Copy of my dissertation for my MSc in International Management.

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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF BALANCED
SCORECARD PERFORMANCE-MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES TO
INFORMATION COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY SERVICES
DELIVERY FOR UN PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS.
By
Mark A. Polan e
S id: 15023860
A DISSERT ATION
Submit t ed t o
In part ial fulfillment of t he requirement s for t he degree o f
MASTER OF SCI ENCE INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT
2012

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A Dissertation: Entitled
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF BALANCED SCORECARD
PERFORMANCE-MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES TO INFORMATION
COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY SERVICES DELIVERY FOR UN
PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS.
By
Mark A. Polane
We hereby certify that this Dissertation submitted by Mark A. Polane conforms to acceptable
standards, and as such is fully adequate in scope and quality. It is therefore approved as the
fulfillment of the Dissertation requirements for the degree of Master of Science in
International Management.
Approved:
Dissertation Advisor Date

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CERTIFICATION STATEMENT
I her e b y cer t i f y t h at t h is p ap er co n st it u t e s m y o w n p r o d u ct , t hat
w her e t he la n g u ag e o f o t her s is set fo r t h , q u o t at io n ma r k s so
i n d ic at e, a n d t hat ap p r o p r iat e cr ed it is g i v e n w h er e I ha v e u se d
t he la n g u ag e, id ea s, e x p r e s s io n s o r wr it in g s o f a no t h er .
Signed
Mar k A. Po lane

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ABSTRACT
This dissert at io n aimed t o find out if t he ICT organizat io n for t he Unit ed
Nat ions Peacekeeping Operat ions could improve it s ser vice deliver y b y
“running IT as a bus iness”, and if adopt ing such ICT deliver y frameworks
would offer per for mance impro vement s. Using an elect ronic sur ve y and
focused unst ruct ured int erviews wit h a select number o f member s of t he UN
ICT organizat io n t he aut hor aimed t o d et er mine what and how ICT deliver y
can be improved and overa ll organizat ional per for mance enhanced.
The Balanced Scorecard is examined as to it s applicabilit y in t he
peacekeeping operat ions as an alt er nat ive or addit io n t o t he much cr it ic ized
“r esult s based budget ing” and “result s based management ” t hat is current ly
pract iced in t he UN.
BSC is being adopt ed successfully in var ious not -for-profit and public
organizat io ns (Chan, 2004; Niven, 2008). The ke y operat io nal ar m o f t he ICT
organizat io n for t he p eacekeeping operat ions, t he Unit ed N at ions Glo bal
Service Cent er has recent ly adopt ed and imple ment ed a Balanced Scorecard in
order to adequat ely define and measure success.
Inspired by t he ICT organizat io n “IVENT” t hat provides ICT ser vices t o t he
Net her lands defense forces, t he aut hor examines if t he organizat io nal model
adopt ed t here could be applied to t he ICT organizat io n for t he peacekeeping
operat ions. The research findings show t hat in fact t he ICT organizat ion for
t he peacekeeping operat ions is slo wly t ransit io ning int o a model t hat is more
ser vice and business or ient ed similar t o t he one developed in t he Net her lands
defense forces. I t remains t o be seen how far it could t ransit io n int o a model

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t hat act ually runs IT as a business, given the r igidit y and bureaucracy o f t he
Unit ed Nat io ns.

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Acknowledgements
The author wishes to acknowledge all the instructors and fellow students that he worked with
over the course of the last three years as part of the various Modules studied, the wealth of
knowledge gained has truly been invaluable to me.
In addition he wishes to acknowledge the help of his dissertation advisor who despite dealing
with tremendous personal hardship managed to provide valuable input and did not give up on
me despite the whole process “coming down to the wire”, thank you very much !
Furthermore I wish to thank my colleagues and friends at the United Nations that have helped
me in one way or another with the research conducted, your assistance has been very valuable
to me and your insights helped me gain a much better understanding of the organization that I
thought I understood reasonably well already.
Finally I wish to thank my wife Samia, who has endured the years of pressures, the
withdrawal of social activities, and the mood swings as well as the victories of achieving good
grades. Also Amir and Sally who so many times were cut off from their TV because I needed
peace and quiet to do my studies, thank you all for enduring me and supporting me!
Thank you !

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Tab le of Contents
CERTIFICATION STATEMENT .................................................................................................................................. 3
ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................................................ 6
Chapter One: ...................................................................................................................................................................... 9
AIMS OF THE DISSERTATION .................................................................................................................................. 9
1.1) Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................9
1.2) Organizational context ........................................................................................................................................9
1.3) Background Information ................................................................................................................................. 10
1.4) Research contribution ...................................................................................................................................... 12
1.5) Research Questions ........................................................................................................................................... 13
Chapter Two: .................................................................................................................................................................. 14
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ............................................................................................................................. 14
2.1 The Evolving Role of ICT.................................................................................................................................... 14
2.2) Performance management and measurement. ........................................................................................ 14
2.3) ITIL and running IT as a business. ................................................................................................................ 17
2.4) Alignment of strategies .................................................................................................................................... 24
2.5) Summary: .............................................................................................................................................................. 26
Chapter Three: ............................................................................................................................................................... 28
METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH DESIGN ..................................................................................................... 28
3.1) Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 28
3.2) Research methodology rationale .................................................................................................................. 28
3.3) Data collection methods................................................................................................................................... 29
3.4) Case Study rationale .......................................................................................................................................... 30
3.5) Population and Sampling ................................................................................................................................. 31
3.6) Development of survey questions ................................................................................................................ 32
3.7) Analytical methods ............................................................................................................................................ 33
3.8) Reliability and Validity of the Data ............................................................................................................... 33
3.5) Weaknesses .......................................................................................................................................................... 34
3.6) Summary ............................................................................................................................................................... 34
Chapter Four:.................................................................................................................................................................. 36
PRESENTATION OF RESULTS................................................................................................................................ 36
4.1) Results of the E-Survey: ................................................................................................................................... 36
4.1.1) Questions and Responses: ........................................................................................................................... 36
Q1. What is your opinion on the alignment of ICT services and ICT service strategies with the
strategy/mandate and operational goals of the mission/organization?............................................... 36
Q2. What do you believe should/could be done to optimize ICT service delivery to the various
stakeholders/clients within the mission/organization? ............................................................................. 37
Q3. Do you believe that ICT service delivery has an impact on organizational performance, could
you describe why and how. .................................................................................................................................. 37
Q4. If you were asked to find ways to improve organizational performance what would you focus
on, which areas of support elements for peacekeeping operations would you consider prime
candidates for performance improvement...................................................................................................... 38
Q5. Are you satisfied that an adequate performance management system is in place to measure
and manage performance of support elements such as ICT within PKO's, please elaborate. .......... 38
Q6. What is your opinion on the "Global Field Support Strategy" and it's likely impact on the
performance of Service delivery? ....................................................................................................................... 39
Q7. What is your opinion on the implementation of "IPSAS" (International Public Services
Accounting Standards) and how would you assess it's impact on organizational performance. ... 39
Q8. Please describe what you know about the "Balanced Scorecard" approach to linking strategy
with performance management and measurement. .................................................................................... 40
4.2) Results and synthesis of Interviews: ........................................................................................................... 40
4.2.1) Balanced Scorecard at the UN Global Service Center ......................................................................... 41
4.2.2) BSC and ITIL ..................................................................................................................................................... 42
4.2.3) Performance Management/Measurement ............................................................................................. 42
4.2.4) ICT Service Delivery Model ......................................................................................................................... 43

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4.2.5) Global Field Support Strategy ..................................................................................................................... 45
4.3 Summary ................................................................................................................................................................. 46
Chapter Five:................................................................................................................................................................... 47
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS .................................................................................................... 47
5.1) Analysis of Questionnaire:............................................................................................................................... 47
5.1.1) ICT Strategy alignment: ................................................................................................................................ 47
5.1.2) ICT Service delivery and Organizational Performance: ..................................................................... 47
5.1.3) Centralization and Standards ..................................................................................................................... 48
5.1.4) The Balanced Scorecard ............................................................................................................................... 48
5.2) Analysis and interpretation of the interview data .................................................................................. 49
5.3) Relationship of results to the objectives set out in the research Questions. .................................. 50
5.4) Weaknesses in the data collected. ................................................................................................................ 53
5.6) Effect on professional practice....................................................................................................................... 54
Chapter Six: ..................................................................................................................................................................... 55
CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................................................................................ 55
6.1) Conclusions .......................................................................................................................................................... 55
6.2) Future research and suggestions for management. ............................................................................... 57
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................................................. 58
APPENDICES:.................................................................................................................................................................. 68
Participant Information Sheet ............................................................................................................................... 68
Survey Questions – Annex “A” ............................................................................................................................... 69
Interview Transcripts and notes:......................................................................................................................... 70

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Chapter One:
AIMS OF THE DISSERTATION
1.1) Introduction
A case st udy by Gart ner of t he IT operat ions o f t he Minist r y o f Defense in t he
Net her lands highlight s t he value and feasibilit y o f t he adopt io n of a business
like approach for Infor mat io n Co mmunicat ions Techno logy (ICT) Ser vices ’
deliver y wit hin a large an d co mplex gover nment organizat ion ( Curt is &
Govekar, 2009). The aim o f t his dissert at ion is t o invest igat e t he feasibilit y o f
a radically differ ent approach t o t he deliver y o f ICT ser vices t o Unit ed
Nat ions Peacekeeping Miss io ns glo bally. And to det ermine whet her
significant organizat io nal per for mance enhancement s can be der ived fro m t he
adopt ion o f an ICT ser vice deliver y model based o n co mmer cial business
pract ices and recognized st andards and frameworks for ser vice management
and per for manc e management .
1.2) Organizational context
The Unit ed Nat ions Depart ment of Peacekeeping Operat io ns (DP KO)
current ly has 17 act ive peacekeeping and po lit ical operat ions glo bally. The
st rat egic management o f t he support funct io ns and ele ment s o f t hese
operat ions lies wit h t he Depart ment of Fie ld Support (D FS) in UN
Headquart ers New York. Field support consist s o f var ious ele ment s ranging
fro m Logist ics, HR Management , Air Operat ions support, Vehicle Fleet
Support , Finance and Budget , Administ rat ive and Manag ement support as well
as I nfor mat io n Co mmunicat io ns Techno logy (ICT) Support. The I nfor mat ion
Co mmunicat ions and Techno logy Divis io n (ICTD) in UN Headquart ers New

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York provides t he st rat egic management for t he provis io n o f ICT ser vices t o
t he peacekeeping operat ions and deliver s polic y guidance and ent erpr ise wide
ICT init iat ives. T he Unit ed Nat ions Glo bal Ser vice Cent er (UNGS C) based
jo int ly in Br indis i, It aly, and Valencia, Spain, is t he operat io nal ar m o f t he
ICTD, providing I CT ser vices t o all peacekeeping and po lit ical miss io ns in
t he fie ld, ser ving as t he main hub for all connect ivit y bet ween missio ns and
UN Headquart ers as well as connect ivit y t o t he world t hrough int er net ser vice
provisio n and sat ellit e co mmun icat ions. Each peacekeeping operat io n/ missio n
has it s own ICT Sect ion/ Depart ment , whic h is responsible for t he provis io n o f
ICT ser vices t o missio n perso nnel. Curr ent ly t he t ot al number o f per sonne l
(bot h milit ar y and c ivilian) ser ving in 1 7 DP KO/ DFS manag ed operat io ns is
more t han 120.000. T he approved budget for t hese operat ions for t he per io d
of July, 2011, t hrough June, 2012, is approximat ely $7.84 billio n, whic h
despit e t he fact t hat t his amount s t o “ less than half of one percent of world
military expenditures” (UN, 2012) is under increasing scrut iny by member
st at es, demanding t hat t he UN does more wit h less ( UN, 2012 a; Torsella,
2011).
1.3) Background Information
Through a co mparat ive analys is of cur rent organizat ional st ruct ures and
deliver y models used, as well as a review of budget ar y and per for mance
management pract ices wit h applied models in t he co mmer cial ent erpr ise a n
att empt will be made t o demonst rat e pot e nt ial efficiency gains as well as
per for mance enhancement of t he over all provisio n of ICT ser vices t o t he
Peace Keeping Operat io ns (P KO’s). This analys is will be conduct ed wit hin
t he cont ext of t he pronounced “ICT St rategy” by t he UN Secret ar y Gener al in

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2002 and t he progress made t o dat e in t he imple ment at ion o f t his st rat egy
(UN, 2002). It will also look in part icular at t he published “Gl obal Field
Support Strat egy” (GFSS) published in 2010 and a recent report by t he
Secret ar y-General out lining I CT init iat ives, which envisio ns organizat ional
changes t o t he ICT organizat io n in peacek eeping missio ns (UN, 2011, UN,
2010a).
The app licabilit y o f per for mance management models such as t he “ Balanced
Scorecard” (BSC) will be examined and co mpared t o t he current ly applied
“r esult s based budget ing” (RBB) which for ms part of t he “result s based
management ” (RBM) framework which has been under imp lement at ion for
so me t ime in t he UN. The RBM and RBB framework cent er around t he
est ablishment o f defined expect ed acco mplishment s and st at ed ind icat ors o f
achievement all for ming part of an effort to implement a co mprehensive
account abilit y fra mework . The imp lement at io n o f t hese frameworks have met
cr it icism bot h fr o m wit hin t he UN syst em, i. e. t he Jo int Inspect ion Unit and
t he advisor y co mmit t ee on administ rat ive and budget ar y quest io ns (ACABQ)
as well as fro m ext ernal sources such as Lipson (2010) who argues t hat “ RBB
is inherently unable to cope with the challenge s of perf ormance ambi guity”
(Ort iz & I no mat a, 2006; Lipson, 2010 ; UN, 2012b). S ince infor mat ion
management and ICT are considered crucial in t he deliver y o f a per for mance
management syst em as is evidenced by t he expect at io ns o f t he implement at io n
of an E nt erpr ise Resource P lanning (ERP) syst em t o provide t he m eans t o
deliver t he RBM framework, t he aut hor aims t o invest igat e if t he BSC could
provide for a bet t er perfor mance management framework in P KO’s and help
to align I CT st rat egies wit h var ious ot her st a t ed strat egies such as t he GFSS,

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towards ser vice deliver y in t he P KO’s (UN, 2012b; UN, 2010a). T he researc h
will invest igat e if proposed organizat ional and management model s for ICT
Service Deliver y t o Peacekeeping missio ns could be ext ended and used as a
framework for t he provisio n o f ot her support services t hat are crucia l t o t he
operat ions o f Peacekeeping missio ns and which are managed by t he
“Depart ment of Fie ld Support ” (DFS).
1.4) Research contribution
Wit h t he wor ld in an econo mic downt urn and t he peacekeeping operat ions in a
per iod o f cont ract ion and conso lidat io n as is evidenced by t he downsiz ing and
closing down o f var io us P KO’s t he need t o define and measure success as
well as deliver ing success fu lly wit h dimi nished resources is beco ming more
and more apparent . The acquired knowledge gained fro m t his resear ch may be
of value t o ICT and no n ICT managers in t he peacekeeping operat ions
glo bally as well as senior management bot h in ICTD and DFS. It could
provide for a different perspect ive on per for m ance management and allo w for
t he deve lopment of success cr it er ia and per for mance measures t hat are
t angible and achievable . E nhancing t he abilit y t o t ranslat e st rat egies int o
act ionable goals t hat consist of Cr it ical Success Fact ors (CSF) and Ke y
Per for ma nce I ndicat ors (KPI) t hat are meaningful and underst andable. T her e
ma y also be benefit s for ot her I nt ernat ional and Non-Pro fit Organizat ions
seek ing t o improve overall organizat ional per for mance wit hin t he cont ext of
exist ing or increasing financial co nst r aint s in t he face o f mount ing pressures
for organizat io ns “t o do more wit h less” as demanded by donors and me mber
st at es while t hey t hemselves co nt inue t o ent er eras o f a ust er it y and econo mic
downt urns (Torsella, 2011) . The research aims t o cont ribut e to t he body o f

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work t hat exist s on t he implement at io n and use o f t he Balanced S corecard in
not -for-profit and public organizat ions wit h a focus on ICT ser vice deliver y
models which ma y make use o f t he BS C more relevant when ICT ser vice
deliver y is being “run l ike a business” wit hin a large organizat ion.
1.5) Research Questions
The resear ch will fo cus on answer ing t he fo llo wing quest ions:
1) Does t he current organizat ional st ruct ure of ICT management and deliver y
model pro vide for t he mo st effic ient and cost effect ive met hod under t he
“Result s Based Budget ing” (RBB) framework adopt ed by t he UN ( Kumar,
n.d.) ?
2) Is it feasible and pr act ical t o run ICT operat ions and t he ICT S er vice
deliver y t o PKO’s o n “Business” pr inciples and will t his approach o ffer
per for mance enhance ment s and efficiencies for t he client as well as t he
organizat io n?
3) Are st rat egic and per for mance management models such as t he “Balanced
Scorecard” applicable in t he UN I CT organizat io n and could t hey o ffer
improved organizat ional and ser vice deliver y per for mance?
4) Can t he proposed “business - like” model for ICT ser vice deliver y be
ext ended t o incorporat e t he full range of Support Services required in
Peacekeeping operat ions? A nd will it provide a met hod t o “do more wit h
less” as a glo bal per spect ive (Torsella, 2011)?

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Chapter Two:
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
2.1 The Evolving Role of ICT
The ro le and funct io ns of I nfor mat io n Techno logy (IT) or Infor mat io n
Co mmunicat ions Techno logy (ICT) as it is also r eferred t o has been evo lving
and chang ing awa y fro m t he mere co ncept of provisio n o f hardware and
so ft ware t o enable a co mpany or an ind ividual t o carr y out it s day t o day
act ivit ies int o a funct ion t hat fost ers st rat egic advant ages by analyz ing,
manipulat ing and supplying vit a l infor mat ion t hat enables infor med dec isio n
making which in t urn enhances organizat ional per for mance . Chun and Mooney
highlight t est imo ny t o t his evo lving ro le in t heir review o f t he ro les and
responsibilit ies o f t he CIO o ver t he p ast t went y- five year s (Chun & Mooney,
2009). More recent ly t he Financia l T imes in a specia l report ent it led “ It’ s
about Inf ormati on, not T echnology” highlight s t he chang ing nat ure and ro le
of t he CIO (Taylor, 2011). Just as t he ro le o f I CT is evo lving in t he business
world so t oo is t here a need for t he adopt io n o f new at t it udes t owards I CT in
t he Unit ed Nat ions P KO’s and what ro le it fulfills t owards t he successful
imple ment at ion o f missio n mandat es and t he support of management dec isio ns
t hat are geared t o wards per for mance improvement s and t he r ealizat ion o f
efficiencies.
2.2) Performance management and measurement.
Lipson (2010) argues t hat it is difficult t o define and assess t he per for mance
of UN peacekeep ing operat ions ma inly due to t he ambiguit y t hat exist s wit hin
t hem and t he applicat ion o f t he Result s Based Budget ing (RBB) framework

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(Lipso n, 2010). The UN Jo int inspect ion unit t oo has cr it ic ized and
highlight ed t he short comings o f t he RBB framework and it s applicat io n in t he
PKO’s part icular ly t he fact t hat only RBB is being implement ed and not ot her
element s o f RBM, t hey also highlight t he need t o improve and bet t er define
t he “expected accomplishment s” as well as t he abilit y t o measur e out put s
(Ort iz & I no mat a, 2006) . “Result s Based Budget ing”, which for ms part of t he
UN’s effort s t o imple ment “Result s Based Managemen t ” (RBM), has also
been met wit h cr it icis m fro m t he Office of I nt ernal Over sight Services
(OIOS), which is an int er na l UN body t hat conduct s audit s and provides
management o versight funct io ns for t he UN at large (UN, 2008) . In a rat her
scat hing report t he OIOS highlight s t he fact t hat t he UN’s r igid rules and
bureaucr acy do not facilit at e t he development o f RBM, t hey find t hat
st at ement s o f result s are o ft en vague making t he measurem ent o f success
difficult , st at ing furt her t hat “perf ormance measures f requently lack baselines
and targets and many are not tracked” (UN.2008).
The “Balanced Scorecard ” ( BSC) met hodology for per for mance management
can be ut ilized when t he var ious “semi i ndependent ” ICT organizat ions
t hroughout t he PKO’s ar e t ransfor med int o a cent ralized “business like”
organizat io n t hat operat es as a “ser vice pr ovider”, focusing on so -called “E nd
to End” ser vice deliver y as descr ibed in a st udy co nduct ed by t he “CI O
Execut ive Board” (CIO Execut ive Board , 2011).
A case st udy conduct ed by Sundin, Granlund & Brown examines t he use o f
t he BS C t o manage mult iple co mpet ing st rat egic object ives. T his is relevant
to t he role t he BS C could play in P KO’s and could help in demyst ifying t he

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“ambiguit y” r elat ed t o per for mance ment ioned ear lier ( Sundin, Gr anlund &
Brown, 2010). These challenges t o perfor mance analys is o f I nt ernat io nal
Organizat ions are not ed by Gut ner and T ho mpson r eferr ing t he “ multipl e and
somet imes conf licting goals”( Markus & P feffer, 1983, Perrow 1986: chapt er
7, Moe, 1989 cit ed in Gut ner & T ho mpson, 2010, p.232 ).
The Balanced Scorecard , int roduced by Kaplan and Norton in t heir semina l
art icle, “The Balanced Scorecard: M easures That Drive Perf ormance” first
published in 1992 int roduced t he co ncept of “linking per for mance measures”
based on four specific st rat egic per spect ives allowing business st rat egy and
vis io n t o be placed at t he cent er and not cont rol. T he four per spect ives
int roduced by Kaplan and Norton are: Financia l P erspect ive; I nt er nal
Business perspect ive; Inno vat io n and Lear ning Per spect ive and; Cust omer
perspect ive. T he image be low shows how t hese per spect ives are linked
toget her. The process beco mes cyclical , and t here is a clear fo cus o n
“cont inuous impro vement ”, a concept adopt ed wit hin t he ITIL framework as
well. One could argue t hat ITIL and BS C o ffer co mplement ar it y in t er ms o f
assessing and impro ving organizat ional per for mance ( Kaplan & Norton,
2005).

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Figur e 1. The Balanced Score Card Links Per for mance Measures.
Source: Kaplan and Norton, The Balanced Scorecard: Measures t hat dr ive
per for mance. HBR, 2005, p.2
2.3) ITIL and running IT as a business.
By applying ITIL co ncept s and fr ameworks relat ed t o a business/ser vice
orient ed approach t here ma y yet be appli c abilit y o f t he BSC approach in order
to measure and improve per for mance despit e t he fact t hat Kong (2008) argues
t hat applicat io n o f t he “BS C” in t he no n -profit environment creat es confusio n
and is ult imat ely not compat ible in t he “ unique non-prof it envi ronment in the
knowl edge economy”( Ko ng, 2008, pp.287 -289). Research quest ion 3 aims t o
est ablish t he valid it y and viabilit y o f t he BSC in t he UN P KO environment ,
which is unique in it s own r ight .

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In a case st udy o f t he IT operat ions o f t he Dut ch Minist r y o f Defense, Curt is
and Govekar (2009) out line in a Gart ner s t udy how t hrough t he applicat ion o f
ICT business pr inciples based on “Inf ormation T echnology Inf rastructure
Library” (ITIL) st andards significant efficiencies were achieved wit hin
exist ing resources (Curt is & Go vekar, 2009). This case st udy has relevance t o
t he aut hor’s research, which seeks t o est ablish t he applicabilit y o f similar
organizat io nal st ruct ures as well as ser vice deliver y models based on ITIL
st andards for t he UN P KO’s.
ITIL is a co llect io n ( librar y) o f books descr ibing best pract ices in a n umber
of areas relat ed t o IT service management , t he ITIL libr ar y was fir st
published in t he UK in t he 1980’s and ha s seen a number o f revisio ns, t he
lat est being ITIL v.3 which was published in 2007. The lat est ver sio n
expanded it s scope by incorporat ing life-cycle perspect ives on t he ser vice
st rat egy, t he ser vice design, t ransit io n as well as ser vice operat ions and
cont inuous improvement while placing st rat egy in t he cent er which ar e
concept s t hat exist wit hin t he BSC as well, providing for a dual framework
t hat is bot h syner gist ic and co mp lement ar y ( Winniford, Conger & Er ickson-
Harr is, 2009, p154).

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Figur e 2. The ITIL v3 Lifecycle.
Source: IT Service Manage ment & ITIL Applicat io n Support, ITIL V3 Life
Cycle, Anderson, B. 2009.
Var ious research has been carr ied out relat ed to t he applicabilit y o f t he BSC
in not -for-profit organizat ions such as gover nment al and non -gover nment a l
organizat io ns which appear t o support t he feas ibilit y o f t he adopt ion o f t he
BSC in such environment s. Chan (2004) who conduct ed a sur vey amo ngst
Canadian and US municipal gover nment s concluded t hat of t he few
organizat io ns t hat succe ssfully imple ment ed t he BSC t he benefit s had
out weighed t he cost s, however in order to successfully imple ment a BSC t he
fact ors t hat were cit ed most were: commit ment and buy - in fro m senior
management and leadership; bu y- in fr om emplo yees and managers; an
organizat io nal cult ur e t hat embraces per for mance excellence; lear ning and
t raining; keep t hings easy t o underst and and use; clear sense o f vis io n,
st rat egy and resu lt s; incent ives t o be linked t o t he BSC; and having t he
requir ed resources t o imp lement a BSC syst em (Chan, 2004). Kap lan and

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Norton t hemselves provided det ails about how t he BSC can be adapt ed for use
in Non-Pro fit and Gover nment organizat ions suggest ing a modified
archit ect ure t hat t akes int o considerat io n t he dualit y definit io n o f “who t he
cust omer is”, i.e. Donors ( member st at es) and const it uent s, consider ing t hat
in not -for-profit and public organizat ions t he financial perspect ive does not
sit at t he top of t he hierar chy ( Kaplan & Norton, 2001, pp.97 -101).
The figur e belo w depict s t his adapt ed scorecard hier archy indicat ing t he
dualit y o f who t he cust o mer is, t he financial do nor or t he re cipient o f t he
ser vice provided.
Figur e 3: Adapt ing the Ba lanced Scor ecar d Fr amewor k t o N onpr of it Or ga nizations
Source: Kaplan & Norton, 2001, p.100

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Ver beet en (2007) in a resear ch st udy invo lving Dut ch Public sect o r
organizat io ns examines per for mance management pract ices in such
organizat io ns and t he impact t hey have on per for mance, suggest ing t hat “ the
def inition of clear and measureable goals are positivel y associat ed with
quantity perf ormance as well as qualit y p erf ormance” (Ver beet en, 2008,
p.442). Furt her mor e Paul R. Niven in his book “Balanced S corecard step-b y-
step f or Government and Nonprof it Agencies” , provides for specific guidance
on t he implement at io n o f a BSC wit hin t he Non -Pro fit sect or offer ing var ious
examples o f successful imp lement at ion of t he BS C as a per for mance
management syst em wit hin t he non-pro fit or public sect or (Niven, 2008) . T his
dissert at ions aims t o est ablish t he applicabilit y o f t he BS C as a per for mance
management s yst em in t he P KO ICT organizat io n, gaining an under st anding
of t he concept s of who by definit io n is t he cust omer is relevant to t he
resear ch quest ion 3.
While t he Unit ed Nat io ns is st r iving t o creat e an organizat ional cult ure o f
cont inuous lear ning t hrough it s perso nal per for mance and develop ment
polic ies, it is o ft en difficult t o det ermine t he linkages bet ween per sona l
per for mance o f st aff and organizat io nal per for mance. T he adopt ion o f BS C
could provide for t he tool t hat links st rat egic organizat io nal goals such as
missio n mandat es and organizat ional per for mance wit h individual
per for mance while fac ilit at ing t he emergence o f a lear ning organizat io n (UN,
2010 b).
St andard ized int egrat ed ICT Ser vice deliver y t o PKO’s will facilit at e t he
furt her development of Knowledge Management S yst ems t hat cont ribut e to

22. 22
enhanced po licy and decis io n making capabilit ies for Manager s in t he field, a
point made by Bo lisani and Damiani in t he ir art icle o n Knowledge
Management in t he P KO’s ( Bo lisani & Damiani, 2010). I mproved knowledge
management s yst ems t hat facilit at e and enhance infor mat io n flo w to
emplo yees in t he field has t he pot ent ial t o improve jo b sat isfact ion, which in
t urn has been proven t o provide for enhanced effic iencie s and improved
ser vice deliver y (Bo nt is, Richards & Serenko, 2011) . Improvement s in
per for mance o f t asks, po lic ies and procedures t hat are linked t o t he st rat egic
and po lit ical goals o f P KO’s ( i.e . implement at io n o f miss io n mandat es)
t hrough improved ICT ser vice deliver y could be framed in t he “ pyrami d of
perf ormance” as proposed by Gut ner and Tho mpson (Gut ner & Tho mpso n,
2010, pp.227-248). It is import ant to underst and t he impact of improved
deliver y and capacit y t o use and analyze infor mat io n for t he cust omer s of t he
ICT organizat io n. Beco ming more ser vice orient ed and cust omer cent r ic ar e
part of “running IT as a business”. T his is be ing explored in t he research
quest io ns 2 and 3.
Figur e 3. P yra mid o f per for mance: Fro m process t o out comes.

23. 23
Source: Gut ner and Tho mpso n, The po lit ics o f IO per for mance: A framework ,
2010, p.236.
In a co llect ion o f resear ch papers by Gart ner which deals wit h t he
opt imizat io n o f IT -ser vice- management a different iat ion is made bet ween “IT
Operating Models” and “Deli very Model s” t he cho ice o f which as is argued
depends o n t he “Business Expectations” of IT (Young, 2011 a, p5). T hese
expect at ions ar e descr ibed as “ Utilit y Ori ented” in which case IT behaves as
a “Cost Cent er” and t he deliver y model cent ers on “Asset and Process model
optimization” using a cent ralized operat ing model. “Enhancement Oriented”
where IT behaves as a “Service Provider” wit h a deliver y mo del fo cused o n
ser vice per for mance as defined in cont ract s using a “f ederated” operat ing
model. Fina lly t here is t he “T ransf ormat ion-Oriented” business expect at io n
which p laces IT in a ro le t hat “Drives the Company” behaving as a “revenue
partner” cent ered o n a value dr iven deliver y model which is run in eit her a
“decent rali zed or increasingly cent rali zed” operat ing model. T he figur e
below shows t he IT Model Hierar chy as descr ibed (Young, 2011 a).
Figur e 4. IT Model Hier archy

24. 24
Source: Young, St rat egic dec isio ns for opt ima l IT ser vice management ,
Gart ner, 2011, p5
In t he same co llect io n of art icles Young descr ibes how t he “ A sset-opti mizing”
IT deliver y model has beco me obso let e because it is not able t o provide t o
moder n ent erpr ises t he t ype o f ser vices it requires (Young, 2011c, p1).
Reco mmendat ions are made for IT organizat ions t o t ransit io n int o a so -called
“Service-Optimi zing” deliver y model in order to posit io n IT at st rat egic
levels o f t he business where it helps t o “ build the business” cont r ibut ing
significant ly t o t he bottom line o f t he business ( Young, 2011b). An
underst anding o f mo der n evo lut io n o f ICT deliver y models is import ant for
t his resear ch in order to draw co mpar is ons wit h t he current st at e of ICT
deliver y models in t he P KO’s.
2.4) Alignment of strategies
In Januar y, 2010, t he Unit ed Nat io ns Depart ment o f Field Support (DFS)
proposed a new st rat egy for Glo bal Field Support . This st rat egy, named
“Global Field Support St rategy” (GFSS), aims t o st andardize and mo ve a
number o f funct ions and processes away fro m missio ns t o “ regional servi ce
centers” and fro m UN Headquart ers to “Global and Regional Servi ce
Centers” (UN, 2010 a). The imp lement at ion and development o f t his st rat egy
bears direct relevance t o t he aut hor’s r esearch since it s aims ar e t o provide
enhanced efficiencies and improved effect iveness o f ser vice deliver y t o t he
field (P KO’s) t hrough g lo bal and regio nal cent ralizat io n and co nso lidat io n.
These development s import ant in t he development of t his dissert at io n, which
seeks t o est ablish t he benefit s o f a differ ent or ganizat io nal st ruct ure such as

25. 25
t he creat ion of a cent ralized ICT, ser vice pro vider organizat ion for t he
PKO’s. I n addit io n t he research is int ended t o build upon t he ICT st rat egy
adopt ed by t he UN General assembly, which seeks t o “ move f rom a
decent rali zed to a f ederated model” (UN, 2011, p.21).
Wit h a clear int ent to shift t he Depart ment o f Field Support towards a fo cus
on t he deliver y o f ser vices in t he field t he aut hor aims t o est ablish t hat a
co mprehensive and fundament al shift in ment alit y and organizat ional cult ure
needs t o be cult ivat ed which embraces t he concept s o f a “World Class Servi ce
Delivery” co mpany (Chase & Hayes, 1991, p.20) of a so -called “Stage 4
f irm” embr acing operat ion s excellence and cont inuous improvement o f t he
t ypes and deliver y o f ser vices t o client s in t he P KO’s (Chase & Hayes, 1991) .
Cheung and To (2010) argue t hat in order to achieve enhanced organizat iona l
out comes and impro ved percept ions o f service per for manc e by client s it is
import ant to ensur e t hat organizat ions for mulat e a c lear “servi ce vi sion,
provi de t raini ng and empower employees” (Cheung & To, p.267), furt her
emphasizing t he r equirement for emplo yee invo lvement t hrough effect ive
infor mat io n shar ing an d emplo yee feedback mechanis ms in order t o facilit at e
such organizat io nal change.
The applicat io n o f t he BSC and concept s such as t he “ closed loop
management syst em” ( Kaplan & Norton, 2008) could prove t o be applicable if
t he approach t o providing ICT ser vices t o t he P KO’s cent ers around
embr acing t he co ncept o f operat ing like a ICT ser vice provider t hat is semi -
aut onomous wit hin t he UN Depart ment of Field Support and endeavors to
creat e st rat egic goals t hat are aligned wit h t h e needs o f t he o veral l

26. 26
subst ant ive/po lit ical and humanit ar ian goals dict at ed by t he miss io n mandat e ,
est ablishing missio n mandat e program deliver y ele ment s as t he main client
base for t he ICT ser vice provisio n while not forgett ing ot her missio n support
element s at t he same t ime . T he inclusio n of no nfinancial measures t o evaluat e
organizat io nal per for mance in t he proposed cont ext of ICT ser vice deliver y t o
PKO’s may prove t o be useful for t he development of a n impro ved
per for mance management framework t hat i s bet t er able t o link st rat egies wit h
out put allowing for bet t er ways t o for mulat e per for mance indicat ors.
2.5) Summary:
This chapt er reviewed published academic and UN specific document s relat ed
to subject s t hat are der ived fro m t he research quest io ns. I t highlight s t he
evo lving ro le o f I CT in t he ent erpr ise and t he requir ement of t he I CT
organizat io n in t he P KO’s t o do t he same. It ident ifies t rends in t he t ransit io n
and mat urat ion o f IT service deliver y mo dels and t he need for IT to posit ion
it self at a st rat egic level o f t he business where it provides value t o t he bott om
line o f t he business. T he lit erat ure provides ins ight s in t he use and
applicabilit y o f t he BSC in not -for-profit and public organizat io ns, indicat ing
t hat t here is real pot ent ial for t h ese syst ems t o be applied in such
organizat io ns and br ing benefit s. The use of ITIL in ICT organizat io ns has
proven pot ent ial t o enhance per for mance by focusing in ser vice deliver y t o
t he cust omer and embr acing a cult ur e of cont inual ser vice improvement . It
furt her mor e highlight s t he import ance of infor mat io n and knowledge
management in t he P KO’s in t he pur suit of miss io n mandat e implement at io n.
ICT ser vice de liver y should at t he core have a clear infor mat io n management
st rat egy wit h which it is closely ali gned. Defining, underst anding and

27. 27
support ing t he implement at io n of organizat io nal st rat egies such as t he GFSS
are crucial for t he ICT ser vice deliver y to be successful and enable it t o
enhance organizat ional per for mance.
Fro m t he lit er at ure and t he review o f UN document s an emergent t heor y
ar ises t hat t he UN ICT organizat io n and t he UN P KO’s should expect
improved per for mance by:
1. Adopt ion o f ITIL v3 as a framework to shift t he I CT deliver y mode l t o one
t hat is ser vice or ient ed and cust o mer focuse d.
2. Development o f Balanced Scorecard s that are based o n exist ing st rat egies
and t ake int o considerat io n missio n mandat es and st rat egies t hat are der ived
fro m t hem in order to ensure alignment of st rat egies.
3. Est ablishing meaningfu l met r ics t hat are ba sed on achievable goals and
t arget s developed wit h t he BS C, which uses per spect ives relevant t o t he UN
PKO’s.
It is furt her more hypot hesized t hat t he development o f a Balanced Scorecar d
approach could help t o impro ve and expand on t he heavily cr it icized “Result s
Based Management” and “Results Based Budgeting” frameworks.

28. 28
Chapter Three:
METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH DESIGN
3.1) Introduction
The research t hat will be co nduct ed as part of t his dissert at ion is o f a n
explorat ory nat ure, which was deemed most appropr iat e for seeking t o
ident ify t he why and how issues surrounding t he ICT deliver y t o t he PKO’s
and per for mance manage ment and measur ement exist and not part icular ly ho w
oft en or how many. Fro m t he lit erat ure review it has beco me clear t hat
per for mance management and measureme nt in t he Unit ed Nat io ns cont inues t o
be a cont ent ious and debat ed issue wit h member st at es and int er nal o vers ight
bodies expressing t heir dissat isfact io n. The research aims t o suggest possible
so lut ions t hrough an swer ing t he st at ed resear ch quest ions and t o propose
furt her research int o t he development o f per for mance management syst e ms
for t he P KO’s.
Research met hodo logy is defined by Whit e as t he “ philosophi cal basi s on
which research is f ounded” ( Whit e, 2000, pp.20-21) while specific t echniques
used t o gat her dat a and infor mat ion are referred t o as “ methods”.
3.2) Research methodology rationale
The research examines t he ICT organizat ion t hat for ms part of t he Unit ed
Nat ions Peacekeeping organizat io ns, which fa lls under t he Depart ment o f
Field Support . The aut hor’s int ent is t o ext ract r ich infor mat ion fro m a
spec ific sample o f me mber s o f t hat organizat ion. Use o f qualit at ive dat a is
deemed mo st suit able given t he fact t hat capt ur ing opinio ns, exper iences and

29. 29
knowledge o f t he subject s is import ant in for mulat ing an opinio n o f t he
current st at e of t he I CT organizat ion and it s effect iveness as well as t est ing
t he validit y o f t he t heor y hypot hesized as part of t he lit er at ure review . Whit e,
(2000) st at es t hat researchers support qualit at ive met hods since research t akes
place in “actual everyday settings” invest igat ing “the way peopl e react, work
and manage”, dat a is t herefore co llect ed and int erpr et ed in a “ descripti ve,
non-numerical way” ( Whit e, 2000, p28) . While quant it at ive dat a in man y
cases for ms part of t he dat a co llect ed in case st udies it is most o ft en
qualit at ive dat a t hat is predo minant (Patton & Appelbaum, 2003). Given t he
fact t hat t his research is explorat ory in nat ure seeking t o det ermine “why” and
“how” issues relat ed t o ICT deliver y and per for mance management occur and
how t hey might be addressed, a lot more infor mat io n in t he shape o f ideas and
exper iences can be acquired t hrough qualit at ive met hods o f dat a co llect ion.
3.3) Data collection methods
An o nline quest ionna ir e o f a qua lit at ive nat ure will be submit t ed to a tot al o f
8 senior manager s bot h in t he ICT fie ld and in t he general administ rat ion and
finance depart ment s o f bot h UN -HQ offices as well as P KO and ot her field
based offices. The qualit a t ive elect ronic sur vey is administ er ed using t he
Int ernet (ht t p://www.surveygiz mo.co m), which was chosen because t he aut hor
is familiar wit h t his ser vice and because it offer s easy t o under st and
int er faces and ext ensive help and support in develo ping o nline quest io nnaire,
it also has ver y good automat ed report ing t ools built int o t he syst em. T he
sur vey consist s o f 8 open quest ions in essay st yle in order t o so licit t hought s
and opinio ns fro m t he r esearch subject s. The develo pment and rat ionale o f t he

30. 30
sur vey quest ions is discussed below and a list o f survey quest ions is annexed
in annex “A”.
Four int erviews will be conduct ed wit h specifically select ed member s o f
management . These four resear ch candidat es are select ed because t he y
represent t he most senior management level, t he glo bal operat iona l
management level and a regio na l P KO level. I n part icular , management
members o f t he Unit ed Nat ions Glo bal S ervice Cent er (UNGSC) who will be
int er viewed are felt t o co nt ribut e most subst ant ially t o t he research subject of
ICT ser vice deliver y as well as t he adopt ion o f t he BS C and ot her st rat egic
and per for mance management frameworks such as ITIL (Infor mat io n
Techno logy I nfrast ruct ure Librar y) st andards t hat have been a dopt ed in
co mparable organizat ions such as t he Net her lands Defense forces (Curt is &
Govekar, 2009).
3.4) Case Study rationale
Some o f t he st rengt hs o f case st udy research, such as allo wing for “ early,
exploratory investigations” when issues are not fully under st ood or unknown
as well as t he development o f t heor y fro m under st and ing acquir ed t hrough t he
obser vat ion o f pract ices in t heir nat ural sett ings ( Bebenat et .al, 1987 cit ed i n
Voss, Tsikr ikt sis and Fro lich, 2002, p.197) are part icular ly applicab le in t he
cont ext of t he research quest io ns and t he emergent t heory developed t hrough
t he lit erat ure review. Case st udies fo r m import ant research t racks for
management and organizat ional science st at ing t hat “ the unique strength is it s
ability t o deal with a f ull variet y of evi dence, documents, artif acts, intervi ews
and observations” (Yin, 1984, cit ed in P atton & Appelbau m, 2003, p.63).

31. 31
3.5) Population and Sampling
The popu lat io n t o be select ed for dat a co llect io n will consist o f Unit ed
Nat ions st aff t hat work in t he Depart ment of Field Support as well as UN
st aff t hat work in t he Peacekeeping Operat ions in t he fie ld. Fro m t his
populat ion a sample o f senior manager s in bot h t he ICT organizat io n and
general administ rat ive and financ ia l management areas will be select ed. E ach
manager select ed will have many years of exper ience working for t he Unit ed
Nat ions Peacekeeping Oper at ions . This group was sampled on t he basis o f
get t ing t he mo st useful and in dept h infor mat io n re lat ed t o t he r esearch
quest io ns. S ince t he aut hor has more t han 20 years exper ience in t he UN
organizat io n he is well posit io ned and int imat ely familiar wit h t he manager s
t hat have t he mo st significant amount of exper ience in t he organizat io n,
because o f t his he also ha s relat ively eas y access t o t hese manager s. Based on
t hese fact s t he aut hor used a “purposi ve sampling ” for t he select io n o f t he
individuals. Whit e (2000) descr ibes how if a range o f t opics needs t o be
ident ified, samples should be used t hat will “provide a vari ety of
inf ormation”, t his t hen is referred t o a s “het erogeneous sampling ” ( Whit e,
2000, p63).
In order t o so licit dat a t hat will be manageable a t rade -off is suggest ed
bet ween “ef f iciency and richness of dat a” (Leo nard-Bart on, 1990 cit ed in
Voss, Tsikr ikt sis and Fro lich, 2002, p.205). Wit h t his in mind t he sample
select ed for t he resear ch is deemed t o be mo st appropr iat e bot h in t er ms o f
t heir posit io n in t he organizat io n, i.e. clo seness t o ICT st rat egy development

32. 32
and execut io n, as well as a samp le t hat will o ffer a quant it y o f dat a t hat is
manageable by t he aut hor wit hin t he const raint s o f t ime and accessibilit y t o
resear ch subject s.
3.6) Development of survey questions
The quest ions t hat were used in t he o nline quest io nnaire wer e developed wit h
t he aim t o solic it r ich feedback on subject s relat ed t o t he research quest ions .
They were of a qualit at ive nat ure since this r esearch is explorat ory in nat ure
seek ing t o ident ify issues and possible solut io ns fro m t he research subject s.
The quest io ns use an essay st yle answer format in order for t he respondent s t o
provide t heir opinio ns and views on issues .
Quest io ns 1 and 2 seek input and feedback on issues such as I CT deliver y t o
t he fie ld, t he alignment of ICT st rat egies wit h t he mandat e or operat iona l
goals o f t he missio ns and what t he respondent s feel should or could be do ne
to opt imize ICT ser vice deliver y.
Quest io ns 3, 4 and 5 seek t o gain an underst anding as t o t he import ance o f
ICT deliver y and it s impact on organizat ional per for mance. They also se ek t o
capt ure t he level o f sat isfact ion wit h current per for mance management and
measurement frameworks as well as so licit ing ideas as t o what and how t o
improve t he per for mance o f miss io n support ele ment s.
Quest io n 6 deals wit h t he GFSS, which is set t o change t he model o f ser vice
deliver y t o t he field . Respondent s wer e asked about t heir opinio ns on t he
likely impact of t his st rat egy on t he per fo r mance o f ser vice deliver y.
Quest io n 7 asks t he respo ndent s about t heir opinio n o n t he implicat ions o f t he
adopt ion o f I nt er nat ional Public Ser vices Account ing St andards (IPS AS) as

33. 33
t he aut hor felt t hat t hese might have an impact on organizat iona l
per for mance.
Quest io n 8 seeks out t he r espo ndent s ’ knowledge and fa miliar it y wit h t he
Balanced Scorecard as a per for mance management framework.
Last ly, respondent s will be asked t o ident ify which manageme nt support
element t hey belo ng t o in order to be able t o differ ent iat e bet ween ICT and
non-I CT manager s and draw co mpar iso ns bet ween t he answer s provided.
A list of sur vey quest io ns is at t ached in Annex “A”.
3.7) Analytical methods
The result s o f t he quest ionnaire will be analyzed by ident ifying major t heme s
relat ed to t he research quest io ns and at t empt s will be mat e t o link t hese
result s back t o t he t heory and hypot hesis t hat has been developed t hrough t he
lit erat ure review and UN d ocument s research.
The r ich dat a co llect ed fro m t he int er vie ws will be analyzed by t ranscr ibing
linking and ident ifying t hemes t hat will have emerged fro m t he quest io nnair e
dat a. The int er view dat a will be analyzed for t hemes and linkages t hat
validat es dat a obt ained fro m t he quest ionnaire and builds on or expands t he
t heor y and hypot hesis developed t hrough t he lit erat ure review.
3.8) Reliability and Validity of the Data
While t he dat a co llect ed is fro m a relat ively small sample t he reliabilit y o f
t he dat a is assumed t o be credible because t he research subject s are manager s
wit h many years o f exper ience in t he Unit ed Nat ions and in part icular in t he
PKO’s. The feedback sou ght fro m t hem is not deemed cont roversial nor would
giving honest feedback have any negat ive impact on t he subject s’ st at us or

34. 34
career in t he organizat io n. Subject s are t herefore not ant icipat ed t o provide
dat a t hat is false or misleading. T he research would no doubt yie ld t he same
result s if repeat ed wit h t he same research subject s.
Dat a for t he quest io nnaires will be collect ed ano nymously t o safeguard
confident ialit y and only aggregat ed answer s will be t ranscr ibed. T he
int er views will be conduct ed using S kype in order to enable recording t he
int er views. T he candidat es were advised and infor med t hat t heir ident it ies
will not be made explic it in t his dissert at ion or in t he int er view t ranscr ipt s,
where t hey will be referred t o as candidat e A, B, et c.
The validit y o f t he dat a is considered t o t he ext ent t hat t he opinio ns and
viewpo int s so licit ed are based on t he subject s per sonal knowledge and
exper ience. T he quest ions and int er views were designed in such a manner as
to solic it infor mat io n r elevant t o answer t he research quest io ns and build
upon t he t heor y and hypot heses developed t hrough t he lit erat ure review.
3.5) Weaknesses
As t his research is explorat ory in nat ure and since t he samp le size is quit e
small consider ing t he t ot alit y o f t he Peacekeeping Operat i ons it would be
inappropr iat e t o make any generalizat io ns based on t his research.
3.6) Summary
The research met hods and design used for t his case st udy were chosen in
order to obt ain infor mat io n and dat a on perspect ives o f ICT ser vice deliver y
improvement s t hrough adopt ion o f fr ameworks for per for mance management
based on t he Balanced S corecard and t he ITIL framework for cont inuous

35. 35
improvement of ser vices in UN peacekeeping operat ions. This chapt er
descr ibed t opics such as t he met hodo logy and met hods as we ll as t echniques
and rat ionale used for dat a collect ion and analys is. T he next chapt er wil l
discuss t he find ings and analys is o f t he d at a solic it ed t hrough t he sur vey and
int er views.

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Chapter Four:
PRESENTATION OF RESULTS
4.1) Results of the E-Survey:
The elect ronic sur vey was sent to eight individuals consist ing o f bot h ICT and
non-I CT managers all part of t he UN P eacekeep ing organizat ion. Fro m t he
eight subject s five individuals responded all t hem fro m t he ICT management
field; no ne o f t he respo ndent s wer e part of ot her manager ial fields.
The fo llowing sect io n provides t he specific quest io ns and t he answers as
received to t he quest ions.
4.1.1) Questions and Responses:
Q1. What is your opinion on the alignment of ICT services and ICT service strategies with the
strategy/mandate and operational goals of the mission/organization?
Response
Well aligned.
There are efforts to extract goals and objectives from the vision of UN. It can be recognized in
GFSS, that ICT is integral part of, and implementation of ICT service as one of the core in
UNGSC.
We are doing relatively well at aligning ICT Service Delivery with the Strategic Direction of
the Organization.
There is no alignment in that those responsible for service delivery in the mission have no say
in the delivery of ICT services. The local ICT component reports to the CMS/DMS but has all
strategic direction from ICTD (which in turn reports to the USG of DFS.
Presently the alignment of ICT services and strategies with mandate delivery and operational
goals is weak.

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Q2. What do you believe should/could be done to optimize ICT service delivery to the various
stakeholders/clients within the mission/organization?
Response
The CMS/DMS should form part of the governance panel creating and approving strategic
ICT direction.
Apply the best practices such as ITIL already prove to be way of improving the way how doe
we do business and deliver services.
Invest in mobile computing. High-level customers are not aware what existing systems can do
for them.
The ICT organization in a mission needs to be repositioned or realigned to report to the Head
of the Mission. ICT needs to be seen as a strategic enabler, which not only provides hardware
and software, but also advises senior management and provides solutions that better support
the goals of the missions.
A more formal Strategic Management and Measurement Frameworks across the organization
would help e.g. Balance Score Card linked to CSFs, the to KPIs would help quantifying our
success
Q3. Do you believe that ICT service delivery has an impact on organizational performance,
could you describe why and how.
Response
Yes.
Absolutely. Today ICT permeates all facets and sectors within a mission. Without ICT,
missions would come to a grinding halt. Organizational performance is directly linked to
successful ICT delivery.
Comet is a good example. ICT created the need for the client application rather than the
client deciding what his needs is.
Delivery of end-to-end services by ICT is of paramount importance for business continuity.
Any interruption can have serious interruption in organizations business performance.
Yes, ICT is a key organizational enabler.. Should ICT be removed as a capability from DFS,
DFS could not achieve its mandate

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Q4. If you were asked to find ways to improve organizational performance what would you
focus on, which areas of support elements for peacekeeping operations would you consider
prime candidates for performance improvement.
Response
Enterprise applications, especially self-service modules.
In my opinion, the focus should be on leadership and governance.
Before you talk about performance you need to find real metrics on which to measure it by.
What do you mean performance...financial, mandate implementation, lives saved, people fed?
Concentrate on defining success, than design ways of measuring successful progress to
achieving this success.
Human Resources and Logistics. In short, the human resources policies of this Organization
do not lend themselves to the modern, mobile workforce that is required for successful
peacekeeping support. It has historically been unable to provide personnel with the right
competence in a timely fashion. On the Logistics side, again historically they have failed to
provide the material and structures required in support of missions, particularly in an upstart
situation where logistics are most critical, and impact is felt the most.
We should review again all our business processes and apply some of the tools for quality
management to improve them. We have to have more engagement of business units when we
enroll new IT systems to support them.
Q5. Are you satisfied that an adequate performance management system is in place to
measure and manage performance of support elements such as ICT within PKO's, please
elaborate.
Response
No, because there are none. See comment above...how does PK measure success?
No. However this is very difficult to achieve.
There are good elements, which could be improved via harmonization throughout
DFS/DPKO.
We are still missing many CSFs and KPIs to measure our processes in a right way.
No. We are lacking in this area. While there are many local efforts, we need to identify and
systematically collect metrics that will facilitate the creation of performance across the entire
enterprise. While that is happening today, it will take some time, as the underlying tools aren't
always there.

39. 39
Q6. What is your opinion on the "Global Field Support Strategy" and it's likely impact on the
performance of Service delivery?
Response
ICTD is already there for some time. Nothing new for us.
It is a concept that has no proof of worth. How much money will it save, how will it make us
more efficient. Is it trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist? Moving support away from
where the clients are doesn't seem very service orientated. There is a severe feudalistic state
amongst those sharing the services from the RSCs as well.
It is difficult to say. While the strategy introduces some good elements, the impact on SD will
really depend on how it is implemented.
Some of the parts of GFSS have success, such as modularization, which has a big impact on
CIT. And of course, it affects service delivery, especially on the level of establishing GSC.
I support the concepts and the underlying premise of the GFSS. I believe that doing things
centrally thereby reducing the footprint particularly in dangerous or hardship locations is a
good thing. The difficulty is in the implementation.
Q7. What is your opinion on the implementation of "IPSAS" (International Public Services
Accounting Standards) and how would you assess it's impact on organizational performance.
Response
Organizational performance will become more visible.
It will be challenge for all of us, but as been proven international standard adopted for our
business it will only improve performance. In pre-implementation phase there is a lot of
training and awareness initiatives, which will help a lot during deployment.
It is being over exaggerated. it simply changes the way we report balance sheets and involves
accrual accounting. It won't change true performance in implementing mandates efficiently.
IPSAS is a mandated activity. It has been proven in other public sector organizations to
improve organizational performance by providing senior leadership and member states with
the actual costs of operations.

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Q8. Please describe what you know about the "Balanced Scorecard" approach to linking
strategy with performance management and measurement.
Response
A step too far for this organization.
It is a great tool, and we are using it within our "mission".
We have it in UNGSC.
We used BSC in our UNGSC. From GSC strategy we recognized some of the main objectives
and goals that we map into four perspectives and create different CSFs and KPIs, to measure
our achievements against our strategy.
While I am familiar with the concept and approach and support its premise, it is not currently
practiced in great detail within our Organization.
4.2) Results and synthesis of Interviews:
Based on t he feedback received in t he elect ronic quest ionnaire t he aut hor
conduct ed four int er views wit h manager s and senior managers o f t he ICT
organizat io n.
Due t o t he fact t hat t he sur vey had r evealed t hat in one part icular operat io n
which for ms part of t he field ICT organizat ion t he BSC had in fact bee n
imple ment ed t he aut hor decided to int er view t wo manager s fro m t his
organizat io n where t hese subject s per for m senior level manager ial funct ions
relevant to ICT service management . The office/ base in which t hey work is
t he UN Glo bal Ser vice Cent er (UNGSC) in Valencia Spain, which has been
inaugurat ed in 2011. It perfor ms t he funct ion o f t he main ICT hub for all
Peacekeeping Operat io ns, providing connect ivit y and var ious ot her IT
ser vices. This base ser ves as t he operat ional ar m o f t he Infor mat io n
Co mmunicat ions Techno logy Divis io n in UN headquart ers.

41. 41
The int er views consist ed o f one or t wo seed quest io ns aft er which t he
int er view would be conduct ed as a conver sat io n seeking to ext ract
infor mat io n relat ed t o t he subject s o f t he Balanced Scorecard, applicat ion o f
st andards, per for mance management and measurement as well as t he t hought s
and opinio ns o f t hese manager s as t o how in t heir views t he ICT deliver y t o
t he field could be improved and also gauging t heir opinio ns on t he concept o f
providing ICT ser vices to t he PKO’s based on a business model fo llowing
ITIL fr ameworks for ser vice deliver y as descr ibed in t he Gart ner Case St udy
on t he ICT Operat ions in t he Net her lands Defense forces (Curt is & Govekar,
2009).
4.2.1) Balanced Scorecard at the UN Global Service Center
Fro m t he discussio ns wit h t he t wo int er viewees t he aut hor lear nt t hat in t he
development o f a Balanced Scorecard for t he UNGS C a st rat egy was
developed t hat was clo sely aligned wit h t he GFSS since t he development of
t he UNGS C was direct ly linked t o t hat st rat egy (UN, 2010 a). The respondent s
admit t edly st at ed t hat ver y lit t le t o no aspect s o f t he UN ICT strategy wer e
incorporat ed in t he UNGSC developed st rat egy (UN, 2011) as it was fe lt t o
have lit t le relevance to t he purpose of t he UNGS C. St rat egic guidance
however was incorporat ed fro m t he annually produced I CTD st rat egic
guidance document , which cont ains ele ment s t hat are linked back t o t he UN
ICT st rat egy.
The int er viewees indicat ed t hat in order t o develop t he BS C an out side
consu lt ant was hir ed t o help wit h t he est ablishment o f Cr it ical Success
Fact ors (CSF) and det er mine Key Per formance I ndicat ors (KPI) for t he
per for mance per iod. The int er viewees st at ed t hat t he development o f t he BS C

42. 42
helped t hem t o “creat e a bri dge bet ween the st rat egy and what actua ll y
happens, and to have a comprehensive measurement f rame work that enables
them to measure success” t he imple ment at ion o f t he BSC in UNGSC was do ne
last year July aft er t he inaugurat io n of t he sit e , t he real impact of t he BSC has
yet t o beco me clear. H owever bot h managers indicat ed t hat t hey believe it t o
be a ver y valuable t ool. They also co nfir med t hat t his approach has cert a inl y
not been pract iced much in t he UN as far as t hey were awar e.
4.2.2) BSC and ITIL
The aut hor discussed t he issue o f co mple m ent ar it y bet ween t he BS C and ITIL
frameworks and asked t he respondent s how t hey co mbined t hese t wo
frameworks in t he UNGS C. While t he t wo frameworks are not specifically
co mbined, i.e. t he BS C is a per for mance management / measurement framework
while ITIL is a ser vice management framework; t he measur ement s o f success
relat ed to each fr amework are in fact used in co mplement ar it y. One
int er viewee st at ed t hat t here is a need to make a dist inct io n bet ween
“cont inuous improvement ” which is part of t he BS C and “co nt inuous ser vice
improvement ” (CSI), which is an element o f ITIL. Cont inuous S er vice
I mprovement is co nduct ed separat ely in t he UNGS C aft er having ident ified a
spec ific number o f processes and subsequent ly fo cusing on how t o impro ve
and enhance t hese cr it ic al processes.
4.2.3) Performance Management/Measurement
In discussio ns on t he subject of per for mance management and measurement
t here was broad co nsensus amo ngst all individuals t hat t he P KO’s are lacking
in t hat area. T he result s based budget ing framewor k which for ms part o f t he
result s based management framework was descr ibed by o ne ind ividua l as “ an

43. 43
exerci se in creative writing” st at ing fur t her t hat RBB is a fut ile exer cise
simply because it allows program managers t o creat e t heir own lo ft y hig h
level goals which are craft ed in such a ma nner t hat t hey will mo st cert ainly be
achieved. All int er viewees expressed t he need t o find bet t er ways t o measur e
success and t o develo p met r ics and cr it er ia t hat are clear and t angible. One
senior manager st at ed t hat it is import ant however “not to creat e an i ndustry
around the collection of the inf ormation needed f or measurement” but rat her
leverage exist ing syst ems, procedures and processes t o gat her infor mat io n and
generat e met r ics which ought t o be present ed t o management t hrough t he use
of so -called “dashboards”, which would enable manager s t o make infor med
decis io ns based on accur at e dat a and allow t hem t o monit or how t hey are
doing in r espect o f spec ific t arget s set . Management should t hen also be held
account able for meet ing t he specific t arget s set .
4.2.4) ICT Service Delivery Model
In discussio ns wit h t he int er viewees on t he overall st rat egies and mechanis ms
for ICT deliver y t o t he fie ld t he aut hor asked what t heir opinio ns are on
running t he ICT organizat ion for t he fie ld more along business mode ls such as
t he case in t he Net her lands Defense Forces which has creat ed an organizat io n
named “IVENT” which as an independent support branch group provides t he
full sphere o f infor mat io n management and t echno logies not just to t he
Net her lands defense organizat io n but also for ot her organizat io ns t hat dea l
wit h secur it y and public order (IVENT, 2012) . As such t his organizat ion had
been subject t o a case st udy by Gart ner (Curt is & Go vekar, 2009) . T hree o f
t he subject s were o f t he opinio n t hat in so me ways t he ICT organizat io n is
slowly mo ving in a similar direct ion as descr ibed. Wit h t he creat ion o f t he

44. 44
UNGSC and a definit e push t o cent ralize more ICT applicat io ns and syst ems
as well as t he applicat ion o f ITIL pr inciple s in t he UNGS C, respondent s
indicat ed t hat t here is a definit e shift in t he ICT deliver y model. One
respondent spoke o f a current pro ject t hat is being worked on t hat aims t o
est ablish chargeback mechanis ms for t he provisio n o f cent ralized ICT
ser vices t hat will be delivered fro m t he UNGSC t o t he P KO’s. T he respondent
expressed however t hat in order t o create a model such as t he IVENT group
for t he Net her lands defense forces , significant changes would have t o be
int roduced int o t he UN’s for ma l resource allo cat io n and management
st ruct ures, in part icular t he human resources management , which cont inues t o
be managed cent rally b y t he Office o f Human Resource Management (OHRM)
and t he Fie ld Perso nnel Divis io n ( FPD) inst ead of t he program managers. I n
t he opinio n o f t he respondent s, in order t o t ransfor m t he current UN P KO ICT
organizat io n int o t he Dut ch model descr ibed it would require an ICT
organizat io n t hat would have cont rol over it s human resources in a lmost ever y
aspect , as it st ands t his is not t he case. One respondent expressed concer n
about t he possibilit y o f a n I CT ser vice provider alo ng t he lines descr ibed
which beco mes aut onomous may end up beco ming “self -serving” as an
independent ent it y and would be dr iven more by it s dr ive t o achieve it s own
goals and object ives as an organizat io n rat her t han ser ving and working
towards t he achievement of t he P KO’s goals and object ives. All int er viewees
expressed t he need for t he I CT deliver y model t o cont inue t o evo lve int o a
more cent ralized approach wher e possible and cert ainly explor e t he
possibilit ies of int egrat ing more cont ract ual ser vices int o t he ICT
Organizat ion. S evera l individuals ind icat ed t hat t he fair ly high level o f
independence t hat is enjo yed by t he P KO’s to bot h int erpret t heir mandat es as

45. 45
well as developing t heir own programs of deliver y due t o t he absence o f a
bet t er cent ralized st ruct ure of po lic y gu idance and st rat egic dir ect io n lends
it self for cont inued ineffic iencies. One respondent co mment ed t hat indeed t he
use o f t he Balanced Sco recard could ser ve as a unifying t ool t hat provides for
consist ency in t rans lat ing t he missio n mandat e, which in essence is t he
st rat egic goal o f t he miss io n, int o a number o f spec ific measurable goals
based on t he relevant perspect ives.
4.2.5) Global Field Support Strategy
In discussio ns o n t he GFSS and it s relevance/ impact on t he ICT Deliver y
st rat egies one part icipant felt t hat while t here is definit e ly mer it in t he
organizat io nal st ruct ure proposed regarding t he est ablishment o f t he UNGS C
he expressed doubt s as t o t he usefulness of t he proposed Regio nal Support
Cent ers, st at ing t hat he felt t his was mer ely adding anot her la yer in t he
st ruct ure t hat really would not offer many benefit s, he could see how t he
st ruct ure of (UN Headquart ers – Glo bal Ser vice Cent er – Missio n specific
ICT) could reap benefit s, adding an addit ional Regio nal S er vice Cent er in t he
mix would add one layer t o man y. Ot her s however disagr eed and st at ed t hat
depending on specific reg io nal cir cumst ances t here are real benefit s f ro m t he
regio nal ser vice cent er. The examp le given was t he est ablished RSC i n
Ent ebbe, Uganda, which ser ves as t he r egio nal hub provid ing administ rat ive
and support funct ions for seven regio nal PKO’s in East Afr ica (RS CE, 2012).
One perso n furt her clar ified t hat it is relat ive proximit y o f a large group of
large P KO’s which have t he benefit of a relat ively developed and
sophist icat ed UN t ransport at ion net work cons ist ing o f chart ered aircraft at
t heir disposal, t his put s t he RS CE wit hin reach for t he mu lt it ude o f st aff and

46. 46
provides for super ior log ist ics capabilit ies, he expr essed doubt as t o t he
success o f RS C’s in ot her regio n’s simply because o f t he lack o f exist ing
infrast ruct ure and logist ical capabilit ies in add it io n t o accessibilit y t o var ious
count r ies in d iffer ent regio ns such as for inst ance t he Middle East whic h
would furt her co mplicat e t he feasibilit y of an RS C in t his regio n.
4.3 Summary
This chapt er provided t he dat a obt ained from t he elect ronic quest ionnaire and
t he int er views conduct ed wit h se lect ed candidat es o f t he UN ICT organizat io n
t he next chapt er will pro vide an analys is of t hese result s.

47. 47
Chapter Five:
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
5.1) Analysis of Questionnaire:
5.1.1) ICT Strategy alignment:
While effort s are being made t o develop st rat egies t hat are aligned wit h t he
st rat egy/ mandat e of P KO’s o verall feedback indicat es t hat t he ICT
organizat io n is lacking in t his area. Respondent s indicat e t hat t his is linked t o
t he fact t hat t he ICT organizat io n is not posit io ned r ight in t hat it does not
report direct ly t o heads of missio ns and does not for m part of t he senior
management group t hat develops and det er mines st rat egies r elat ed t o missio n
mandat e imple ment at ion.
5.1.2) ICT Service delivery and Organizational Performance:
Respondent s gener ally co nsider t hat ICT ser vice deliver y has a dir ect and
immediat e impact on organizat io nal per formance, per haps best encapsulat ed
by one specific response: “Today ICT permeates all f acets and sectors withi n
a mission. Wit hout I CT, mi ssions would come to a gri nding halt.
Organi zational perf ormance i s di rectly l inked to successf ul ICT delivery”.
Having said t hat it also beco mes clear t hat many feel t hat ICT ser vice
deliver y is in real need for improveme nt in order t o facilit at e impro ved
organizat io nal per for mance. The most prominent suggest ions as t o opt imizing
ICT ser vice deliver y seems t o cent er around t he need t o develop appropr iat e
per for mance management / measur ement frameworks wit hin our organizat io n
such as t he Ba lanced Scorecard and relat ed met r ics in order t o adequat ely

48. 48
define and measure success. T his is furt her emphasized t hrough t he r espo nses
received t o quest io n five, which seeks to so licit feedback on t he level o f
sat isfact io n relat ed t o t he exist ence o f an adequat e per for mance management
syst em. The major it y of respo ndent s who leheart edly express t heir
dissat isfact io n wit h current per for mance ma nagement s yst ems in place.
5.1.3) Centralization and Standards
The int roduct io n o f t he Glo bal F ield Support St rat egy and it s impact on ICT
ser vice deliver y t o t he P KO’s is mor e pr onounced in t he UN Glo bal Ser vice
Cent er and mo st respondent s provide mixed feedback o n t he impact and
imple ment at ion o f t he st rat egy. While so me feel t hat cent raliz ing ser vice
deliver y and r educing t he local foot print at t he missio n level is a posit ive
development , ot hers feel t hat it will not yield any posit ive result s in t er ms o f
improving ser vices t o t he client s. T he emphasis by most respondent s is placed
on t he imple ment at ion o f t he st rat egy and t heir lack o f co nvict io n as t o t he
organizat io n’s abilit y t o do so. The implement at io n o f t he IPS AS st andar d
(Int ernat ional Public S e r vices Account ing St andard) generat es a mixed
feedback fro m t he respo ndent s wit h so me st at ing t hat it is “ over exaggerat ed”
and ot hers expressing t heir believe t hat it will make organizat io na l
per for mance more vis ible.
5.1.4) The Balanced Scorecard
While so me responses relat ed t o t he quest ion about t he familiar it y wit h t he
BSC were negat ive, t he aut hor was surpr ised t o not e t hat so me responders
indicat ed t hat t hey had adopt ed and use t he BS C in t heir organizat ion. T he
response was surpr is ing since t he aut h or, despit e having int imat e knowledge
wit h t he UN organizat io n and specifically t he I CT organizat io n was not aware

49. 49
t hat BSC was being applied so mewher e or perhaps had assumed t hat it was
not .
5.2) Analysis and interpretation of the interview data
Based o n t he result s obt ained fro m t he E -Survey and t he ana lysis o f t he dat a
obt ained t he aut hor conduct ed four int erviews wit h ind ividuals who ar e
posit ioned in t he I CT organizat ion t o have specific ins ight s in t he glo bal ICT
st rat egies for t he P KO’s as t hey for m par t of bot h t he st rat egic as well as t he
operat io nal ar m o f t he ICT organizat ion. The y aim o f t he int er views was t o
obt ain more in dept h infor mat ion on t he main t hemes t hat were der ived fro m
t he quest ions asked in t he quest io nnaire. To t hat end t he aut ho r asked
quest io ns and led t he discussio ns t owards t opics such as, t he use o f ITIL
framework in t he UNGS C; t he exper iences gained wit h t he development and
use o f t he Balanced Scorecard in t he UNGSC; t he manage ment and
measurement of per for mance; and, t he al ignment of ICT st rat egies wit h
organizat io nal st rat egies such as t he GFS S and t he UN’s ICT st rat egy.
Aft er t he int er views were co ncluded t he aut hor t ranscr ibed part s and t ook
not es o f what was said about subject s t hat were most relevant t o t he resear ch
quest io ns and t he quest ions asked in t he surve y. Fro m t he review o f t he not es
and careful examinat io n o f t he r ecordings t he aut hor was able t o link
element s back t o t he resear ch quest ions as well as t he lit erat ure and UN
document review relat ed to ICT deliv er y frameworks and per for mance
management and measurement fr ameworks. T he conclusio ns based on t he
analys is o f t he int er views are discussed in t he fo llowing sect ions belo w.

50. 50
5.3) Relationship of results to the objectives set out in the research Questions.
The ICT deliver y framework or model for PKO’s is shift ing away fro m t he
“o ld” a sset s or ient ed approach and has st art ed embracing t he co ncept s of
having a “ser vice or ient ed” approach geared t owards deliver ing end -t o-end
ICT ser vices. Evidence o f t his bears out of t he result s o f t he sur ve y as we ll as
t he int er views co nduct ed where a clear focus is placed on cent ralizing ICT
syst ems and applicat io ns as well as t he creat ion and inaugurat io n o f t he UN -
GSC in Valencia which has adopt ed bot h the ITIL -v3 and BSC frameworks for
t he manage ment o f t heir ser vices and perfor mance management o f t he cent er.
There were also clear indicat io ns t hat ICT managers under st and t he
requir ement s o f t heir cust omer s by get t ing “clo ser t o t he business” in order t o
make sure t hat t he ser vices or product s t hat t he ICT organizat ion deliver s
enables and enhances t he capabilit y o f t hese client s t o per for m t heir t asks.
Work on a “charge- back” mechanis m for ser vices deliver ed by t he UNGS C t o
PKO”s has st art ed while t he int ent ions are t here t o enhance and expand t he
scope o f ser vices pro vided. A Gart ner publicat io n t hat researched t he IT
deliver y mat urat ion fro m “asset opt imizing” to “service-optimi zing”
highlight s t he shift bet ween being “IT- Focused” and cust o mer focused be it
int er nal and eve nt ually ext er nal. On t he scale shown below o ne could place
t he UN ICT organizat io n for t he P KO’s as being in t he “ process” focus and
mo ving int o t he “service” focus (Young, 2011 b). It could cert ainly be argued
t hat t he UNGS C has mat ured int o t he “ service” or “Internal Cust omer-
Focused” area. While t he individual P KO’s are o ft en st ill anchored in t he
“assets” focus while t hrough t he cent ral deliver y o f ent erpr ise class
applicat io ns many o f t he lo calized IT processes are beginning t o diminis h
t hus slowly mo ving t hem t owards a more process and ser vice focus as well.

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Figur e 4. IT Deliver y mode l mat urat ion fr amework.
Source: Gart ner 2011 cit ed in Young, 2011, p8.
It would seem r at her unlikely ho wever t hat t he ICT organizat io n could mat ure
int o a “value” or ient ed ent it y largely due t o t he lack o f cont rol by senior
program managers over t he full range of r esources and in part icular t heir
human resources. Having said t hat , if indeed t he UN would be able t o
embr ace and adopt to organizat ional st ruct ures t hat would allow progra m
manager s fu ll cont rol over t heir resources a push t owards t he value
orient at ion could be possible. T he aut hor was not able t hrough t he researc h
conduct ed to show if such a fundament al shift would indeed yie ld
per for mance enhancement s or if t he evo lvement of t he ICT organizat ion int o a
“profit or ient ed” and “ext er nal market focused” ent it y would ult imat ely t urn
it int o a “self ser ving” organizat ion as was suggest ed by one o f t he
int er viewees.

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As o ne o f t he object ives set out by t he aut hor was t o t est if “t he current
organizat io nal st ruct ure and ICT deliver y model provide for t he most effic ient
and cost effect ive”, it beco mes clear from t he research t hat t he management
represent at ives o f t he ICT organizat ion for t he P KO’s t hat were part of t he
resear ch feel t hat t here is a lot of room for improvement . Part icular emphasis
was placed on t he need t o develop clear success cr it er ia and met r ics t o allo w
for adequat e and accurat e means t o mea sure success. In r eference t o t he RBB
framework it is clear t hat it is not felt t o offer any benefit s t owards defining
and measur ing success or per for mance, t o which t he UN’s Office o f Int er na l
Oversight Ser vices appears t o agree in t heir report reviewing r esult s- based
management , st at ing t hat “Result s-based management at t he Unit ed Nations
has been an admi nist rative chore of little value to accountabilit y and
deci sion-making”(UN, 2008, p1).
The successful implement at io n o f t he BS C in t he UNGS C and t he r esult s t hat
will event ually be measured t hrough t his met hodology may for m a co nvinc ing
argument t hat not only is t he BS C suit able but indeed a super ior framework to
develop a per for mance management syst em t hat allows for t he creat io n o f
suit able per for mance indicat ors based on clear and achievable goals t hat
fo st er account abilit y and effic iencies, which in t ime will o ffer improved
organizat io nal per for mance. Developing BSC’s for P KO’s would o ffer a
super ior mechanis m to t ranslat e miss io n mandat e’s or “visio ns ” int o
st rat egies around which t he miss io n support services would each pla y a ro le
in developing and achieving goals relat ed to t he four perspect ives .

53. 53
On t he quest ion as t o t he applicabilit y of “business - like” models fo r ser vice
deliver y in ot her areas o f support services wit hin t he P KO’s. It could
cert ainly be argued t hat if ot her ser vices such as logist ics, HR, administ rat ive
and ot her ser vices would adopt a more service -or ient ed approach much like
t he ICT ser vice deliver y mo del descr ibed, t hat effic ien c ies could be creat ed.
The research conduct ed however was not able t o est ablish if it would indeed
be feasible t o ext end t he t ype o f “value or ient ed” ser vices t o such operat ions,
cert ainly t he implement at io n o f t he GFSS places t he emphasis on mo ving
back o ffice funct io ns t o a regional lo cat ion in a RS C or to t he GSC wit h t he
aim t o creat e t he so -called light foot -print approach in P KO t heat res and t he
int ent ion t o cent ralize supply-chain management and ot her support ele ment s
appear s to show int ent to move t owards a mor e ser vice opt imized
archit ect ure. The quest io n whet her t hese development s will o ffer a met hod t o
“do more wit h less” is difficult t o answer and did not beco me apparent
t hrough t he research co nduct ed. One t hing t hat st ands out in t er ms of t he
imple ment at ion o f t he GFSS fro m t he research conduct ed is t hat while
respondent s and int er viewees showed agreement wit h t he under lying
pr inciples t her e was quit e so me skept icis m and cr it ique at t he imple ment at ion
of t he st rat egy, so me arguing t hat get t ing to t he desired end- st at e of t he GFSS
means a huge change manage ment exer cise, which t he UN is not ready or able
to embr ace.
5.4) Weaknesses in the data collected.
There is a weakness in t hat none of t he “non -ICT” respondent s part icipat ed in
t he sur vey nor was t he aut hor able t o int erview any o f t he “non -ICT ”
manager s t arget ed in t he quest ionnair e. This ma y have produced a result t hat

54. 54
is per haps t o ICT cent r ic and did not include views on ICT deliver y fro m t he
client perspect ive. While t o so me ext ent t he dat a co llect ed t hrough t he
int er views validat es t he dat a co llect ed t hrough t he quest io nnaire, a st ronger
validat io n could have been obt ained t hrough t r iangulat ion wit h dat a gat hered
fro m t he P KO’s at large, t his would however have creat ed a vo lume o f dat a
t hat would have t aken subst ant ially lo nger to analyze and evaluat e.
5.6) Effect on professional practice.
It remains t o be seen what effect t his work will have on pr ofessio nal pract ice.
I f anyt hing t he work has shown t hat t here are ways t o bet t er manage and
measure per for mance wit hin t he P KO’s. It also showed t hat improved ICT
deliver y fr ameworks would have a posit ive impact on organizat io na l
per for mance. T he research disco vered t hat in fact Balanced Scorecards and
t he use o f ITIL frameworks for Cont inual Ser vice I mprovement are being
embr aced. Through t his paper, adopt ion of t hese met hods in t he PKO’s could
be accelerat ed, t hrough publicat ion t o key manager s in t he P K O’s and DFS.