What challenges does policy reform present to developing countries? To what degree can the Policy Implementation Task Framework and the Strategic Management Model ease this process? This chapter from ‘Managing Policy Reform’ examines the challenges related to policy reform and suggests how these two complementary approaches can assist policy managers in overcoming them.
A number of policy reform characteristics can be identified in developing countries: (i) the impetus for change often comes from outside the government (ii) policy reforms are very political but those formulating the change tend to be technocrats, who are distanced from the political process (iii) the resources required for policy change are often unavailable (iv) reform requires organisations to adapt and modify.
Policy implementation can be seen as a set of tasks, which includes:
- Policy legitimisation: The policy must be presented as necessary.
- Constituency building: Groups or organisations supporting the reform must market and promote it.
- Resource accumulation: Human, technical, material and financial resources are need for policy change. A lack of appropriate resources makes implementing policy extremely difficult.
- Organisational design and modification: policy reform requires institutions to take on new tasks and objectives. This can be highly problematic. New organisations are often created as an alternative to modifying existing ones.
- Mobilising resources and actions: To be successful the policy needs to move beyond reform into action; this stage often creates resistance and conflict.
- Monitoring progress: Many reforms take place over the long term, it is therefore important to monitor progress against specific indicators.
Policy implementation extends beyond a single political cycle. This can make it difficult to keep momentum behind reform. The Implementation Task Framework and the Strategic Management Model provide policy managers with tools to overcome some of the challenges related to implementing reform.
The Implementation Task Framework:
- Helps assess where policy implementation stands at a particular point in time and therefore the next steps required.
- Identifies potential or existing problems and helps map out strategies for implementation, indicating a timescale for actions.
- Helps avoid incorrect assumptions about the capacity or suitability of particular organisations to carry out the reform. Additionally, it can aid policy managers in the development of realistic indicators for monitoring.
The Strategic Management Model:
- Helps policy managers and organisations capture evidence of change, examining how well they are coping with changes and identifying next steps.
- Recognises the need to be open to changing goals and activities, responding to shifting political, economic and social circumstances.
- Is more than a set of tools and can be best described as a mindset relying on intuition, inspiration and problem solving. It encourages a strategic mentality towards responsibilities and actions.
