Vitol-RSPN Promotion of Community Environment and Household Hygiene - Case Study Example

Client inserts his/her name Client inserts tutor’s name Name of Institution Course title Date of submission An analysis of a real project: Vitol-RSPN Promotion of Community Environment and Household Hygiene through Local Support Organizations Introduction to the project According to Pakistan’s Rural Support Programs Network (RSPN), deforestation has become one of the major environmental problems in Pakistan. Serious environmental degradation is exerting great pressure on human health through exposure to land and water pollution. RSPN noted with great concern that a district by the name Swabi of KPK was suffering from various diseases as a result of environmental degradation and with the help of Vitol Charitable Foundation therefore, initiated a project entitled Promotion of Community Environment and Household Hygiene through Local Support Organizations. The overall strategy of this project was to reach out to the local communities in Swabi district through the use of Local Support Organizations Network (LSON) with the main objective of enhancing their capacity for sustained behavior change in order to improve and protect the environment and other issues related to hygiene. The other objectives of this project included: Educate the local communities on the consequences of environmental degradation on their health in order to promote environmental friendly practices among them; promote the desired hygiene behaviors among the local communities in order to improve their health. An analysis of the stakeholders The table below contains a list of all the stakeholders involved in the project and their roles in the decision making process. Name of the stakeholder Role in decision making Rural Support Programs Network (RSPN), A major decision maker Vitol Charitable Foundation Played a significant role in all the decisions made Local Support Organizations Network (LSON) Assisted in making important decisions that affected the whole project The local community members Selected members were included in the decision-making process United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Involved in making decisions over the allocation and utilization of the funds used to implement the projects United States Agency for International Development (USAID) A decision maker in the utilization of all the resources throughout all the project phases Ministry of Food & Agriculture, Government of Pakistan Involved in making decisions pertaining, the Pakistan’s government support for the project Benazir Income Support Program, Government of Pakistan A decision maker in the funding and financial support for the project Implementation and management of the project The project mainly utilized the local communities in all its implementation operations. An Environmental management committee (EMC) composed of 30 members was formed in each village. Two members from each committee were selected and trained on environmental friendly practices. The two members were then required to conduct public campaigns in their respective villages to teach their society members and pass the knowledge and skills gained through the training. Each of the formed EMC was supposed to establish a solid collection point in two schools in each target village and motivate the students and teachers adopt environmental friendly activities by organizing a fun-environmental oriented event in the school. Each EMC was also supposed to organize a clean village campaign in their respective village in order to teach the other village members on the consequences of environmental degradation on their health. It was also the responsibility of every EMC to oversee the plantation of 3500 forest plans in their respective villages to replace the deforested area and maintain adequate biodiversity and provide preserve soil from erosion and at the same time prevent water pollution. The implementation of the project ran as planned mainly due to clear objectives that were set from the starting of the project. According to Bowen (2011.par1), clear objectives guide the management team and other team members to stick on the plan in order to reach the desired destination. It is clear that the project manager aimed at involving the local communities in almost all the phases of the project from planning, decision making, implementation and reviewing. When the local communities are actively involved in a project, they perceive the project as their own and hence put extra efforts in ensuring that the project becomes a success (Westerveld, 2003, p.412). It is also clear that RSPN had a budget that guided them on the sustainable use of the resources they had to successfully implement the project. A budget is important in implementation of any project since it ensures that the project runs effectively on the available resources (Patanakul & Milosevic, 2009.p218). Through careful planning, RSPN, who spear-headed this project analyzed all the risks associated with the project. According to Lam, Chan & Chan (2007, p.628), risk assessment is important for any project manager since it helps in identifying all the obstacles which can hinder successful implementation of the project and hence come up with strategies to overcome the obstacles. Through risk assessment, a project manager is able to estimate all the costs involved in overcoming the identified obstacles and this means that the project can not run out of funds/resources before its completion. Through careful planning, RSPN was able to outline and schedule all its major milestones. Scheduling milestones ensures that a project manager is able to assess whether the project’s objectives have been achieved during the specified period of time (Bryde, 2003, p.235). Planning of milestones enables a project manager to determine the time needed to accomplish each objective and hence avoid wastage of time and money. A critical analysis of the project outcomes As RSPN reports, the project was highly successful. Currently, Swabi district of KPK is one of the leading districts with vast lands cultivated with forests and other environmental-conserving crops. The district ranks among the best districts practicing environmental friendly practices and good Agricultural practices. By the end of the project, water-borne and other hygiene related diseases had dramatically decreased among the community members indicating that the community members had adopted the desired hygienic behaviors. Up to date, almost all the schools in Swabi district have solid waste collection points in their compounds, a strategy that has enabled the schools to maintain a clean and healthy environment for teachers, students and other non-teaching staff. The campaigns done by the established EMC’s in the communities were highly successful since the level of household hygiene has improved owing to the fact that members have become aware of the importance of observing hygiene and engaging in environmental friendly practices. There are various factors that made this project a success. First and foremost, RSPN, the project manager did careful planning before implementing the project. Careful planning before the implementation of a project ensures effective utilization of the available resources and time, identification of any risks associated with the project and proper budgeting for the whole project (Abdullah, Rahman & Harun, et al, 2010, p.4176). The other factor that contributed to the success of this project is effective stakeholder involvement. RSPN did not treat the project as its own. On the contrary, they involved all the stakeholders in the planning, implementation and analysis of the project. Through this way, all the stakeholders especially the local community members felt appreciated and hence perceived the project as their own. According to Bryde, (2003, p.238), when all the stakeholders are fully involved in the implementation of a project, they fully support it and give out their best to achieve the set project goals and objectives. It is also clear that RSPN valued effective communication with all its stakeholders throughout the project. All changes that were made while the project was ongoing were effectively communicated to all the stakeholders. It is through effective communication that all the stakeholders were able to be updated on the project’s progress, any challenges experienced and the achievements made in all the phases of the project. According to Bowen (2011, par.9), good communication is a vital element in the successful implementation of any project. Without effective communication, any conflicts or obstacles experienced as the project is on progress cannot be effectively resolved leading to project failure. Another factor that made this project a success is good resource utilization. From the project description, it is clear that RSPN focused on utilizing the local communities in implementing the project. Through this way, no money was wasted in hiring trained personnel. After the completion of the project, the trained community members remained in the local communities meaning that they saw to it that the community members continued practicing the desired environmental friendly and hygienic practices, hence making the impacts of the projects long term. Conclusion There are various good project practices, which have been clearly brought out in this particular project. From this project, it is clear that proper planning before implementing a project is highly important since it helps in effective resource utilization and identfication of any obstacles that might be encountered as the project is being implemented. Stakeholder involvement and effective communication are also good practices that contribute to the success of a project. In my future projects, I will involve all the stakeholders in the decision making process in order to make them feel appreciated and hence win their support and commitment in achieving the set project objectives. In my past projects, I have failed to win the support of all the people involved because I left them out especially in the decision making process. Instead of leaving them out, I will make sure that all the people involved in my future projects are kept abreast and everything that pertain the project is effectively communicated to them throughout the project cycle. Bibliography Abdullah, A. A. Rahman, H. A. Harun, Z. Alashwal A. M. & Beksin, A. M. (2010), “Literature mapping: A bird’s eye view on classification of factors influencing project success”, African Journal of Business Management, 4(19), pp. 4174-4182. Bowen R. (2011). The Top 10 Benefits of Planning in Project Management. Retrieved from: http://www.brighthubpm.com/methods-strategies/13852-the-top-ten- benefits-of-planning-in-project-management/ [Accessed on: 9th May 2013]. Bryde, D.J. (2003), “Modeling project management performance”, Int. J. Qual. Reliab. Manage, 20 (2), pp. 229-254. Lam, E. W. M. Chan, P. C. & Chan D. W. M. (2007), “Benchmarking the performance of the design-build projects: Development of project success index. Benchmarking”, An Int. J.,14 (5), pp. 624-638. Patanakul P. & Milosevic D. (2009), “The Effectiveness in Managing a group of Multiple Projects: Factors of influence and Measurement Criteria”, International Journal of Project Management, 27, pp. 216-233. Rural Support Program Network (RSPN). Vitol-RSPN Promotion of Community Environment and Household Hygiene through Local Support Organizations. Retrieved from: http://www.rspn.org/our_projects/promotion-of-community-environment.html[Accessed on: 9th May 2013]. Westerveld, E. (2003), “The Project Excellence Model: Linking success criteria and critical success factors”, Int. J. Project Manage, 21, pp. 411-418. Read More