Can ISO 9001 certification of water utilities in developing countries be used to evaluate institutional sustainability?

Provision of reliable water services is critical for sustainable development. Next year (2015), the United Nations will review achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Based on previous trends, The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme estimates that about 700 million people will not have access to safe drinking water in 2015. During the post- 2015 era, urban water utilities in less developed regions of the world will face greater challenges in extending and sustainably providing water services, where, it is projected, the urban population will increase from 2.57 billion in 2010, to 3.95 billion in 2030 (UN-Habitat, 2010). Consistent with various scholars, we argue in this paper that there can be no sustainable development in any sector without the support of effective and sustainable institutions. Whereas indicators for measuring improved quality of service are established in policy and practice, there has been no agreement between policy makers, practitioners and academicians on how best to measure institutional sustainability for improved organisational performance. An increasing number of urban water utilities in developing countries are adopting quality management systems (QMS) based on ISO 9000 series of standards in order to improve their performance. This paper reports on the results of a study commissioned by the World Bank to assess whether ISO 9001 QMS offer a sound framework for evaluating institutional sustainability of urban water utilities. The study was conducted in 2011/12 through a comprehensive literature review and primary data collection from two case study urban water utilities in sub-Saharan Africa. Primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews and questionnaires with senior and middle-level managers; Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with lower cadre staff of the utilities; and analysis of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) before and after ISO certification. Evidence from the literature showed that there is a plausible link between ISO 9000 QMS standards and institutional sustainability. Field data from the two African water utilities corroborated the findings from the literature. However, findings from the case studies indicate that there is no causal link between ISO 9001 certification and institutional sustainability. The study shows that the purpose and motivation for implementing ISO 9001 QMS are important moderating factors. Furthermore, ISO 9001 framework does not adequately cater for many factors in the external environment of the service providers, which are critical for institutional sustainability. There is need, therefore, to develop a more effective assessment tool for tracking a water utility’s progress towards institutional sustainability

WUM model: emerging tool for evaluating institutional capacity of urban water utilities

Urban water utilities in the world’s developing regions are faced with challenges of scaling up services to cope with the rapid rate of urbanisation, and sustaining the service delivery. Increasingly, it is being recognised in development management that institutional capacity is a precursor for sustainable service delivery. This paper discusses the findings of a recent study funded by the World Bank, which, using case studies in Asia, examined the various conceptualisations of institutional sustainability, institutional capacity and capacity development, in the context of urban water services. Consistent with a process-based approach, and adapting concepts from organisational maturity models, the authors propose a new evaluation tool – the Water Utility Maturity (WUM) model. The outline WUM model was piloted with utilities in South Asia, and was found to be promising. The WUM model is flexible and considers different levels of institutional sustainability

Evaluating the institutional sustainability of an urban water utility: a conceptual framework and research directions

Institutional sustainability (IS) is critical to translating infrastructure investments into actual service delivery. This paper examines IS for urban water utilities, and how its progress could be tracked. Common conceptualisations of IS in extant literature were found inadequate from an evaluation stand point. We conceptualize IS as a capacity rather than a financial issue, and, consistent with a process-based approach, we propose a new evaluation tool e the water utility maturity (WUM) model e which is flexible and considers different levels of IS. The WUM model, which requires further validation/verification, was piloted in two water utilities in South Asia with positive feedback

Can ISO 9001 certification of water utilities in developing countries be used to evaluate institutional sustainability?

Provision of reliable water services is critical for sustainable development. Next year (2015), the United Nations will review achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Based on previous trends, The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme estimates that about 700 million people will not have access to safe drinking water in 2015. During the post-2015 era, urban water utilities in less developed regions of the world will face greater challenges in extending and sustainably providing water services, where, it is projected, the urban population will increase from 2.57 billion in 2010, to 3.95 billion in 2030 (UN-Habitat, 2010). Consistent with various scholars, we argue in this paper that there can be no sustainable development in any sector without the support of effective and sustainable institutions. [Continues.

Organisational design for improved performance of urban water utilities in developing countries

Unclear roles and responsibilities and other factors related to organisational design, have been found to be some of the common barriers to providing good urban water services in developing countries. A comparative study commissioned by the World Bank in 2013 assessed how five well-performing water utilities located in different parts of the world aligned their organisational structures and management systems with their strategies and the operating environment. Lessons therefrom can be adapted for organisational (re)design of water utilities, for their improved performance, subject to enabling factors in the individual organisation’s operating environment

Better use of capital to deliver sustainable water supply and sanitation services: Practical examples and suggested next steps

The costs of meeting the SDG WASH targets will be several times higher than investment levels during the MDG era (2000–15). The immense scale of the financing gap calls for innovative solutions. In addition to mobilizing more funding another approach is to deliver the needed infrastructure more efficiently and effectively and thus reduce the financing gap. Capital expenditure efficiency (CEE)—the efficient and effective use of capital—is less documented compared to operational efficiency. Although improving operating efficiency is frequently highlighted and readily evaluated, the scope for capital cost efficiencies is poorly understood, frequently overlooked, and difficult to evaluate, even though the scale of savings can be significant—in fact, capital and operating costs are equally important when considering full cost recovery. This study compiles case studies that show the "art of the possible" in CEE. The report is not encyclopedic—many more examples could surface from a comprehensive study. It also doesn’t quantify the savings possible through increasing CEE. However, almost all the examples show capital savings of 25 percent or more compared to traditional solutions. This alone this should give policy makers, donors, and utility managers pause for thought and encourage them to develop CEE in their sectors, projects, or utilities. A 25 percent improvement in CEE would allow existing investments to deliver a 33 percent increase in benefits

Use of a capability-maturity model to evaluate institutional capacity of urban water utilities in developing economies

Urban water utilities in the world’s developing economies are faced with challenges of scaling up services to cope with the rapid rate of urbanisation, and sustaining the service delivery. It is increasingly being recognised in development management that institutional capacity is a precursor for sustainable service delivery. This paper describes a process undertaken to develop an outline Water Utility Maturity (WUM) model, a novel tool for evaluating institutional capacity of urban water utilities. The conceptual framework for the WUM model was derived following an extensive literature review that examined the various conceptualisations of institutional sustainability, institutional capacity and performance, in the context of urban water services. The WUM model is designed to be flexible and considers different levels of institutional capacity. There is need to validate the model through further empirical research