Richard C. Sonnichsen - Böcker

"The book gives a solid overview of the theory and practice of internal evaluation by one of its leading practitioners. For readers new to internal evaluation, the book clearly explains the major pros and cons of internal evaluation, how evaluation fits within the organizational context, and guidance about the development and management of the internal evaluation function."

--Arnold Love, private consultant and author of Internal Evaluation

"This book was written by an evaluator who has given deep thought to what it means to work as an internal evaluator. The author combines his long experience and deep knowledge of the literature in a manner that gives people the insight needed to ply the evaluation trade effectively as in-house staff in large bureaucratic organizations."

--Jonathan A. Morell, Industrial Technology Institute

This book shows students and professional evaluators how to effectively use the tools of internal evaluation to determine a business or program's effectiveness, efficiency, economy, and performance. Beginning with a description of the organizational context within which internal evaluation is practiced, the book covers such topics as:

- Pre conditions for high impact evaluation

- The value and nature of acquisition of information in organizations and how it is affected by culture, individuals and the decision-making process

- The phenomenon of change in organizations from how it affects behavior as well as ways to overcome resistance to change

- The staffing and structure of internal evaluation offices

- The consulting role that evaluators play in organizations

- The keys to successful internal evaluation practice

- How to have high impact evaluations that are utilized

- The art of reporting results in a manner that will influence and improve the organization.

There is continual concern about the ability of governments to perform the duties and responsibilities that their citizens have come to expect from them. Many citizens view government as inept, arthritic, and dedicated to the preservation of the bureaucratic status quo. As we close the twentieth century, the challenge for democratic governments is to become adaptive, flexible, innovative, and creative. In short, they need to become learning organizations. This book explores what it will take for governments to break out of their traditional ways of approaching problems and leam new approaches to finding solutions.Can Governments Learn? examines organizational learning in the public sector. It seeks to understand what role policy and program evaluation information can play in helping governments to learn. Among the democratic societies that are studied are Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States. Their governmental systems have produced and learned from evaluation information in quite different ways. Significantly, the studies documented here show that the concept of organizational learning has vitality and applicability cross-nationally.Can Governments Learn ? evaluates preconditions for governmental learning as well as the institutional and human resource factors that contribute to the process. This is the third volume in the comparative policy analysis series. It is essential for policymakers, government officials, and scholars interested in improving the performance of governments.