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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Leo Ryan, MA, Demographic and Health Research Division, ORC Macro, Vice President, 11785 Beltsville Drive, Calverton, MD 20705, (301) 572-0219, ryan@macroint.com
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Participants will be able to describe: (1) The benefits of self-assessment vs. externally driven assessment for effecting organizational change. (2) Strategies for controlling for bias in the context of a self-assessment approach. (3) Applications of self-assessment approaches in international development projects targeted to improve child health.
METHODS: USAID’s Child Survival Grants Program presently funds over 70 grants operating in 30 countries around the world, targeting the most difficult to reach populations. A qualitative analysis of trends in evaluation approaches among active grants demonstrates increased attention to self-assessment techniques as tools for organizational development and project evaluation.
RESULTS: Self—Assessment techniques have been shown to:
1. Be effective at improving intra-organizational communication 2. Increase a sense of ownership on the part of key stakeholders 3. Provide a safe environment for examining complex organizational issues.
CONCLUSIONS: Organizational change and management development are complex processes that require organizations and managers to be reflective in their thinking. Self-assessment techniques show promise as tools for facilitating reflective processes that assist both individuals and organizations to gain unique insights into management issues. Potential bias in self-assessment methodologies is counter-balanced by the sense of participant ownership that is necessary before any organizational or management change is to occur.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Organizational Change, Networking
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.