INTRODUCTION TO
ADB’s
MANAGEMENT ACTION RECORD SYSTEM
(MARS)
and
LESSONS DATABASE
A Presentation by Jocelyn G. Tubadeza
for the African Development Bank Evaluation Week (3 December 2012)
AGENDA
1. What is MARS?
2. Implementation Arrangements
3. Some Features of the MARS
4. Lessons Database
5. A Short Live Demo
6. Questions and Answers
1. What is MARS?
 Computerized tracking system for actions
taken by Management in response to agreed
evaluation recommendations
 Can generate both qualitative and
quantitative reports
 Can be accessed thru intranet by ADB staff
and Board of Directors only
2. Implementation Arrangements
 IED uploads evaluation recommendations as
agreed in the Management response
 Management enters proposed action plans and
their completion target dates
 Management updates implementation progress of
action plan (twice a year)
 IED validates (annually) the actions taken by
Management and includes this validation in the
annual evaluation review submitted to
Management and the Board of Directors
3.
Some Features of the
MARS
Accessing the
Management Action Record System (MARS)
From the IED
database
navigation
page, users
who have
logged on to
the site can
access MARS
thru the
MARS link
Finding, updating and generating a
Management Action Record (MAR)
1. From the MARS
homepage, users can
retrieve a MAR by:
• Typing in the report
title
• Specifying a range of
dates
• Choosing from a list of
responsible
departments, report
types or countries
*Search parameters can
be combined to narrow
down search results
In this sample
retrieved MAR, note
Management’s selfassessment of the
implementation of
an action plan (due
Dec 2009) and the
corresponding
validation rating and
reason(s) by IED.
2. Designated
users can
update a
MAR. By
clicking on
any of the
“Edit” link, a
corresponding
edit box
appears.
3. Users can also
generate a MAR
by scrolling to
the bottom of
the page and
selecting
“Export to
Excel” or
“Export to
Word”.
Sample of generated MAR report in MS Excel format
Generating Statistics and Report
MARS features a report-generation facility that allows users to:
1.
Generate
relevant
statistics, i.e.,
progress and
distribution of
actions by due
or report date
or by
department
Generated statistics
By clicking the specific statistic, MARS can retrieve
the list of FAARs it contains
2. Sort the generated statistics or list of actions according to report date, title,
department or action target date by clicking the desired column header; or filter
them by report title or department using the filter box
3. Generate and print the list of actions per selected category. SELECT
entries first then SCROLL to bottom of page and SELECT ”Export
selected items to Excel or Word”
Sample of generated report in MS Word format
4. The Lessons Database

Listing of lesson statements culled from
various self and independent
evaluations including special and
knowledge studies

Lesson statements are tagged and can
be classified according to topics, project
cycle stage, sector, theme, country,
and report type
Accessing the lessons database
Accessing the lessons database (2)
Accessing the lessons database (3)
Accessing the lessons database (4)
Accessing the lessons database (5)
Accessing the lessons database (6)
Thank You!
evaluation@adb.org
www.adb.org/evaluation
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Now for a brief Demonstration
to be followed by a Q&A Session.