Volume 5, Issue 2, 2000
Table of Contents

Economic Development

Viewing the Rold of Colleges in Community Economic Development through the Results-Based Management Lens

By Hussein M. Amery
Manager of Development
ACCC Secretariat

A result may be defined as a measurable and/or qualitative, describable change in condition that stems from the cause and effect relationship.¹ 

Whether they boast an agrarian, command or capitalist market economy, nations have always viewed economic development as a major societal and state objective since the industrial revolution. Moving beyond the various theories and objectives of macro economic development, many states would agree that Community Economic Development (CED) is a smaller-scale, focused and decentralized approach to improving the economic well-being of the many. CED empowers communities and groups by placing the keys to the means of production in their hands, and by providing them with financing, advice and training.

Through their work with local communities across Canada and internationally, Canadian colleges and institutes have been at the forefront of community economic development. As agents of change, these institutions provide the human resources - the "fuel" - for the small businesses and the industrial locomotives that empower people, sustain communities and drive economies.

When designing CED initiatives involving the development of business incubators, entrepreneurship training programs, certification or any other type of human resource development activity, colleges and institutes take great care to identify the exact inputs needed to initiate a positive result by the target groups on local economic development.

But how can they determine if that result will last? While economic data can provide some of the qualitative indicators necessary to measure the results and achievements of a CED initiative at various stages, it is harder to determine what the broader, higher-level, longer-term impact or consequence of the initiative will be on the community.

Management by results can assist project planners in identifying the expected impact of a CED initiative by establishing the measurement tools that causally link and adjust a specific project to a wider set of social and economic development strategies.

The results-based management (RBM) approach is based upon three pillars: performance-based planning, management and evaluation. All three pillars must be included to effectively implement this approach using what is commonly referred to as an iterative process. In practical terms, this means that plans must be based on established and reachable targets; manageable in an efficient and effective way; and, evaluated based on performance and adjusted accordingly.

RBM allows for causal linkages between outputs, shorter-term outcomes and long-term impacts as well as responsiveness and adjustment to internal and external factors thus ensuring performance and broad sustainability. Whether defined in educational, social, or economic terms, measurement indices or performance indicators are usually accompanied by risk assessments and assumptions, which correspond to prevailing circumstances or market conditions. In the human resource development or education sector, performance indicators are easily used to measure longer-term impacts on broader CED strategies. For example, a person’s acquired ability to learn and enhanced employability can be viewed as having a longer-term impact on, or contribution to, society because a skilled work force is one of the key inputs or resources required by that society for economic growth and development.

As such, the ability of colleges and institutes to ensure that CED initiatives are of immediate benefit yet sustainable and relevant to broader economic development goals is crucial in a world where economic paradigms are shifting and skills and knowledge are becoming the determinant of economic prosperity.

Not surprisingly, therefore, the demand for Canadian college and institute expertise overseas is often linked to their strength in CED and RBM. Even those institutions relatively inexperienced internationally are themselves

models of RBM and CED in action. For example, colleges and institutes provide the critical inputs (human resources) necessary for local economic development and embrace RBM in the form of Board Governance models and Industry-Institute Advisory Committees.

These governance models encapsulate social and economic representation of the local community while Board and Advisory Committee members work to improve the performance of their institutions by adjusting institutional targets and curricula following a review of institutional achievements, tracer studies and employability ratios of graduates. Further downstream in the cycle, they review the effectiveness of instructors and methodologies through student surveys, and improve upon them through a process of continuous learning – a form of iterative management. Finally, they measure the institution’s success through the community’s perception of relevancy and impact. Hence, by definition, colleges and institutes are managing in a results-based manner.

As these RBM-based institutions continue to produce the fuel for the engines of economic development and change in Canadian society, they are also sharing their experience in human resource development, as a fundamental contribution to economic growth and prosperity, with their international partners.

¹ CIDA, RBM Policy, 1996.