A STUDY OF THE FACTORS IMPACTING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RESULTS BASED MANAGEMENT (RBM) IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE IN ZIMBABWE

A STUDY OF THE FACTORS IMPACTING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RESULTS BASED MANAGEMENT (RBM) IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE IN ZIMBABWE

RUDO GRACE GWATA

This study determined that the availability of capacity to implement Results Based Management
(RBM) is a major determinant of the success or failure of the strategy. The purpose of the study was
to investigate the main factors that impacted on the implementation of the RBM strategy in the
Zimbabwe Public Service. Over the past three decades, the principle of RBM has been adopted by
many Governments and public organizations worldwide to improve the implementation of national
programmes. In Zimbabwe, the strategy was introduced in 2005 with the expectation that there
would be improvement in the Public Service delivery and subsequently the lives of all stakeholders
within the delivery system. However, the results, like in many other countries, had not been realized
as expected. The study sought to understand the factors that affected the implementation of the
strategy from the perspective of individual managers in the Zimbabwe Public Service, to determine
whether or not the implementation process could help to explain the limited impact of the strategy.
Limited research had been done to explore the experiences of individuals in the implementation of
Public sector reforms. Understanding the experiences of Civil Servants regarding RBM could help to
identify strategies to improve implementation and hence increased impact of the management
strategy. Such understanding can also provide insight into the formulation of future initiatives for the
implementation of other national programmes. It is expected that this study will contribute towards
providing the Zimbabwe Public Service, and possibly other organizations, with suggestions on how
they can improve their service to stakeholders. The study used both secondary and primary data. The
secondary data was obtained through extensive study of relevant literature while the primary data
was obtained from an exploratory study that comprised purposive and snowball sampling of middle
and top managers from Head Offices of government institutions. Semi-structured open ended
questions were asked to 32 managers to explore their experiences and challenges in the
implementation of RBM. Content analysis of the original transcripts was employed to identify
emergent themes. A number of key findings emerged from this study including the inadequacy of skills, information, attitude as well as financial resources to effectively implement RBM. In the case
of financial resources, the inadequacy was reportedly in terms of both timing and quantity. Also,
there was inadequate performance by managers in both the planning and performance measurement
functions which are the core components of RBM. The main conclusion drawn from this research is
that managers, particularly those within the line Ministries, were implementing the strategy without
the requisite capacity to allow for the realization of the benefits of RBM. This study argues for a
results based capacity building model to effectively equip managers with the required capacity. That
is, a model that focuses on results emphasizes full participation of stakeholders in the identification
of knowledge needs, formulation of strategies, monitoring and evaluation of these strategies. Such
monitoring and evaluation includes the review and adjustment of the related systems as well as the
incorporation of learning and information sharing throughout the process.

Zimbabwe

2013