Some examples of recent assignments

My professional interests and activities can be described in two dimensions, the first dimesnion describes whether it is conducting evaluations, developing methods, or designing systems, and the second dimension whether it is research, training, or consultancy assignments. There is one example of a recent activity from each cell in the matrix.

1. Research on evaluation. Increasingly evaluations are conducted in multicultural environments. Cultures clash as evaluators from different professions and different nationalities meet to conduct a complex research task in a short time, and often under political pressure. This paper discusses cross-cultural management in the evaluation process and was presented at the EES conference in Seville 2002.
   
   
2. Training on evaluation. There are many manuals and handbooks on evaluation and during 2006 I add to the publications available with a book on the "art of evaluation" . The aim is to make visible and communicate tacit knowledge of the evaluation process. This is published in Swedish by Studentlitteratur.
   
   
3. Evaluation assignments. In 2004 I did an evaluation of a Sida funded project to promote the export of organic products from Tanzania and Uganda (together with Mikael Lundström). The evaluation is available as a pdf-file here.
   
   
4. Research on evaluation systems. My Ph.D. thesis was a comparative study of evaluation systems. I have continued that work and developed the hypotheses around systems design. In 2005 I presented a paper on comparative systems analysis at the Swedish Evaluation Society's conference in Stockholm. The draft paper is available in pdf-format here.
   
   
5. Training on evaluation systems. When organisations develop evaluation systems, they often need to develop a policy and to involve personnel in discussions around the function of evaluation. I have assisted organisations in policy development processes, in the past few years for example the Nordic Development Fund and the Olof Palme International Centre.
   
   
6. Assignments on evaluation systems. A Parliamentary Commission was set up to analyse how the Ministry of Defence governs the defence system, and I had an assignment from the commission to analyse the systems of evaluation - particulalrly evaluation of research and training in respect of the Military Academy.
   
   
7. Research on methods. Speaking of Parliamentary Commissions, the questions of quality - of evaluation and of similar products, has been part of Andante's work for long. Together with Marie Uhrwing, I developed a system to assess the quality of Parliamentary/public inquiries, and this was used to assess a random sample of reports from all Ministries. It was published in 2003, but regretably only in Swedish. The report can be downloaded here.
   
   
8. Training on methods.  Another aspect of methods concern the development of participation in evaluation. I wrote a paper on this for UNDP in 1990, and has since developed training cases on how to conduct participatory evaluation. One of these cases is published by UNDP in ”Who are the Question-Makers?”, a training manual accessible via: www.undp.org.
   
   
9. Assignments on methods. Since some years back, I have a framework agreement to assist the Swedish Agency for Strategic Environmental Research with methodological advice on impact evaluation. The agency commissions three to six evaluations of research programs every year, and they all get advice on methods of impact assessment.

In the long run, there should be an even balance between the activities in the cells above. In particular, there must be a balance between research and assignments. My research in Andante is financed internally, that is, through the surplus from consultancy and training assignments. Andante does not have to generate a profit, but the long-run survival of the firm depends on a mxiture of research and practical assignments.