Evaluation of NHO programme in China

Background

The NHO programme in China is one of several projects of the NHO Secretariat for Private sector development. The objective of the project is to support the further development of democratic institutions within Chinese working life, through development of organisations and businesses within a developing tripartite system.

The Programme is expected to produce strengthened democratic dialogue within and between participating institutions as an outcome. The activities that are expected to produce these outcomes are: Thematic seminars, Management Training Programmes and reporting/publishing. The focus of these activities are fields in which we in Norway have a high level of competence, such as OSH, CSR and HRD.
China enterprise confederation (CEC) and All China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC) are the Chinese partners participating in the programme. Both are organizations with long history and many members.

Purpose/objective

The purpose of the evaluation is to gather results and information from the project so far. These results can give directions to further development of the programme.

The programme is in its third year but builds on project cooperation in the same field, lasting many years. There has been a high level of satisfaction among the participators. To be able to keep the programme of standards the evaluation was performed. Though the programme is constantly evaluated internally an outside opinion is needed for new input.

Methodology

The evaluation has been performed thoroughly. The programme is largely made up of seminars, workshops and Manager training programmes (MTP) - both in China and in Norway. Each of these seminars etc has been individually evaluated. These results together with other available documentation from the programme were carefully examined before conducting a series of interviews. The evaluators went to China twice to interview representatives of partner organizations and participants of Manager training programmes. Surveys including all participants of the MTPs were also conducted by them answering questionnaires.

The results were used in a Logical Framework Analysis (LFA). This is done by setting out the key components of the project in a table (framework), the LFA can present information about the project in a clear, logical and systematic way that will support all phases of the project.

Key findings

The key findings were positive. Many participants found that what they learned during the programme has facilitated cooperation and their participation in democratic processes. Many have implemented new standards of OSH and CSR which have affected their business and employees positively. The themes discussed are regarded as in line with the situation in China today which proves that the programme is very to the point of what is needed.

CEC officials have told that the introduction to CSR and environmental issues have been a door opener to the international discourse on these subjects and thus includes China in a way it has not been.

Many business owners have implemented new OSH-standards and have realized the importance of such.

A point generally embraced is the fact that the programme is organized not as a "one way" relationship, but rather as a discourse. Chinese definitions are the basis for the development activities, which involves the participants in a whole other manner than if Norwegian principles were made premises.

Recommendations

The evaluation focuses on two areas. The first is to put more emphasize on the lesser developed areas in western China. The second is that of "joint participation". By inviting more enterprises from one region or more participators from one enterprise the impact from the MTPs and seminars could be greater.