Evaluation culture: A definition and analysis of its development within organisations

Abstract

Discussions about decision-making and the kinds of knowledge that could and should be used for this purpose within the workplace have become prominent in current organisational literature. These issues are high on the agenda of the business community, and among not-for-profit agencies.Research and observation suggests that a good deal of organisational decision-making has, in the past, been based on the judgements of authority figures. It was long assumed that senior managers had the sole right to make decisions, relying on a combination of experience, political know-how and the advice of trusted others in making choices about the present and future of the agencies for which they were responsible. This situation is changing. Most organisations recognise that important executive-level decisions should involve others besides senior managers, and I have previously argued that evaluators should work cooperatively in providing 'just in time' information for leaders (Owen & Lambert 1998). This implies that evidence and empirically based knowledge has the capacity to enhance decision-making and the effectiveness of organisations, for example by making managers and other practitioners more aware of the context in which they operate, understanding the needs of their clients, determining the effects of major initiatives, and being accountable to funding sources.

A Research Synthesis of the Evaluation Capacity Building Literature

“…This working definition was used to identify the types of cases to include in the synthesis. In order to determine what information would be systematically extracted from the cases, we developed an Integrative ECB Model (Figure 1) based on existing ECB frameworks and a review of both the theoretical and empirical ECB literature (Baizerman, Compton, & Stockdill, 2002b; Cousins et al, 2004; Duffy & Wandersman, 2007; Milstein & Cotton, 2000; Owen, 2003; Preskill & Boyle, 2008; Suarez-Balcazar et al, 2010). In particular, we used Preskill and Boyle’s (2008) Multidisciplinary Model of ECB .…”

“…The existing characteristics of an organization have also been hypothesized to affect the type of strategies utilized and their efficacy. Some of these specific factors noted in the literature include attitudes toward evaluation, availability of resources for ECB (staff, time, and financial), internal evaluation expertise, and organizational practices and capacities such as support for evaluation and ECB from leadership, from the organizational culture, and through mainstreaming or making evaluation a routine part of the organization (Milstein & Cotton, 2000; Owen, 2003; Preskill & Boyle, 2008; Suarez-Balcazar et al, 2010). These factors have been hypothesized to affect organizational learning and the extent to which the outcomes of ECB will become sustainable (Preskill & Boyle, 2008).…”

“…Both individual and organizational outcomes of ECB have been hypothesized. Individual-level outcomes include improved attitudes, knowledge, and skills as evidenced in behaviors such as engaging in various evaluation activities (Duffy & Wandersman, 2007; Owen, 2003; Preskill & Boyle, 2008; Suarez-Balcazar et al, 2010). Preskill and Boyle hypothesize that individual learning is affected by the organizational context and Taylor-Ritzler, Suarez-Balcazar, and Garcia-Iriarte (2010) found that supportive organizational characteristics were necessary for individual learning and behavior change.…”

“…Leadership is included because of its well-established importance for organizational change (Kotter, 1996; Milstein & Cotton, 2000). Organizational culture is the collective values, attitudes, goals, and practices that can support or hinder organizational change and is considered an essential outcome or indicator of successful ECB (Boyle, 1999; Cousins et al, 2004; GAO, 2003; Owen, 2003; Preskill & Torres, 1999; Suarez-Balcazar et al, 2010). We selected indicators of organizational culture that have been identified as conducive for ECB such as being committed to learning and using data (Preskill & Torres, 1999; Robinson & Cousins, 2004).…”

Evaluation involvement of local HIV/AIDS non-governmental organisations in Benin

“…[authors' translation] The paradigm here is that of an evaluation culture defined by Owen and McDonald (1999), quoted by Owen (2003), as a commitment to the role of evaluation in decision-making in the organisation. Adopting a culture that recognises these results provides opportunities for significant use of the results of systematic inquiry, for internal learning, and for improving organisational efficiency.…”