Performance measurement of the IAEA technical cooperation programme

Abstract

"Placing its focus on the importance that quality and performance measurement have for modern organizations, and on how effective practices in this field contribute to organizational success, this thesis attempts to review both theoretical and empirical material on the subject of performance measurement in order to find elements and ideas that could assist the ongoing effort to enhance the performance measurement of the technical cooperation (TC) programme that is undertaken in the TC Department of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Because quality is essential to the TC programme, effective performance measurement of its quality is indispensable in order to achieve efficient project implementation and effective delivery of the TC programme. The aim of this thesis is to study and analyze the existing systems and practices of performance measurement in the IAEA TC programme, and, based on that, to come up with a proposal for a conceptual framework to innovatively improve the performance measurement of the TC programme, and to lay out the foundation for future improvements. The qualitative research methods used in this thesis include investigation through the use of observation, conversations with people involved in the process, two rounds of individual interviews, and document analysis. The thesis begins with a literature review of relevant theoretical material. Subsequently, the current status and practices of performance measurement of the IAEA TC programme are investigated and analyzed, the challenges it faces are highlighted, and various issues and room for improvement are identified. The author then proposes an extended Balanced Scorecard (BSC) framework which extends BSC with the stakeholder contribution facet from the Performance Prism framework. The author demonstrates how it could be implemented in the TC environment through some examples in a step-by-step approach. Readiness assessment of this framework was carried out through interviews with some TC staff in the Secretariat, with a very positive response."