United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in Malawi
Operations Management Team (OMT)
February 2012
Implementation Roadmap
for Business Operations Strategy (BoS)
Activity Name: Business Operations Strategy (BoS) implementation in Malawi Duration: February 2013 – July 2013 (6
months)
Drafted by: Mr. Ekari Chauluka (ekari.chauluka@one.un.org), Coordination Analyst (YP) UN Resident Coordinator’s Office
1. Background
UN General Assembly and Economic and Social Council resolutions have repeatedly called for the UN system to harmonize
business operations, with the aim of reducing operational transaction costs and duplication of the operational support to
programme delivery. For this purpose, the UN Development Group (UNDG)High Level Committee on Management (HLCM)
was mandated to work with UNCTs to improve programme and business operations. In this context, the SecretaryGeneral, through a study involving experts at the country level, unveiled the need for results-based planning and
monitoring activities to strengthen strategic thinking and prioritization of harmonization efforts with a focus on the
highest value added. The Business Operations Strategy (BoS) was created in 2012 as the UNDG response to these needs
and requests.
In Malawi, UN agencies are continuously striving to have a results-based, easy-to-use, measurable and strategic
framework to guide operational activities and harmonization efforts led by the Operations Management Team (OMT), a
platform of the UNCT that brings together operations staff members of 16 UN bodies, programmes, agencies and funds.
BoS is a voluntary framework focusing on joint business operations, allowing UNCTs to take a strategic and resultsoriented approach to planning, management and implementation of harmonized business operations in a country. BoS is a
flexible and strategic tool, allowing for UNCTs to focus on contextual and specific programmatic needs, while providing an
easy-to-use monitoring, evaluation and reporting system to manage joint operations. In this sense, BoS should provide
operations staff of UN agencies with the same strategic planning and monitoring focus that is offered for programme
activities through the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF).
As BoS is a part of the UNDG framework focused on enhancing functioning of the UN system at the country level, it is an
essential tool to strengthen the linkages between business operations and programme delivery, particularly for a
Delivering as One (DaO) country such as Malawi. The Operations Management Team (OMT) in Malawi will take the lead on
behalf of the UNCT to draft, implement, monitor and evaluate the BoS in collaboration with the UNDG.
What is BoS?
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BoS is a voluntary instrument, which can be used in full or in parts, allowing for better linkages with UNDAF,
BoS only covers joint business operations initiatives,
BoS provides strategic and medium-term (UNDAF cycle) focus and prioritization based on quantitative and
qualitative cost and benefit analysis,
BoS provides the framework for monitoring and reporting on progress and results of business operations,
BoS provides the framework for resource management and mobilization at country level.
Why BoS?
The Business Operations Strategy supports the development of harmonised business operations, andachievement of the
following results:
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Enhanced linkages between programmes and operations: By analyzing the programme strategy through an
operational lens and identifying the operations activities required to deliver the programmatic support, the
linkages between programme and operations are established. As both UNDAF and BoS are on the same cycle, it
enhances the linkages between UNDAF and UN operations support.
Reduced costs: BoS provides a strategic focus on operational support services and initiatives aimed at
harmonizing and/or simplifying business operations. It allows for multi-year planning of operations and facilitates
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strategic planning of the operational effort. It also facilitates monitoring and evaluation of operational efforts at
the country level. It focuses on reduced lead times to execute processes through streamlining operational
process, and reduced direct monetary costsby leveraging system-wide volumes to bargain when procuring goods
and services. Harmonized work processes, elimination of the duplication of business initiatives, and reduced
transactions costs for the UN and its partners are some of the few benefits of BoS implementation.
Enhanced quality: By jointly procuring services in larger volumes, the UN increases its bargaining power with
service providers and enhances its ability to monitor and evaluate overall quality of service delivery.
Enhanced operational focus and prioritization: Instruments like cost benefit analysis, transaction cost analysis and
business process analysis provide light, easy-to-use tools to identify and prioritize high impact harmonization
initiatives, and facilitate monitoring and evaluation of harmonization initiatives against pre-established baselines.
What is included in BoS?
The Business Operations Strategy has three components:
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Business Operations Results Framework, reflecting medium-term outcomes and outputs in line with the UNDAF
cycle,
Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, reflecting outcome and output level indicators, allowing for monitoring
and evaluation of the impact of business operations,
Management Arrangements of UN Business Operations, outlining the way the UN organizes itself in order to
deliver cost effective operational support that meets programme requirements.
The following graph provides an overview of BoS processes.
A typical BoS includes the following chapters:
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Chapter 1: Introduction: Sets the context of BoS.
Chapter 2: Operations Analysis: Defines the results
focus and prioritizes the results areas according to the
outcome of costs and benefit analysis for each
suggested business solution.
o Includes Baseline Analysis, Needs Analysis,
Requirements Analysis, Cost Benefit Analysis,
Prioritization.
Chapter 3: Business Operations Results Framework
(with narratives): Translates the business solutions to
specific result statements (outcomes, outputs) and adds
a short narrative for each results area. It also suggests a
required budget per outcome/output.
Chapter 4: Business Operations Monitoring, Evaluation
and reporting: Defines outcome and output level
indicators, targets and baselines.
Chapter 5: Business Operations Governance Mechanisms: Describes the existing decision making and reporting
relationships under the BoS. From the UNCT to the OMT to the Functional or Technical Working Groups. It also
includes the Performance Appraisal system that captures the contribution of all staff members involved.
Chapter 6: Business Operations Budgetary Framework: Describes the resource requirements, including a
resource map of existing resources, the resource gap and a resource mobilization strategy.
Chapter 7: Operationalizing the Business Operations Strategy: Outlines the implementation of BoS through work
planning, including the concepts of integrated (OMT) work plan and the use of the standardized MoU for
Common Services.
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BoS aims to assign an outcome for each operational activity/area such as common procurement, human resources, information and communication technologies, and security.
Each outcome is later split into a few outputs with clear indicators and targets. Presented below is an example of a BoS matrix for common procurement:
BoS Outcome 1: Common Procurement
Lead Agencies
Participating UN
Agencies
Coordination
Mechanisms
Outcome Budget
Outcome Budget
Gap
Outcome 1
Outcome Indicators
Total Cost of Goods
Procured in USD
Output 1.1
Output Indicators
Total Cost of Goods
Procured in USD
UNICEF, UNDP,WFP
WFP, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP, UNAIDS, UNHCR, FAO
UNCT & OMT working through the Procurement Task Force in conjunction with the RCO
US$2,000
0
By 2016, the UN in Malawi has realized a reduction of UN Operating Costs by an average of 3% per year.
Source of Data
Agency Annual
Procurement
Reports
Baseline
January 2013
5 Million USD
Target
2013
2% of
baseline
Target
2014
4% of
baseline
Target
2014
3% of
baseline
Target
2016
3%
baseline
Risk and Assumption
Risk – Delays of suppliers in delivering goods
Assumption – Joint Procurement leads to
worthwhile/significant cost savings
By 2016, the UN System in Malawi has reduced cost of procurement of various spare parts & tyres by 7% through the development and
implementation of Common Procurement initiatives.
Source of Data
Agency Annual
Procurement
Reports
Baseline
January 2013
3 Million USD
Target
2013
2% of
baseline
Target
2014
2% of
baseline
Target
2015
2% of
baseline
Target
2016
1% of
baseline
Risk and Assumption
Risk: A large agency may pull out if individually,
they are not seeing significant benefits
Assumption: Agencies will provide their
procurement needs & plans on time to properly
plan for LTAs/Joint Procurement
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Possible BoS Outcome 1: By 2016, the UN in Malawi has realized a reduction of UN Fleet Operating Costs by an average of
3% per year.
Possible BoS Output 1: By 2016, the UN System in Malawi has reduced cost of procurement of various spare parts & tyres
by 7% through the development and implementation of Common Procurement initiatives.
Annual Deliverable 2013: In year 1, cost reduced by 2% of baseline year 2012 through the establishment of three LTAs
which deliver monetary gains (cost savings and staff time) (established baseline Jan 2013: 0 LTAs/Joint Procurement in
place, target Dec 2013: 3 LTAs/Joint Procurement in place)
Annual Deliverable 2014: In year 2, cost reduced by 2% of baseline year 2013 through the establishment of 2 additional
LTAs/ Joint Procurement which deliver monetary gains (cost savings and staff time) (established baseline Jan 2013: 0 LTAs
in place, target Dec 2014: 5 LTAs/Joint Procurement in place)
The Annual Deliverables breakdown will continue until we reach the anticipated 7% is reached as shown in the Table
above.
Possible BoS Output 2: By 2016, the UN System in Malawi has reduced interagency communication costs by at least 2%
through the development and implementation of
VoIP.
Need for BoS in Malawi
BoS is a perfect match for Malawi, as the Malawi
UNCT has already committed to DaO principles. Since
DaO places particular importance on reducing costs
and harmonizing business activities through joint
business initiatives, BoS would serve as an easy-touse framework to better synchronize, monitor and
manage UN’s joint business activities. It would also
allow the OMT (and the UNCT) to improve
monitoring, management and implementation of
joint business initiatives in the medium-term and in a
coherent way by establishing clear linkages with
UNDAF. By synchronizing with the UNDAF cycle, BoS
should allow OMT to plan ahead for the mediumterm needs, detailed at a later stage by annual work plans for each area of work.
BoS applies results-based project management principles to OMT and other business/operations-related activities.
Therefore, it should simplify and quantify management and monitoring of business initiatives, leading to improvements in
existing services and establishment of new ones. In other words, implementing BoS in Malawi should improve the quality
and impact of inter-agency business operations by improving the planning, implementation, monitoring and management
of OMT, OMT Working Group and UN HACT activities.
2. Implementation Roadmap
UNDG reported that BoS will be piloted in 11 countries, including Malawi, from 2013. Within the framework of DaO, the
Malawi OMT has committed to adopting and implementing BoS to address increasing requests from the UNCT to provide
results-based and measurable results for planned and ongoing common operations activities. UNDG will provide Malawi
and other pilot countries with technical support and capacity development.
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UNDG estimates that the average time needed to adopt BoS is 6 to 8 weeks. Taking into account the considerably large
number of agencies working in, it is estimated that all the operational analyses should be completed by end of May 2013,
and BoS should be finalized by the end of August 2013.
The BoS operational analyses to be conducted include prioritization of potential areas of collaboration in terms of
operations through baseline, needs, requirements and cost-benefit analysis. To ensure that good quality baselines and
clear cost savings are achieved from the analysis, the Malawi OMT will use the heavy/deeper/ more rigorous version of
BoS operational analyses.
Mr. Ekari Chauluka (ekari.chauluka@one.un.org), a Coordination Analyst – Young Professional, will coordinate the process
in close supervision of Heads of Operations from UNICEF and FAO, ICT Specialist from UNICEF and the Head of Resident
Coordinator’s Office. This mini-task force will report to the OMT which in turn, will report to the UNCT.
The BoS will build on the quite advanced work done under the Transformation Plan and extend it using the better
analytical tools and depth provided in the BoS.
So far, the Transformation Plan has focused on the following areas; Common Procurement, Harmonised Human Resources
Processes, Common Services, Fuel Contingency Plan, ICT, UN HACT and One UN House.
The areas dealt with under common procurement that were identified by OMT as priority included: Fuel, travel services,
hotel and lodging, offshore procurement of vehicle spare parts, vehicle maintenance, customs clearance, paper and
stationary, IT equipment, cleaning services, printing, postal and courier services, office equipment, and security services. A
Common Suppliers Roster is in place and currently a Market Survey is underway in order to update it.
Harmonised Human Resources processes have focused on putting in place a Consultants Database, and Harmonising
Consultant’s Fees and Rates and staff appraisal for DaO duties.
The existing common Services involve the UN Malawi Doctor/Healthcare, UN Cares and Emergency Response Team (ERT).
The Fuel Contingency Plan has been servicing agencies, ensuring that operations continue during times of acute fuel
shortage in the country. ICT Initiatives under DaO are trying to give demand-driven ICT support to the various Outcome
and Thematic Working Groups ICT Application Solutions that would enhance efficiency and knowledge exchange under
the DaO.
The One UN House initiative is being pursued though there has been tremendous bottlenecks on the part of our
collaborators in various Government Ministries. However, it is envisioned that having all UN Agencies in one compound
would bring savings in terms of rentals as well as travel and other communication costs.
The UN HACT committee is active and have organized joint annual workplan activities and budget that cover MicroAssessments, Audits and capacity building of partners through as cost-sharing arrangement.
A Common Operations Management Skills Training will be organized in Malawi with the UN Staff College in April 2013
during the OMT Retreat to enhance the capacities of the relevant operations staff to implement BoS, by focusing on issues
such as common services (including the HLCM Guidelines), results-based management, and common operations planning
and management skills.
For a period of 2.5 months, operational and baseline analysis will be done in-house on BoS adoption and implementation.
This will include carrying out the qualitative as well as the Cost Benefit Analysis for all the areas that BoS will focus on. The
OMT will seek the support of the UNCT Technical Working Group on Monitoring and Evaluation, who provide technical
expertise on the UNDAF creation and monitoring, in creating and implementing the BoS monitoring and evaluation
framework for the BoS.
As earlier reiterated, the BoS will build on the current Transformation Plan as such the 2013 AWPs for the various
Thematic Working Groups will later-on be linked to the BoS Results Framework, providing the OMT and UNCT with an
ample background of the BoS adoption and implementation process.
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The required operational analyses and their results will be presented to the OMT together with a draft BoS, which will
include the draft BoS Results and Monitoring Framework, by the end of June 2013. The draft Results Framework will
reflect the mandate and work of all OMT Working Groups, and include both qualitative and quantitative outcomes and
outputs as well as the respective budgets as appropriate. The OMT will hold a BoS Retreat in early June 2013 to review the
draft BoS, and finalize the BoS Results Framework. UNDG/DOCO will be asked to provide strategic planning support during
this meeting (the actual form of the support to be given yet to be decided) The BoS will be finalised after this meeting,
and it will be submitted to UNCT to be signed into effect.
Support Required from UNDG
For BoS adoption and implementation, OMT will seek the support of UNDG Common Servcies Reference Group, and
UNDG/DOCO, through Mr. Lars Tushuizen, Mr. Roberto, Mr. Peter Matinga, Ms. Tamara Zgonjanin-Li in particular:
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Technical support (off site) during the whole process to help with BoS operational analyses, and facilitate the
finalization of BoS, including the Results and Monitoring Framework.
Provision of relevant common procurement and BoS-related documents and best practices, including existing
common procurement frameworks and template MoU of other DaO countries, standard business process maps
(of UNDP) for select fields for which BoS operational analyses will be conducted, and any other BoS-related
documents.
Organization of a capacity development session (off site)in cooperation with the UNDG and the UN Staff College
during the OMT Retreat in early March 2013 for relevant operations and programmestaff members, covering
issues such as results-based management, common procurement, and skills for planning and managing common
operations and services.
Creating access to relevant UNDG, UN Staff College and HLCM staff members and consultants to facilitate BoS
implementation.
Quality assurance support (off site) over the internet to help finalize BoS, including the Results and Monitoring
Framework and annual work plans.
Budget
The following are the direct estimated costs required for strategic planning activities, including BoS implementation, and
relevant capacity development support for implementation, in late 2012 and early 2013.
Item
1. OMT Training
and Retreat
(April 4 to April 5
2013)
Source of funding / Guiding
document
Available through CS Reserve Fund?
1-day training in cooperation with
UNDG and UN Staff College before
the OMT Retreat in Lilongwe, and
1.5/2-day Retreat held in a hotel
outside of Lilongwe
1. Meals and refreshments for 1 day during training: 400 USD
2. Meeting room rent for 1 day during training: 1,000 USD
3.
4.
5.
6.
2. BoS Retreat
(June 2013)
Context
Estimated
budget
6,650 USD
Accommodation for 25 participants for 1night: Paid by each agency (5,000 USD)
100% DSA for Retreat participants: Paid by each agency
Meeting room rent, lunch and refreshments for 1.5 days during Retreat: 1,250 USD
2 trainers from UNDG Expert Roster (airfare and DSA): 4,000 USD
Available through CS Reserve Fund
1.
2.
3.
4.
1.5-day Retreat held in a hotel 5,500 USD
outside Lilongwe
Accommodation for 25 participants for 1night: Paid by each agency (5,000 USD)
Meeting room rent, lunch and refreshments for 1.5 days: 1,500 USD
100% DSA for participants: Paid by each agency
2 facilitators from UNDG (cost-share for airfare and DSA): 4,000 USD
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3. Admin budget
Available through RC budget, donor
funding / OMT Annual Work Plan
Admin budget for miscellaneous
costs
2,400 USD
1. Admin expenses: 1,400 USD
2. Printing of draft and finalized BoS: 1,000 USD
TOTAL:
24,550 USD (14,550USD from CS Reserve
Fund??, 10,000USD from Agencies – DSAs for
Retreats)
Timeline
Date
Ongoing
February 26, 2013
February 27 to 31 March , 2013
Milestone
UNDG provides continuous technical support for BoS
implementation via the internet
adoption and
OMT staff members and consultants share all relevant documents, reports
and analyses with UNDG on a rolling basis.
The Roadmap for the creation, adoption and implementation of the BoS is
presented to the OMT.
OMT approves the Roadmap for the creation of the BoS and carrying out
of necessary operational analysis.
The Transposing of 2013 TP AWPs, budgets and activity schedules for
various OMT Working Groups begin to be linked to the BoS Results
Framework.
The Gaps between the TP and BoS are identified and process of filling
them starts (Operational Analysis)
Early April (4 & 5) , 2013
April, May 2013
OMT Retreat:
OMT reviews the draft BoS operational analyses for for the chosen areas
reflected in the BoS Results Framework.
Capacity development session held for OMT members in Malawi.
Analysis on BoS adoption and implementation begins.
The relevant operational analyses for each field of work, and creation of
associated outcomes, outputs and indicators for the BoS Results
Framework is undertaken with the TP AWPs for 2013 as the basis .
Late June 2013
July2013
OMT BoS Retreat:
OMT reviews and comments on draft BoS, including the Results and
Monitoring Framework. UNDG holds a mission to provide strategic
planning support during this meeting.
The BoS is finalized based on OMT feedback.
End July 2013
Finalised BoS submitted to UNCT for review, approval and signage.
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