equally a concern for evaluators. This article presents a research that sought to explore the extent to which organizational capacity impacts the utilization of evaluation findings for programme improvement. Guided by the pragmatic paradigm and informed by the Utilization Focused Evaluation Model and Knowledge Use Theory, the research adopted a descriptive and correlational design using mixed methods. The sample size for this study was 232 project staff from Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Kisumu Central Sub-County, Kenya. To analyze qualitative data, the open ended responses from key informant interviews were recorded and coded appropriately for further analysis for themes through content analysis and comparative analysis. Frequencies and percentages were calculated to describe the basic characteristics of the quantitative data. To ensure validity and reliability of the research instruments, pilot testing was conducted. Cronbach’s alpha at α = 0.908 was attained as the reliability coefficient of the pre-test instruments. Tests of statistical assumptions were carried out before data analysis to avoid invalidation. A hypotheses H01: Organizational capacity does not significantly influence utilization of evaluation results was tested at α = .05 level of significance and was rejected since P = 0.000 < 0.05. The study findings demonstrate that there is a significant relationship between organizational capacity and the utilization of evaluation results. This research therefore reinforces literature and helps to understand the ways in which organizational capacity influences the utilization of evaluation results. It thus informs the evaluation field of study, fills gaps in the evaluation use literature and contributes to the appreciation of factors that predict and enhance the utilization of evaluation results.

COVID Effect onto the Corporate Project Work

The timeliness of the topic the domestic companies in more waves afflicting, the treatment of a situation took shape because of COVID gets it, which brought fundamental changes in the companies' daily function and the execution of his plans. I would like to detail the times before COVID in my lecture onto a typical corporate management situation, with a strange look onto the processes of the projects, and onto the informatics solutions being attached to this functionally, his role in the accomplishment of the daily tasks. Tightly here owing question, that in the consecutive epidemic waves the treatment of this area, how the insurance of the function occurred, in what changed, developed. In this determining element, it is, that the project to be examined with a how important classification in the given company's life, how much it felt lifted one in this situation. The other important part of the mentioned decision is that the resources insured till then, let it be the material, technical or human condition, onto acting in the future you are for a chin neither, you are in a measure reduced possibly, ergo this may mean the change of the tasks, adjourning the fulfillment of the given milestones. The epidemic took shape on the hook of his treatment The validation of various safety regulations poses a serious task to the companies, which one not only the protection of the human resources but reports the information safety. To this suitable and onto enough informatics toolbars and it operator onto staff they need, for who a heavier task waits likewise, some, that characteristically on the same one combination and size apparatus makes it the informatics systems attached to the company's daily, normal function, the operating of equipment. Additional strategic questions arise besides this with the company's function relatedly, which influence they have onto the fate of projects, the change of their content and their hierarchy. The characteristically portfolio management in a system treated, there are project tasks to be realized under realization in slipping on first stairs developed based on the justification already. The safe working and the IT because of the bars of supporting systems, they go through a natural deceleration, since the project staff himself amounts to the epidemic provided it to dangers. The summary can be related, that where the character of the organizational culture or the tasks demanded a more informatics base early already, those administrative project devices, the systems, clouds support the execution, well in the future there, mainly if the so-far site is not attached to by the character of realization inevitably. Where and in as much the on-line space not anymore enough, the corporate classification will decide it there because the personal presence, supervision or environment are necessary, that from the disadvantage following from this, what allows the the project task and where that border, where the fulfilment of this gets into fundamental.

Engaging Informal Private Health Care Providers for TB Case Detection: Experiences from RIPEND Project in India

Background. Informal (unqualified) health care providers are an important source of medical care for persons with presumptive TB (PPTB) in India. A project (titled RIPEND) was implemented to engage informal providers for the identification of PPTBs and TB patients in 4 districts of Telangana State, India, during October 2018-December 2019 project period. Engagement involved sensitizing the informal providers about TB, providing them financial incentives to identify PPTBs, and linking these PPTBs to diagnostic and treatment services provided by the Government of India’s National TB Elimination Programme. Objectives. To describe (a) the characteristics of the informal providers, along with their self-reported practices on TB diagnosis, treatment, and challenges encountered by the RIPEND project staff in engaging them in the project and (b) the outputs and outcomes of this engagement. Methods. We used a combination of one-on-one interviews with informal providers, group interviews with RIPEND project staff, and secondary analysis of data available within the project’s recording and reporting systems. Results. A total of 555 informal providers were actively engaged under the project. The majority (87%) had a nonmedicine-related graduate degree and had been providing medical care for more than 10 years. Most (95%) were aware that a cough for 2 weeks or more is a symptom of pulmonary TB and that such patients should be referred for sputum-smear microscopy at a government health facility. Challenges in engaging the informal providers included motivating them to participate in the study, suboptimal mobile usage for referral services, and delays in providing financial incentives to them for referring PPTBs. During the project period (October 2018-December 2019), 8342 PPTBs were identified of which 1003 TB patients were detected and linked to TB treatment services. Conclusion. This project showed that engaging informal providers is feasible and that a large number of PPTB and TB patients can be identified through this effort. The Government of India should consider engaging informal providers for the early diagnosis of TB to reduce the missing TB cases in the country.