Management Strategies

We offer training and coaching on our unique management strategies ROPE (real-time outcome planning and evaluation) building on 15 years of experience from collaborating closely with partners in Africa. We also offer adapted versions of ROPE targeting research management (REACH), laboratory management (FAST), social enterprising (SCALE) and international sustainable development collaboration (22RISE). Our management strategies are linked to our evidence bases impact assessment tool (TestE).

We reach our to institution managements in Sub-Sahara African Countries and offer our  HR&S management strategies, through training for and coaching of the  the management team, their staff and partners.

Our mission is social good and sustainable economy. We argue for a shift of paradigm where international collaboration builds on equal partnership rather than aid dependency.

HR&S has developed a unique and innovative set of management strategies that support institutions to empower their capacity strengthening procedures while ensuring a sustainable economy. Funds and effort invested shall  increase the success and the revenue of the institution. We offer support in the areas of research management, laboratory management, enterprising and sustainable development.

Our management strategies reviews challenges and implements  solutions. Our management strategies are built on real-time evaluation planning, evidence-based impact, transparency and accountability, cross-cultural respect, and ethical principles. 

In summary, our proposed solutions are developed to results in strengthened capacity and solid management procedures while ensuring a sustainable economy, which shall also enable the institution to scale.

Our value proposition

HR&S has developed an innovative set of management strategies that supports institutions to empower capacity strengthening procedures while ensuring a sustainable economy. Funds and effort invested shall increase the success and the revenue of the institution. We offer support in the areas of research management, laboratory management, enterprising and sustainable development.

We start with interaction to understanding our partner’s ambitions and to identify their challenges. Thereafter we invest our wide variety of resources to solve our partners challenges. We develop a joint roadmap explaining how to reach the goals of our partners according to our own Real-time Outcome Planning and Evaluation tool (ROPE). We coach on every step of the way.


 

Our coaching contains

  • Tailor-made coaching events by HR&S Sweden, on-line and on-site.
    • We identify ambitions and challenges through a sequence of webinars and/or workshops, and develop a support package where all challenges are addressed.
    • Activities addressing each challenge are implemented while progress (or lack of progress) is measured real-time.
    • Lessons are learned and informed decisions taken real-time.
  • Parallel training sessions targeting staff and partners; researchers, technicians, entrepreneurs and sustainable developers, on-line and on-site.
  • Parallel training of trainers.

Who we are
HR&S is uniquely positioned to serve institution managements, staff, and partners in Sub-Sahara African countries. We have 15 years of experience from working in Sub-Sahara African countries in close collaboration with local stakeholders and we have a firm strategy ensuring that we carefully learn our lessons and take informed decisions real-time. We have already served 10,000 persons in Sub-Sahara African countries to reach their goals through improved capacity and strengthened economies.

Our team is composed of professionals with unyielding ethics covering a broad range of experiences. The HR&S headquarters in Sweden, our advisory board and expert advisers, the HR&S branches in Sub-Sahara African countries, and volunteer staff at Action10 in Sweden, all work together to serve our partners.

How can we start a collaboration in actual practice?
We offer to arrange a seminar where we explain our proposal, provide examples on previous achievements, and give room for questions and suggestions. We then aim to develop an agreement that stipulates the volume of the collaboration, the expected results and the price.

 FIVE core areas of expertise

We offer the HR&S innovative management strategy for change  training and coaching for each of our target groups; researchers, technicians, social entrepreneurs and international developers.

RESEARCH MANAGEMENT (REACH)

The overall aim with the HR&S Research Management programme (REACH) is to support academic institution with a curriculum that puts the institution high in the international ranking as well as ensures a sustainable economy for the institution. HR&S REACH compiles and addresses the necessary conditions required to bring about a given impact.  We target:
i) the generation, dissemination, and implementation of scientific findings, and
ii) securing income that generates a sustainable economy for the institution staff and operations.  

 

We reach out to the management of academic institutions with three types of offers.

  1. To empower scientific institution managements to develop firm scientific capacity strengthening procedures for their staff and students combined with firm income generation strategies.
  2. We provide training for researchers addressing:
  • individual research management,
  • the scientific method,
  • mentorship,
  • implementation of scientific findings through social enterprising, and
  • International collaboration for a sustainable global development.
  1. We provide train trainers programmes addressing:
  • developing a manuscript, and
  • seeking research grants.

LABORATORY MANAGEMENT (FAST)

The overall aim with the HR&S Functioning Advanced Scientific Equipment programme (FAST) is to support advanced laboratories with procedures that guarantees functioning advanced scientific equipment as well as ensures and income to the laboratory from the equipment that generates a sustainable economy. The HR&S FAST compiles and addresses the necessary conditions required to bring about a given impact.  We target the selection, transportation, installation, calibration, operation, accreditation, maintenance, servicing, use and decommissioning of advanced scientific equipment. The service is offered in the form of support packages:

  1. Equipment procurement and delivery.
  2. Equipment use & maintenance.
  3. Construction of well-functioning laboratories.
  4. Operational & Financial plan development.
  5. Business idea, business plan, and business venture.

We reach out to managements of advanced laboratories as well as managements of academic institutions that has advanced laboratories in their premises with three types of offers.

  1. To train and coach on our FAST programme. We address access to advanced scientific equipment in well-functioning laboratories that are financially self-sustained.
  2. To bridge between a buyer of pieces of advanced scientific equipment and a manufacturer from Europe and its local supplier representatives. The aim is to ensure smooth communication, efficient and effective procedures and to negotiate a win-win collaboration and financial agreement between the buyer and the supplier, including a good discount.
  3. Offer training to technicians addressing:
    • Good Laboratory Practice (GLP),
    • the operation of different types of pieces of equipment, as well as
    • laboratory accreditation.
 

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT (SCALE)

HR&S offers training and coaching on management strategies for change  to social enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

HR&S supports innovative social companies to develop their operations. We aim to support with maximize the social impact while finding fair ways of generating income that can cover the costs and thus make the social businesses sustainable.

Business management

  • Strategy for change.
    • Coaching and training on developing business road-maps.
  • Business model.
  • Boot-strapping
  • Start / scale-up loans.
  • African network of entrepreneurs.

Value proposition & customers

  • Reaching the target audience.
  • Value proposition & customer segment.
  • The lean business model.
  • Perform customers survey interviews and analysis.
  • Get commitment from the first few customers / scale with new customers.

Finance administration & accounting

  • Training on accounting.
  • Training on accountability.
  • Annual auditing &management response.

SERVING THE UNDER-SERVED (SERV)

Livelihood improvement in under-served communities through the HR&S empowered social enterprises.

HR&S offers empowerment opportunities for social entrepreneurs in Sub-Sahara African countries who can provide employment opportunities, products and services requested for by under-served communities.  Thus it is our partners in Sub-Sahara African countries who identify the scope of our collaboration. Thereby our support is needs and user driven, which is in accordances with our Action principle No 1. While HR&S offers empowerment services and products, we also invests effort to learn lessons. We take informed and well though through decisions in order to improve our empowerment procedures. We learn our lessons from measuring progress not only targeting the social enterprise itself but the impact it has on our target partners; the company clients in the under-served communities. We have developed our own unique evidence based procedures for measuring impact (Testing the Strength of Evidence, TestE) that uses scientific evaluation methods.      

Measuring impact

 

We distinguish between output, outcome and sustainable impact. Outputs are quantified results from the HR&S own activities, outcomes are initiatives taken by our partners (Programme Management Partners (PMP) the empowered social entrepreneurs and Target partners (TP) the clients of the social enterprise) as a result of the outputs, and sustainable impact is when structures have become sustainable in a way that direct support from HR&S is no longer needed. We usually remain partners and previously supporters entrepreneurs becomes members of our networks. Results have been compiled since 2009.

INTERNATIONAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COLLABORATION MANAGEMENT (22RISE)

We offer to share our ideas and methods on international development management with development institutions and policy-makers. We offer seminars and webinars benefiting from our Action Principles.We are eager to share and we are equally eager to learn through mutually beneficial discussions with other international development stakeholders.

Our Ten Action Principles (TAct)

The purpose of the Ten Action Principles (TAct) is to offer a package of principles that shall facilitate international equal partnership for development. The partnership shall experience mutual benefit and generate a sustainable impact. The Action Principles are composed of the below Ten Actions and how HR&S implements the principles in actual practice.

  1. Needs & user-driven activities.  A needs & user-driven activity is here defined as an activity where it is the person(s) who shall benefit from the activity that is also bringing the idea, is designing and implementing, and is responsible for creating sustainability and impact.
  2. Equal partnership.  Equal partnership is here defined as a collaboration where the partners communicate well and share inputs, responsibilities, and benefits, equally.
  3. Real-time Outcome Planning and Evaluation and Evidence base Impact Assessment.  The work must be well planned, lessons must be learned, decisions infromed and achievements evidence-based. HR&S has developed an ambitious evaluation planning (ROPE, SfC) and survey management (TestE) strategy that is targeting outcome and sustainable impact is guiding each programme.
  4. Strategic partnership.  Worldwide programmes require a network of actors, why it is key to share knowledge with stakeholders that have related missions.
  5. Sustainable economy. All partners generate a sustainable income that cover their own running costs, as well as enable innovation and growth.
  6. Institutional capacity.  Partners must have the the capacity to implement agreed on activities, thus cross-cultural understanding and respect, transparency and accountability in ethics and governance, intrinsic motivation and agency for change.
  7. Quality values. We target  and aim to ensure truth, trust, equity, and harmony.
  8. Resilience. Resilience is here defined as the capacity to stay strong for each other; being respectful, humble, flexible, focused; to listen carefully, never judge, and never give up. 
  9. Knowledge sharing.  Knowledge-sharing shall be mutual, timely, honest, and professional. Annual programme, financial, audit and management reports shall be accurate and timely. Activites shall benefit for international state-of-the-art research.
  10. Visibility. Our visibility includes public relations. We shall share in a clear and fair manner and include achievements, lack of achievements, challenges, unexpected results, lessons learned and informed decision.

Reaching out

We reach out to Institution management to establish relations. We seek to reach individuals within the institutions with intrinsic motivation and agency for change and who are convinced that the aid dependency shall better be cancelled. 

We aim to present good proposals with a good value proposition to our clients. Our clients are to be made to see whatever services they would like to engage in as an investment that could bring in good revenue to the Institution. Once we secure the interest of the Institution management team the Institution is expected to will be willing to invest, and the cost should not be an issue.

We offer free seminars where we explain our proposal, provide examples on previous achievements  and give room for questions and suggestions. Then, through a sequence of meetings and workshops, we learn from our partner institution about their ambitions and together we identify their outcome challenges. Thereafter HR&S develops a support package where these challenges are addressed. We remain in contact, building on the relations established, until hopefully we will come to a mutual win-win agreement on a coaching package. HR&S proposes a price for coaching the institution through the change. 

Short and long term networking. 

  • Short to establish equantaces.
  • Long to establish industry and advocates.
  • Target connection with the right authoroties and influence strategic point of contact. 

Build relationships over two three months. Prove value through sharing what we know and demonstrating it through value validation project. We do not ask for anything until you have given the right amount validation projects.

Action Areas

Our management strategies are based on our six ActionAreas:

  1. Code of Conduct – ActionPrinciples, TAct.
  2. Cross-cultural respect, CROSS.
  3. Truth & Trust – Transparency and accountability in ethics and governance, TRUST.
  4. Real-time Outcome Planning & Evaluation, ROPE.
  5. Testing the strength of Evidence for impact, TestE.
  6. Strategy for Change, SfC.

Three of our management strategies targets Partner Relations (No 1,2 and 3). We are guided by our Code of Conduct, the ActionPrinciples (TAct), which describes how we have learned lessons from the Development Aid sector and have adjusted the approach targeting a sustainable impact. The CROSS management strategy addresses cross-cultural respect between all partners and includes platforms for sharing. The TRUST management strategy address transparency and accountability in ethics and governance. We have developed procedures that take into account fragile rule-of-law infrastructures. Three of our management strategies targets Evaluation planning (No 4,5, and 6). Real-time Outcome Planning & Evaluation (ROPE) that aims at empowering  stakeholders to create road-maps addressing their ambitions and solving their challenges, and the Testing the Strength of Evidence for social impact (TestE). Our Strategy for Change is a narrative of all the other five management strategies.

Our Ten Action Principles (TAct) is a practical strategy that enables a transition from Aid dependency to an equal international partnership. The tool empowers efficient and effective cross-cultural collaboration built on trust, transparency and accountability, where inputs, operational responsibilities and benefits are shared equally. The Ten Actions are: needs-driven programme, equal partnership, real-time outcome planning and evaluation, strategic partnership, institutional capacity, sustainable economy, trust, transparency and accountability, resilience, knowledge sharing and visibility.

The HR&S Cross-cultural respect management strategy (CROSS) offers awareness, dialogue, empowerment and understanding. Each culture has its own values. It is not always easy to understand another culture’s ways of doing things, why successful cross-cultural partnerships require awareness and professional management of cultural differences. The strategy captures good values from different cultures and aims at empowering that these are strengthened within the collaboration. HR&S states that it is the difference between contexts that creates different cultural habits, rather than differences between people.

We aim to empower Transparency and Accountability in ethics and governance through our management strategy TRUST. Scientific research shows that corruption and crime are prone in areas where people struggle to survive, and with the HR&S tool TRUST, these challenges are handled professionally and without judgement. Trust is key and concerns all relationships. It is right at the foundation of the success of any business and partnership, and a relationship without trust is not really a relationship at all. Relationships built on trust are also an important competitive advantage for businesses, because trust is so valuable and so rare. 15% of investment capital is invested in accountability measures – 5% (minimum EUR 300) each in auditing, accounting, and survey managing.

The Real-time Outcome Planning & Evaluation (ROPE) is a management strategy that aims at empowering  stakeholders to create road-maps addressing their ambitions and solving their challenges. We compile and address the necessary conditions required to bring about a given impact, including trust, transparency, accountability, cross-cultural understanding, sustainable economy and institutional capacity.
 

HR&S has also developed a management strategy for Testing the strength of Evidence of social impact, TestE . TestE captures randomization, quantitative statistics and contribution tracing. We target outcome, impact, learning lessons, and informed decisions. Monitoring data are uploaded real-time on our partner website.

Our Strategy for Change is a narrative of all the other five Action Areas.