whythawk ratings: measuring effective development

1. Funding departments instead of people cheats everyone
(Analysis/Analysis)

...nge is necessary. There are two ways in which government can deliver on its "developmental state" objectives: it can choose to pay for schools and hospitals, or it can support the people th...

2. Searching for objective measures of value
(Analysis/Analysis)

"What is a coin compared to the value of the hand that holds it?" to misquote Terry Pratchett in his latest book, Making Money. Money, and the relative value of money, has always been of

3. Scrogues Converse: Open-space, Identity and the Missing Web
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ther set of analyses that says, if the walls are high, then people often behave in ways that go against your objectives. They fight you. So illegal immigrants in the US have such a hard time getting i...

4. Atlas Shrugged at 50
(Analysis/Analysis)

...asters or slaves, do not deal in blank checks or grant them. We do not live or work with any form of the non-objective." It is a simple enough strategy. Whenever others demand of me that I make a...

5. Department of inJustice: the corruption of high office
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ubjectively believed that the disclosure concerned an impropriety listed in the Act, and that the belief was objectively reasonable. The mere fact that somebody – even a Minister – might b...

6. Start your business in Johannesburg but hire your advisor in Cape Town
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ccessful entrepreneurs." This is the first year that ratings of this nature have been conducted and the objective is to improve the transparency of development as well as offering beneficiaries t...

7. Demonstration Enterprise Development Consultant A
(Ratings Demonstration/Demonstration)

...tors: Too many business plans appear to have been duplicated with minor modifications Unclear objectives and motivations Aspects Inception, Participation & Infrastructure De...

8. Climate Change: measurement, responsibility and risk
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ast no aspersions on the underlying causes of particular ailments – we simply note that they exist and objectively measure whether the prevalence of these ailments is changing with time, and in ...

9. Rating to create a market; questions and answers
(Analysis/Analysis)

... define the mechanisms by which these results are delivered, but to analyse the final results achieved in an objective and uniform way. Poverty only becomes entrenched when you genuinely don’t ...

10. Enterprise Development and Employment: Experiences in South Africa and South Eastern Europe
(Analysis/Analysis)

... on labour, and also for the belief that South Africa has a comparative advantage in them. One of the major objectives of ASGISA is to increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate to 6% per ...

11. The Martians Really Care: four points to govern development
(Analysis/Ideas and Challenges)

...nct group of people to assist them in reaching some goal.  Development sits uncomfortably alongside the objectives of the capitalist community at large.  Capitalists enjoy the fruit of devel...

12. Millennium Development Goals and the Measurement of Change
(Analysis/Analysis)

In 2000, members of the United Nations agreed on a set of priority poverty alleviation objectives, known as the Millennium Development Goals, to be achieved by 2015. They are, briefly: Goal 1: eradi

13. How much does a free education cost?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...us claim that leadership is something that can be painted on, the academy is an expensive way to achieve its objectives.  The most expensive private schools in the country charge around $ 6 900 p...

14. School vouchers offer the poorest an opportunity to learn at better schools
(Analysis/Analysis)

...o result in further hardship as the amount of revenue drops; or the schools will go private. Either way the objective of offering disadvantaged children better access to education fails. There is an...

15. Ithala and The Corruption Of Development
(Analysis/Analysis)

Ithala, a bank set up in KwaZulu-Natal offers a clear indication of what happens when political objectives overwhelm business sense.  The Sunday Tribune has accused the Ithala Development Bank o

16. 11 Can I get a confidential rating before you publish?
(FAQs/Rating FAQs)

...ng assessment is Whythawk’s opinion of a rated organisation’s ability to deliver on their stated objectives within their sector. Performed on a private basis and solely for the internal us...

17. Responsibility Reputation Risk - a conference on corporate social investment
(Events/Events)

...ignificant risk from a lack of oversight and poor financial controls along with esoteric and poorly-measured objectives.  Dr Allan Boesak defrauded Paul Simon’s Children’s Trust of R ...

18. 7 What are all the uses of ratings?
(FAQs/Rating FAQs)

...ere to locate it. The organisations themselves have an opportunity to demonstrate their abilities against an objective yardstick. They can also improve their services and be recognised for the investm...

19. 6 How does Whythawk remain impartial and objective?
(FAQs/Rating FAQs)

For each sector we have a specialised oversight committee that scrutinises the methodology used, as well as the overall quality of the reports. The members are drawn from various professions that have

20. 5 What are the specific things that Whythawk measures?
(FAQs/Rating FAQs)

...ht and organisation of the organisation feedback from beneficiaries and clients of the organisation against objective results ...

21. 3 How does the Whythawk approach differ from other organisations?
(FAQs/Rating FAQs)

...n. Then we list every organisation within that region and sector and investigate them against a standard and objective set of measurements. In this way ratings are against a definite measure of improv...

22. Senescence, the death of development
(Analysis/Analysis)

... distinct group of people to assist them in reaching some goal. Development sits uncomfortably alongside the objectives of the capitalist community at large. Capitalists enjoy the fruit of development...

23. Vouchers and Individual Choice
(Analysis/Analysis)

... spend taxpayers’ money on other people’s children. Schools, frequently, don’t achieve the objectives for which they were set up. Good schools have no way of being rewarded and bad s...

24. 1 Why are development ratings necessary?
(FAQs/Rating FAQs)

...r?" Ratings allow individuals and organisations to rapidly assess various possible development services objectively and consistently to ensure that money and effort are not squandered. Developmen...

25. Research Reports, eBooks and Ideas
(Static Content)

...ally care: four points to govern development - Gavin Chait Development, uncoupled to any clear objective, isn’t going to achieve anything other than a gradual senescence.  It...

26. Ratings Methodology
(Static Content)

...scussion with management is informal but structured around a specific questionnaire which allows Whythawk to objectively compare different organisations active in the industry. The goal of the meeting...

27. Research Reports, eBooks and Ideas
(Static Content)

...ally care: four points to govern development - Gavin Chait Development, uncoupled to any clear objective, isn’t going to achieve anything other than a gradual senescence.  It...

28. Ratings Methodology
(Static Content)

...scussion with management is informal but structured around a specific questionnaire which allows Whythawk to objectively compare different organisations active in the industry. The goal of the meeting...