ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that careful attention to organizational arrangements at the time of design can keep problems encountered during implementation to a minimum. In particular, three issues involving implementation/organizational arrangements deserve careful consideration during design exercises: project management strategies; building flexibility and redesign capacity into project management; and project decisionmaking structure. Arriving at optimal management arrangements for project implementation, including the selection of a principal implementing entity, requires an understanding of the objectives, activities and resource requirements of the project and an in-depth knowledge of the host country's political, administrative and organizational dynamics. In Agency for International Development, as well as in other development organizations, most of the rewards flow from project development rather than project implementation. The practical constraints of working with existing organizations, existing personnel and existing capabilities frequently require thinking in terms of second- or third best solutions, rather than theoretically desirable arrangements.
