Dimensions of Impact Assessments - Essay Example

Dimensions of impact assessments Introduction Impact assessment concerns measuring effectiveness of operations of a firm and observing the significance of the changes caused by the activities adopted. Ideally, the impact assessment is linked to the organization mission and vision given the optimization of key values. Socio-economic or political dimensions This is a critical dimension when conducting impact assessment. Social Impact takes a refreshing approach to investigating impact and knowledge sharing. Moving away from closed, single organization evaluation models, the approach encourages organizations working toward the same or similar goals to look at impact on a field, issue or sector wide basis. Most importantly, the approach dispels the superhero model of social change, whereby a single actor is charged with (potentially) creating a monumental new advance that will massively disrupt the landscape (Benson, 2003).  On the other hand, Economic impact assessments (EIA) are used to estimate the cumulative economic effects (sales, exports and employment etc) associated with a specific project or sector of the economy. Such studies are helpful in understanding the potential benefits of different types of growth on the sector in question. It can also help gain support for proposed development of the sector and the adoption of specific polices or action plans that present the most benefits to the development of the sector. EIAs may help target specific sectors to increase economic activity within a region or even to justify certain programs. Individual, collective dimension The segment seeks to evaluate information and analysis its impact on a project. The recent ability to harvest and aggregate large amounts of data online appears to be one drivers of the collective impact model as the entire projects center around online platforms. These kinds of online data sharing platforms were not feasible 10 years ago. Short term If an organization desires to focus on short terms goals when conducting impact assessment, then it is expected to focus on maintaining a balanced sustainable framework. Along with the rapid economic development, countries worldwide are experiencing severe environmental degradation and intense social problems. This has made it imperative that government and business take sustainability issues more seriously the approaches as per literature uses the classification of the drivers of the targets. To sustain a given project stakeholder theory or institutional theory can be pursued. Ideally, the targets will be observed the RBV (Resource-based View) and NRBV (Natural Resource-based View). In other words, these theories shed light on the external drivers of firms’ sustainability strategies. The second stream of sustainability theories, including the Resource-based View (RBV), the Natural Resource-based View (NRBV), and the Dynamic Capabilities View (DCV), are mainly used to explain the internal motivation of firms’ movement towards sustainability (Van Herwijnen & De Ridder,  n.d.). Firms easily embrace and adopt some of the practices because the positive effects of these practices can be realized in shorter periods of time compared with other sustainability practices. This is not surprising as the primary objective of businesses is profit maximization for shareholders and short-term profitability is a dominant element of short-term sustainability The impact assessment Management mainly focuses on the impact of environmental and social sustainability on economic or overall sustainability, and the findings are mostly consistent. In general, sustainability practices have been found to be positively related with sustainability performance with different levels of strength and time required (Benson, 2003). Broader geographic assessment Impact assessment observing geographic assessment considers the environmental impact assessment. EIA is a procedure used to examine the environmental consequences or impacts, both beneficial and adverse, of a proposed development project and to ensure that these effects are taken into account in project design. The EIA is therefore based on predictions. These impacts can include all relevant aspects of the natural, social, economic and human environment. The study, therefore, requires a multidisciplinary approach and should be done very early at the feasibility stage of a project (Van Herwijnen & De Ridder,  n.d.). In other words, a project should be assessed for its environmental feasibility. EIA should therefore be viewed as an integral part of the project planning process. Unlike the environmental audit (EA), which is conducted on existing projects, the EIA is applied to new projects and the expansion aspects of existing projects. Unintended The unintended dimensions refers to the actions done on a project or taken by the organizational assessing a project. Often they are beneficial as they help handle arising issues; for example, a project may want to evaluate the progress of the project in terms of resources allocation. Beyond the official definitions used by development agencies, it is also important to consider how the term impact is used in practice by different stakeholders. Development practitioners may interpret medium-term outcomes, long-term outcomes and impact in quite different ways. Additionally, Emergent program goals, for example, during implementation the program note the importance of increasing the diversification of products; income sources, and adds this as a goal (Benson, 2003). Tools for impact assessment Questionnaires Questioners aid in obeying feedback from stakeholders and clients. This way, the assessment of the project will be qualitative following the diverse feedback received form the respondents. Additionally, information collected can be referred to in future by the management. To collect data that: 1. Accurately reflects the reality of the population 2. Is representative of the entire target population? 3. Allows policy makers and analysts to make real-time, informed decisions The measure is needed to control sampling and non-sampling error. Rapid appraisal Rapid appraisal is an approach for developing a preliminary, qualitative understanding of a situation. The basic concepts and their related research techniques provide a flexible but rigorous approach for data collection and analysis by a team of two or more individuals, usually with different academic discipline backgrounds (Van Herwijnen & De Ridder,  n.d.).  Surveys A survey offers a unique glimpse into the attitudes, perception, beliefs, and knowledge of local communities, the voices of whom would otherwise remain silent in desk-based research or research with a select number of individuals representing the entire community, for example, focus-groups, key-informant interviews. The survey should also be conducting by following ethical elements. This includes  Ethics Review Team/Locally Informed Advisors  Contact with local community  Voluntariness, Confidentiality, Anonymity  Informed Consent Participatory Participatory is an effective tool in assessment. It considers a given group participation is evaluated to achieve better results. The participation of all members is considered crucial as data collected will be useful in decision making. The tool ensure decisions made by respondents and their respective community leaders must be autonomous and voluntary whereby no external influence mediated or coerced their decision in any way. References Benson, J. F. (2003). What is the alternative? Impact assessment tools and sustainable planning. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 21(4), 261-280. doi:10.3152/147154603781766185 Van Herwijnen, M., & De Ridder, W. (n.d.). The Selection of Suitable Tools for Sustainability Impact Assessment. Impact Assessment and Sustainable Development. doi:10.4337/9781847205407.00018 Read More