Towards a common vocabulary for identifying management issues in health projects

Management issues are one of the most important constraints in achieving social sector development objectives. The practice of labeling a variety of operational weaknesses as management problems hinders diagnostic power and, hence induces a low probability of removing or reducing management constraints. Moreover terms related to management are used differently. The set of terms presented here disaggregates the concept of management into nine discrete measurable management tasks: planning systems, beneficiary analysis, provision of goods and services, procurement and logistics of materials, financing and budgeting, organizational design, personnel, leadership, and control systems. The nine functional management areas are applied to three stages of a project cycle, viz. sector analysis/project identification, project design/project appraisal, and project implementation/project supervision. The set of terms proposed is seen as a first step towards developing a common vocabulary for identifying management issues in health projects.