Capacity Development: Online Resources

Recommended Web-sites
Capacity Development Resource Centre World Bank Institute
The Capacity Development Resource Center includes various sub-pages that provide
information on different tools, instruments and methodologies.
Capacity Development - UNDP
This home page on capacity development provides access to recent UNDP work on
capacity assessment, including a practice note, a capacity assessment tool and a
users guide.
World Bank website on analytic toolkits for public sector institutions
The development of standard diagnostic tools for assessing institutional settings has
moved rapidly within the World Bank in recent years. Toolkits are standardised
approaches that: set out the principles which experience suggests should underpin
public sector governance arrangements; provide methods for assessing the degree
to which specific country arrangements are consistent with those principles, and
present those assessments in a format that readily contributes to the dialogue
between the government, donors, and civil society on reform priorities.
Tips and Tools
Europe Aid (2005) Institutional Assessment and Capacity Development
EuropeAid has developed an approach to capacity assessment that is presented in
this Reference Document. This offers detailed advice on the major analytical steps
to follow. This approach is shared by a number of other donors and is in line with
current thinking in this area.
UNDP (2006) Practice Note on Capacity Assessments
This UNDP Practice Note on Capacity Assessment explains the basics of capacity
assessments-concepts, entry points, and methodological issues. The Practice Note
includes a review of selected organisational assessment tools and develops a default
UNDP framework and tool to assess the enabling environment/national level
capacity.
Lusthaus, Adrian et al. (2002) Organisational Assessment, A Framework for
Improved Performance, IDB/IDRC paper.
This book puts forth a framework for analysing the strengths and weaknesses of an
organisation in relation to its performance. The text introduces a heuristic framework
that has guided IDRCs work for the past decade or so. In general, the framework
posits that organisational performance is a function of its enabling environment,
capacity and organisational motivation. It goes into a great deal of detail in trying to
capture the ideas and concepts that underpin each of the four broad organisational
ideas (performance, environment, capacity and motivation).

Lusthaus, C., Adrien, M-H., Anderson, G., Carden, F., (1999) Enhancing
Organisational Performance: A Toolbox for Self-Assessment, IDRC.
Organisations usually conduct self-assessments to better understand their own
performance and to address their strategic issues and thus, ultimately, to improve
their performance. Organisational self-assessment is often used as a diagnostic, or a
starting point, for organisations implementing an internal change or strategic
planning process, or both. It can also be used as a way to engage in dialogue with
other stakeholders, such as the Board of Directors or donor agencies. This guide and
the self-assessment process it presents can be used in a variety of ways. The main
objective is to provide users with a process for conducting an assessment, a
framework for assessing issues, and some tools and tips to help users as they
address an issue that their organisation is facing.
Handbook in Assessment of Institutional Sustainability NORAD
This Handbook identifies key dimensions of institutional sustainability. It also
suggests practical ways and means to assess such dimensions during all phases of
the project cycle. Its main purpose is: to strengthen awareness regarding the
importance of assessing institutional sustainability for every project supported; to
provide a more solid basis for decision-making in the initial phase of new projects; to
identify risks, opportunities, and scope for improvement for ongoing activities; and
to provide a basis for monitoring and reviews.
Organisational Capacity Assessment (OCA)
Pacts unique methodology for organisational capacity assessment and strengthening
(OCA) helps organisations anticipate and overcome the greatest barriers to
organisational change and growth. Through a guided self-assessment and planning
process, organisations reflect upon their performance, and select the tools and
strategies they need to build capacity and broaden impact.
Discussion-Oriented Organisational Self-Assessment (DOSA)
DOSA is a powerful change process that offers participating organisations concrete
assessment tools and change methods suited to organisational climate and culture.
The DOSA page is dedicated to helping PVOs and NGOs develop new methods to
identify organisational strengths and weaknesses, interpret highly valuable data
generated by the process and to translate findings into action plans for meaningful
change.
Overview of the 7S Model for Organisational Assessment
This webpage, which is part of the managing change website presents the 7S
Model for Organisational Assessment. It also provides a set of guideline questions
that can be used in working with the assessment instrument.
Impact Alliance resources page on organisational assessment
Organisational assessment is a critical activity for any organisation that seeks to
better understand its strengths and challenges and to continually increase its
effectiveness. There are a variety of approaches to assessment, ranging from highly
participatory self-assessment to independent assessments by an external
evaluator. This section of the Impact Alliance website on capacity development
provides a wide variety of methodologies and tools which will help readers to better
understand the theories that underlie organisational assessment as well as to
develop their own assessment tools and methodologies.

Gubbels, P. and C. Koss (2000). From the Roots Up: strengthening organisational
capacity through guided self-assessment. World Neighbours Field Guide 2 Capacity
Building. Oklahoma: World Neighbours.
In order to engage in an inter-institutional learning process, a team of World
Neighbours experienced field staff came together in 1995 to form the Action
Learning Group (ALG). One of its goals was to analyse, document and promote
effective strategies for strengthening the capacities of community-level organisations
and local institutions. Since its inception, the ALG has conceived, field-tested and
adapted participatory action learning methods to understand, assess and document
change in community and organisational capacity.
Manning, N. (2000). Administration and Civil Service Assessment Tool. Washington,
D.C.: World Bank
Learning from extensive work in assessing formal civil service arrangements in EU
accession, this toolkit assesses both formal and informal institutional arrangements
for public sector employment, including the impact of pay policy and the relations
between national and sub-national civil services. It examines the coherence and
compliance with formal rules in relation to civil service policy and strategy, legislation
and regulations, structure and career management, pay and employment, and
performance management.
The Drucker Foundation Self-Assessment Tool: Process Guide.
This Self-Assessment Tool from the Drucker Foundation provides a process for nonprofit organisations to clarify mission, define results, set goals, and develop a
focused plan. It includes an introduction to the content of the Tool, and detailed
information about using and learning about the Tool.
USAID (Centre for Development Information and Evaluation) (2000), Measuring
Institutional Capacity (TIPS 15)
This PME Tips gives USAID managers information on measuring institutional capacity
including some tools that measure the capacity of an entire organisation as well as
others that look at individual components or functions of an organisation. The
discussion concentrates on the internal capacities of individual organisations, rather
than on the entire institutional context in which organisations function.
A Composite Framework for Assessing the Capacity of Development Organisations
Numerous frameworks for describing or assessing the institutional capacity of
development organisations are in development and use. Fortunately there is a great
deal of similarity in these new frameworks, reflecting the fact that there is a welldeveloped emerging consensus on the attributes that make for effective and
sustainable institutions. Where frameworks differ is in emphasis, semantics, and in
the way certain attributes are defined or clustered.
DFID (N.D.) Promoting Institutional and Organisational Development A Source
Book of Tools and Techniques
This sourcebook outlines some of the key tools used by those involved in institutional
development. The manual focuses on those that are used or have been used in
DFIDs own institutional work. Most of the tools are either simple models or
checklists. They all have rigorous theoretical underpinnings and are based on
practical experience of what works.
DGIS/ECDPM: Institutional Development: Learning by Doing and Sharing

This booklet presents a number of experiences, practices and tools used in ID. The
value of the tools lie not so much in their nature as in the way they are used. In
other words, the key point is the attitude of the facilitator or consultant concerned.
Whilst tools may play a role as incentives for further thinking, or in helping to
analyse material, they can never replace a good facilitator. This booklet seeks to give
credit to the need for taking the right attitude to facilitation and process
management. Each section ends with a number of references to material that
readers can use for further reflection.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Yemile Mizrahi (2004) Capacity Enhancement Indicators WBI Working Papers
The review aims to identify operational indicators and measure capacity
programmes.
Capacity.Org (2006) Monitoring and Evaluation. Issue 29
This issue of Capacity.Org offers an overview of the different methods and
techniques that add new dimensions to results-based monitoring and evaluation.
Outcome Mapping home page
IDRCs home page on the Outcome Mapping methodology.
Most Significant Change Technique A guide to its use
The most significant change (MSC) technique is a form of participatory monitoring
and evaluation. It is participatory because many project stakeholders are involved
both in deciding the sorts of change to be recorded and in analysing the data. It is a
form of monitoring because it occurs throughout the program cycle and provides
information to help people manage the program. It contributes to evaluation because
it provides data on impact and outcomes that can be used to help assess the
performance of the program as a whole.
Watson, D (2006) Monitoring & Evaluation of Capacity and Capacity Development,
ECDPM Discussion paper No. 58B
This literature represents the perspective of researchers who have surveyed the
scene, and practitioners (development institutions or academics) who have invested
in capacity development and have reflected on their experiences. It also synthesises
important contributions from systems-thinking champions, pertinent to monitoring
and evaluation of capacity and capacity development, and reviews some
contributions from recently launched innovative approaches to monitoring and
evaluating capacity and capacity development.