| Abstract: | The Management Improvement Program,a process based on Organizational Developmentprinciples and methods, was applied to an irrigatedagricultural system in Arizona, USA. The MIP seeks toimprove management and performance of the agriculturalsystem through structured diagnosis, planning, andimplementation activities with the participation ofsystem stakeholders. An equally important objectiveof the demonstration project was to identify strengthsand shortcomings of the MIP methodology and togenerate recommendations for managing its futureapplications. The data used to analyze thedemonstration project's management were obtainedthrough formal interviews and informal conversationswith individual participants, program review andfeedback sessions, and records of meetings andindividual communications.Lessons about the project's management are categorizedin six areas: the initial exploration phase, initialplanning, participant on-boarding, formation of theprocess management team, development of the localcontrol group, and evaluation of the project. A keyaspect of conducting a change process such as the MIPfor improving the performance of agricultural systems,is that issues affecting the system may be difficultto identify early in the process or may requirelonger-term solutions, extending beyond the life ofthe formal process. Because of this uncertainty, adetailed action plan, the role of participants, andmeasures for evaluating progress or impact are alsolikely to be uncertain early in the project. Nevertheless, it is critical that the application,including these elements, be defined as concisely aspossible, especially relative to scope and funding,while still allowing the flexibility to address apotentially wider range of issues. Given the natureof the MIP, those responsible for its management needto be technically proficient, experienced with teammanagement techniques, sensitive to the localpolitical environment of natural resource management,and when necessary, willing to challenge stakeholders'initial understandings of issues. |
