Evaluation capacity building (ECB) has become a hot topic of conversation, activity, and study within the evaluation field. Seeking to enhance stakeholders' understanding of evaluation concepts and practices, and in an effort to create evaluation cultures, organizations have been implementing a variety of strategies to help their members learn from and about evaluation. Though there is a great deal of ECB occurring in a wide range of organizations, there is no overarching conceptual model that describes how ECB should be designed and implemented to maximize its success. If ECB is about learning how to think evaluatively and how to engage in sound evaluation practice, then something is missing in our work. The purpose of this article is to describe a model of ECB that may be used for designing and implementing capacity building activities and processes as well as for conducting empirical research on this topic.

Appreciative inquiry is an approach to seeking what is right in an organization in order toAppreciative Inquiry is a relatively new asset-based approach from the field of organizational development that has been garnering attention for its successful application in facilitating organizational change. Appreciative Inquiry is a process that inquires into, identifies, and further develops the best of what is in organizations in order to create a better future. A fundamental premise is that "organizations move toward what they study" (Cooperrider, Whitney, and Stavros, 2003, p. 29).A wide range of approaches, including Total Quality Management, Continuous Quality Improvement, the Balanced Score Card, Future Search, Open Space, and Appreciative Inquiry, have led change management efforts. The strategies outlined in these approaches vary; they include, among others, using measurement and evidence-based decisions for quality improvement, employing mediation and negotiation for the discovery of common ground, and following processes that aim to build organizational assets. While organizational development methods differ greatly depending on the purpose of the intervention and the organization's population and context, many approaches tend to focus on identifying specific problems, analyzing possible causes and solutions to these problems, and devising a plan to resolve or eliminate the problems.Appreciative Inquiry looks at organizational issues, challenges, and concerns in a significantly different way. Instead of focusing on problems, organizational members first discover what is working particularly well in their organization. Then, instead of analyzing possible causes and solutions, they envision what it might be like if "the best of what is" occurred more

No abstract

In this article we argue that evaluation is an event-driven and productoriented activity needs to be reconsidered and reconceptualized in light of continuous changes organizations are experiencing.We describe how evaluative inquiry for organizational learning offers organization members a way of integrating inquiry processes into their daily work practices, with the outcome being learning and improved personal and professional performance.We first define evaluative inquiry for organizational learning, then describe the four learning processes that undergird evaluative inquiry. From here we explain the three phases of evaluative inquiry for organizational learning and conclude with a discussion of issues evaluators and practitioners may face in implementing this approach. IntroductionThe amount of organizational change occurring today is unprecedented. The burgeoning literature on this subject that provides advice, empirical research, case studies, and evaluations argues that today's organizations: (1) are context bound and driven, (2) are made up of people who experience change differently, (3) have many cultures, (4) include formal and informal communication structures, and (5) are politically charged. Continuous organizational change is resulting in less organizational stability and a redefinition of who we are and what we do in the workplace. The traditional structures that have given us a feeling of solidity and predictability are vanishing. This shift has placed a greater emphasis on the need for fluid processes that can change as an organization and its members' needs change. Instead of the traditional rational, linear, hierarchical approach to managing jobs, which focused on breaking down job tasks, and isolating job functions, tomorrow's jobs will be built on establishing networks of relationships. Workers will require listening, communicating, and group facilitation skills to get the work Evaluation

No abstract