World Food Programme is found in many countries which are under United Nations and in Malawi this organization is found in all regions. In Malawi, we have other organizations which are also assisting vulnerable people like what World Food Programme is doing e.g. Mary’s meals, FAO, World vision etc. World Food Programme is involved in many sectors and some of these sectors are health, agriculture, construction education etc but this project is all about health sector.
World Food Programme in Malawi started in the year 1965 and objectives of the programme are to reduce malnutrition among vulnerable groups, improve the food security of the communities, provide nutrition intervention for children under five, pregnant women, tuberculosis patients etc. . World Food Programme does this to achieve sustainable development goal 3 (SDG 3) to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
The world food programme is the leading organization providing food assistance to the world’s most vulnerable; the WPF prioritizes nutrition as a core element of its work. Where malnutrition threatens the most world’s vulnerable people, WFP is at the forefront to prevent it.
World Food Programme is working hand in hand with government and other non-governmental organizations to bring food assistance to the country’s most vulnerable people including thousands of refugees in the country refugees centres
World food programme helps most vulnerable and food insecure communities manage resources sustainably.
1 THE IMPACT OF ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE ON THE SUCCESS OF THE PROJECT
Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long term which achieves advantage in a changing environment through its configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling expectations. Each and every organization has got its own strategies that can be designed to support mission, vision and values. World food programme for example has some strategies that are followed to achieve the objectives
World Food Programme needs to have a direction without this there will be wastage of money, time and effort. Organizations must also consider the environment in which it is operating. The environment which includes social, technology, political, and economic factors. The organization must also consider the source of resources e.g. money, equipments, labour etc. World Food Programme for example finds resources from funding bodies, public donations, government etc.
1.1 THREE LEVELS OF ORGANISATION STRATEGIES
Fundamental principle in management is that everything undertaken within an organization must be in support of the organization’s strategy. These strategies must be aligned with the organization’s strategic direction to facilitate the achievement of an organization’s business objectives. These strategies are; corporate strategies which embrace the overall scope of the organization, the financial and organization structure , business strategies which are concerned with specific functions within the organization and the functional strategies involve the operational activities of the organization.
To effectively implement the strategies, there must be suitable organizational structures within the organization.
1.2 Organization structures of different businesses, companies or organizations.
1.2.1 The Functional Structures
This structure is organized around the primary activities that have to be carried out in the organization including, for example finance, research and development, human resource management and so on. Employees are classified according to their area of expertise and the specialized function they perform in a department of the organization. They are supervised by and report to the functional manager.
The Advantage
It provides a clear definition of roles and tasks, increasing accountability.
The Disadvantage
Bureaucratic/ inflexible/slow to adapt.
1.2.2 PROJECT STRUCTURE
Project-based structure is one where teams are created, undertake the work and are then dissolved.
Therefore with regard to certain business goals, independent project teams are created with their own staff, project managers and dedicated resources allocated to the project.
The Advantage
Have clear tasks to achieve within a defined life, accountability and control are good.
The Disadvantage
The reintegration of team members is very difficult within the parent organization.
1.2.3 MATRIX STRUCTURE
This type of structure is a two-dimensional structure combining both a functional and project structure. That means that employees have dual reporting relationships to both functional and project managers.
The Advantage
Interfunctional communication is enhanced.
The Disadvantage
The structure can cause a struggle for power and authority between the functional and project manager.
Each and every organization has its own type of organizational structure for example World Food Programme has matrix structure which has both functional and project structure.
1.3 Impacts of matrix structure on the success of the project.
Staff motivation. Employees are motivated due to the variety of work and challenges, and this can lead to high productivity and successful completion of the project.
Due to the flexibility of the structure, the organization can easily react to some changes both internal and external environment.
High morale. Morale problems occur less frequently since the worker responds first to the morale-building experience of working on a successful project resulting in visible achievements.
Project shutdown. Large layoffs are almost unavoidable since only a relatively few people can be relocated unless major buildups in another project are occurring in addition, people are spread across a whole functional organization and each department has only a few people to relocate.
Retention of Disciplinary Teams. Teams of functional experts and specialists are kept together even though projects come and go. Therefore technology and know-how is not lost when a project is completed
Potential for conflict. Whenever there are two project managers competing for resources, there is potential for conflict.
Difficulties in monitoring and controlling. Complexity results from the number of managers and personnel involved and from the number of people that must be kept informed.
Management goals. There is a constant, although often unperceived, struggle in balancing the goals and objectives of project and functional management. A strong project manager may place undue emphasis on time and cost constraints, while a functional manager may concentrate on technical excellence at the expense of schedules. Top management must ensure that a careful balance of the goals of project and functional management is maintained.
Fast Reaction Difficult. The project manager is sometimes faced with a problem of achieving fast reaction times, primarily since there are so many people to be consulted.
Internal complexity Dual accountability can make reporting relationship confusing, particularly the first stages of implementation. This may be true when employees receive competing directives from different managers.
High overheads costs
Since this structure requires roughly twice the number of managers, they require organizations to shoulder twice the management costs.
This type of structure has both negative and positive impact on the success of the project as I have outlined above. In WFP, employees are involved in decision making and are able to express their views pertaining to the projects and as a result they are motivated.
2 EFFECTIVENESS OF LEADERSHIP THAN MANAGEMENT FOR THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE PROJECT
Leadership is a process by which individuals are influenced so that they will be prepared to participate in the achievement of the organization or group goals. Leadership means different things to different people around the world, and different things in different situations. It is the role of the leader to obtain the commitment of individuals to achieving these goals e.g. the goal of WFP is to end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture (SDGS 2) and ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages (SDG 3).
Management consists of the interlocking functions of creating corporate policy and organizing, planning, controlling, and directing an organization’s resources in order to achieve the objectives of that policy e.g. Directors and managers have the power and responsibility to make decisions and oversee an organization.
World Food Programme has managers who have leadership skills; they can motivate and inspire their employees by giving them human needs.
2.1 Qualities of a project leader
There are several leadership qualities a leader should have when running a project.
Inspires a shared vision
Leaders are better than Managers because leaders motivate and inspire people to engage with the vision, manage delivery of the vision e.g. World Food programme pursues a vision of “every man, woman and child has access at all times to the food for the active and healthy life”.
Empathy
Empathy is shown towards employees who are struggling to cope because of outside influences. Leaders are better than Managers because leader empathizes with their employees. This is shown towards people who are living with HIV/AIDS, TB clients, pregnant women and other vulnerable people.
Ability to delegate tasks
Leaders who are unable to trust other people often fail as leaders. Leaders are better than Managers because they demonstrate trust in others through actions. Managers who have leadership skills delegate its employees to various places to represent World Food Programme.
Competence
Leader must know what he or she is doing. Project leader is chosen based on their ability to successfully lead others rather than on technical expertise. Leaders must have expertise and ability to challenge, inspire, enable, model and encourage employees
A good communicator
Project leader calls for clear communication about goals, responsibility, performance, expectation and feedback while Managers are not good communicators. WFP, which has lots of leaders, provides a means for affected people to voice complaints and feedback on areas relevant to operations in a safe and dignified manner.
Integrity
Leaders abide by ethical standards and rewarding those team members who have done commendable. Leaders based on integrity represents nothing less than a set of values others share, behavior consistent with values and dedication to honesty with self and team members.
2.2 Different types of leadership styles
The culture and goals determine which type of leadership style fits the organization well. Most leaders generally adhere to one or two preferred styles of leadership with which they feel comfortable. According to Lewin’s Lowa study, he identified three types of leadership styles
Authoritarian (or Autocratic) leadership
The autocratic leadership style allows managers to make decision alone without the input of others. Manager’s posses total authority and impose their will on employees. No one challenges the decisions of autocratic leaders and decisions are enforced by the use of rewards and the fear of punishment.
Democratic (or participative) leadership
Participative leadership values the input of employees but the responsibility of making the final decision rests with the participative leader. Participative leadership boosts employee morale because employees make contributions to the decision-making process. It courses them to feel as if their opinions matter. When the organization needs to make changes within the organization, the participative leadership style helps employees accept change easily because they play a role in the process.
The Laissez-Faire leadership
The Laissez-Faire leader lacks direct supervision of employees and fails to provide regular feedback to those under his supervision. Here the leader exercises very little control or influence over employees.
World Food programme is using participative type of leader whereby people are involved in decision making process. Employees’ morale remains at a high level because there is appreciation for the chance to be part of decision-making process. Employees are empowered to use their creativity to develop more productivity work processes and make organization more efficient. It gives staff members the chance to be active in determining the future success of the organization and this improve employee retention and cut down on the costs of turnover. Staff is more readily accept policies and decisions that are reached by the general consensus. Employees are given a personal stake in the success of organization policies by being involved in the process of creating and approving these policies. The objective of WFP’S accountability to affected populations commitment is to facilitate the participation of affected people in WFP’S programmes by ensuring that programme design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation process are informed by and reflect the views of affected people. Leaders in this organization provide training to different people so that they can mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS to the workplaces and communities through the greater understanding of the pandemic
3 THE KEY CONSIDERATIONS IN PROPOSING THE BUDGET
A budget is a quantitative expression of a plan of action prepared in advance of the period to which it relates. In order to have a good budget, projects must have plans set aside to accomplish the goals and objectives of either a business or an organization. Planning the activities of the organization ensures that the organization sets out in the right direction. A formalized plan will help to ensure a coordinated approach and the planning process itself will force managers to continually think ahead, planning and reviewing their activities in advance.
Each and every project has budget period. In line with government priorities and policies and the United Nations development framework (2012-2016) and which will be extended an additional 2 years, WFP works to achieve a food and nutrition secure and resilience Malawi. The duration of time chosen for the budget period will depend on several factors, including the nature of the organization and the type of expenditure. The process of budgeting begins with the establishment of specific targets of performance and is followed by executing plans to achieve such desired goals.
3.1 The key considerations in proposing a budget.
Costs
It is very important to come up with detailed estimates for all the project costs. Once this is compiled, all the project estimated costs are added into the project budget. The costs included in this budget are:
Direct costs: e.g. for staff, consultants, materials, equipments, travel e.t.c. WFP cover these costs by using funds from different donors e.g. Government, companies, organizations individuals.
On materials, food commodities were received internationally, as either an international in-kind contributions of super cereal as part of a specific donor programme for school meals and also WFP purchased maize locally in Malawi and internationally in Zambia, Tanzania e.t.c
Indirect costs: e.g. for rent. Costs for general administration
On rent: WFP is renting other offices and warehouses for storing commodities in Malawi.
Contingency costs: for unexpected events during a project, usually a percentage of the total project cost e.g. climate change, floods, drought e.t.c. In Malawi for example according to WFP report crop and food supply assessment mission identified Karonga, Mzimba and Rumphi districts as having experienced significant crop losses last year due to prolonged floods and hailstorms.
Sources of funds
WFP was using a combination of in-kind food, commodity vouchers and cash based transfers and complementing recovery activities until 2017.
Project schedule
A schedule is required before the budget is created. The project schedule contains the list of activities, allocated resources and the time when work will occur.WFP has many activities which this organization is undertaking in Malawi and some of them are support to education, including various models of school meal support to improve primary education outcomes, and nutrition support, including treatment of moderate acute malnutrition among vulnerable group to support healthy and productive lives e.t.c. WFP did this project from 2014 to 2017 and the projects are renewed after completion.
Staffing and resource plan
This describes what kind of resources will be allocated to the project and also this establishes which members of the team will be sourced in-house or which need to be hired from outside the organization as contractors, consultants or freelancers. This is done in order to have a specified cost for them
WFP, for example, every year adds a number of full-time professionals and short-term consultants to its staff that means members can be sourced in-house or outside the organization sometime, and the position can be posted on the WFP website, outsiders and insiders eligible to apply.WFP has subcontracted security services to G4S.
Historical records and lessons learned
Records and lessons learned from the past are extremely helpful to make the cost calculation and the estimates easier.
When WFP wants to propose a budget firstly it looks back by considering historical records and lessons it has learned e.g. after completion of (2014-2017) project, it increased its budget due to the increase in number of malnourished children and adults, and also people suffering from HIV/AIDS
There are two budgeting approaches to create a budget for a project e.g. top-down and bottom-up. The bottom-up: the costs of individual work tasks and work packages are determined based on input such as resources plans and expert opinions and totalled up to the cost of the project. Top-down estimate is carried out by senior management based on the availability of information about the project. The estimating process can also be supported by experience or input from expert.
The top-down: the sponsor allocates a certain total to a project, which is then broken down to cover the different work packages and tasks e.g. Since WFP has no independent source of funds, all donations either in cash or in-kind is accompanied by the cash needed to move, manage, and monitor WFP food assistance. So the donation from different sources is divided among the projects which WFP has according to the budget plan.
WFP is supporting approximately 6 million people out of the 6.7 million people affected with relief assistance across 28 districts. Due to the deteriotion in the food security situation, triggered primarily by climate conditions and other factors has led to an increase in the operational requirements of the operation.
4 THE ROLE OF PARTNERSHIPS AND METHODS OF RESOLVING POTENTIAL CONFLICTS
Partnership is the relationship which subsists between persons or organizations carrying on a business in common in a view to fulfill a goal Partnerships bring parties together, parties who have an interest in achieving a goal, who can provide complementary resources and who in general support the implementation of a specific project.
4.1 Forms of partnership
There are different forms of partnerships to choose from depending on the requirements and expectations of the project and the parties involved. These forms are; Strategic alliance, Joint venture, Cost-sharing agreement, collaboration e.t.c. WFP does use collaboration.
WFP works collaboratively with hundreds of partners in Malawi including governments, private sectors, UN agencies, international finance groups, NGOS, and other society groups. WFP coordinates with other UN agencies, often through the UN Development Assistance Framework, so that their efforts complement one another. Some of the agencies are International Labour Organization, World Health Organization, UNESCO UNICEF and non governmental organizations such Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services, and Norwegian Refugee Council e.t.c. which provide technical assistance in their specific areas of expertise.
A revitalized global partnership facilitates the intensive global engagement in support of implementation of all the goals and targets bringing together all stakeholders, and mobilizing all available resources e.g. financial resources, expertise, technology, skills,
The government of Malawi through the ministry of education and health is working hand in hand with World Food Programme to deliver school meals and nutrition support. The World Food Programme has also partnered with mobile telecommunications company Airtel to launch an innovative cash transfer programme to help people affected by food shortage in Malawi and funding for this initiative is being provided by UKAID.
4.2 Role of partnership
Partnership in the project has a big role because this can add value through the combination of skills, efforts, expertise, and finance e.t.c. If two or more organizations have come together, work together toward common purposes, they can yield good results.
4.3 Reasons for forming partnership
The following four things can be done due to the partnership of different organizations.
Share of costs:
Partnership can reduce the cost for all partners involved. For example WFP in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are purchasing crops from smallholder farmers to improve school feeding, family farmers’ livelihood and local food markets. For example if the cost of the project is USD 2 million, so the organization can share the costs
Share of risks:
If the organization carries the project on its own, it will carry the whole risk itself. In a partnership, all partners carry the risks. WFP supports capacity of strengthening of government of Malawi and NGOS partners for design and implementation of emergency preparedness and response as well as broader social protection and disaster risk. These risks are shared among partners.
Combine and complement knowledge or expertise:
A project might require different aspects of expertise with regard to knowledge and technology e.g. mobile telecommunications company Airtel is bringing in technology like cash transfers which are important means of providing assistance, so by partnering with other organizations value is added.
Commit external suppliers to a project and secure resources
In Malawi, WFP is training smallholder farmers on sustainable agriculture, business and harvesting skills so that they can produce more products in turn this organization buys products from those farmers for the vulnerable people. There is a long-term partnership between smallholder farmers and World Food Programme.WFP is trying its best to strengthen smallholder-friendly agricultural markets, which the country relies on for sustained economic development, by investing in agriculture as part of purchase for progress initiative.
4.4 Methods of resolving conflicts
Conflict is a condition that arises whenever the perceived interest of an individual or a group clash with those of another individual or group in such a way that strong emotions are aroused and compromise is not considered to be an option.
Thomas (1977) suggested different conflict strategies that can be applied to different situations whenever conflicts arise. These conflict strategies are;
Avoidance
Means ignoring or suppressing the problem in the hope that the problem will go away or not be too disruptive.
Accommodation
The individual neglects his or her own concerns to satisfy the concerns of the other person, self-sacrifice.
Competition
Battling the conflict out in an attempt to win it. This involves being assertive, uncooperative and using power to win.
Compromise
Seeking a middle way by bargaining, with both parties giving up certain desired outcomes to achieve the satisfaction of others; there are no winners and losers.
Collaboration.
Seeking to satisfy the desired outcomes of both parties by being assertive and cooperative. Collaboration would be more appropriate in conflict situations where it is important to restore long-term relationships and secure commitment through consensus-building.
In 2014 The Department for International Development (DFID) suspended aid to Malawi, where almost 40% of the national budget comes from donors, in November after so-called “cashgate” scandal. In response to the scandal, DFID and other donors, including the EU and Norway, suspended aid that goes directly to the Malawi government under general budget support and this destabilized the economy and public services.
Through collaboration with donors, many donors now have resumed donating Malawi and the donation goes directly to the suppliers and Malawi government under general budget support.
CONCLUSION
World Food programme has a big role to play in different areas of this country.WFP is doing a lot of philanthropic activities like providing food to children under five, pregnant or lactating women, tuberculosis patients, and people living with HIV/AIDS. This organization is trying its best to achieve sustainable development goals which say that people must have health lives and improved nutrition. World Food Programme is working hand in hand with many organizations in Malawi and some of them are Mary’s meal, World Vision Malawi, DFID, FAO e.t.c.
World Food Programme has promised to continue helping Malawi with food and other items to vulnerable people.
World Food Program source food locally in Malawi and internationally Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique and from well wishers e.g. individuals, companies and other non-governmental organizations.