Important considerations within each dimension are suggested as the focus of organizational assessments. Probing these should contribute to an in-depth understanding of the organization. It is hoped that a systematic process of organizational analysis will help IDRC target resources to areas of greatest need in selected partner institutions and ultimately result in wiser investments. As time goes on, such analyses could serve to document progress resulting from IDRC's and other donor institutions' investments in capacity strengthening. The strengthening of capacity is a complex, problem-solving process, and one for which there is no single formula for success.
Many approaches can and have helped research institutions in the developing world gain momentum.
Just as there is no one formula for strengthening capacity, the assessment process itself must be robust enough to capture the emerging reality of capacity in development. The social science literature dealing with the constructs of organizational capacity and performance is quite scanty as pertains to research institutions. In the absence of definitive academic work, we relied more heavily on practical experience and observations to gain insight into the workings and outputs of research institutions. Moreover, Universalia Management Group has carried out organizational assessments worldwide for well over a decade, primarily for the Canadian International Development Agency. Our framework reflects what we consider the best ideas and techniques from all of these sources.