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In this
Issue |
Issue II, July 2003
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Foreword |
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Dear Readers,
There appears to be an upsurge of interest and initiatives in the development of SME clusters in India. More and more agencies, both at the national and regional levels, are designing their interventions and taking steps to prepare their field functionaries for the new responsibility. The investment made by UNIDO in developing institutional capacity for conducting training programmes for field functionaries is yielding good results. More than 200 persons belonging to different agencies and institutions have been through a rigorous training programme for cluster development agents since the year 2000, and several of them are actively engaged at the cluster level.
Perhaps you would agree, that mutual learning has become a ‘mantra’ for development practitioners. Tools for speeding up the process of development are often picked up from sharing of experiences. With several players across the globe in the realm of SME cluster development we seek to put the reader in touch with thoughts and ideas at the macro and micro level along with providing a glimpse into the cluster level happenings.
In this issue the spotlight is on Monitoring and Evaluation, a topic that concerns all, be they the implementing agencies, the donors, stakeholders or the intended beneficiaries. The thematic write-up is a result of the recently held Learnshop in New Delhi on the 27th - 28th May 2003 in which more than 20 institutions connected with SME cluster development in India participated. Your views and suggestions on the newsletter are very welcome.
Anita Das
Editor
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Special
Message |
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I have read the first edition of the
Cluster e-News with interest. This e-newsletter can
become an important link for different institutions and
agencies engaged with the challenge of developing
industrial and artisan clusters in a country like India,
where it is estimated that there are over 350 SSI and
2000 artisan clusters. There is news of many more state
governments, institutions and NGOs designing initiatives
for strengthening existing clusters. I would also like
to see more and more cluster institutions like, industry
associations to adopt a development agenda for
themselves, like for instance the Tirupur Exporters
Association who have taken the lead in steering their
cluster to a high growth trajectory, or the Mahrattha
Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, who have
successfully set up for themselves a modern testing
laboratory.
Let us take a cue from the success
story of others.
Suresh Chandra
Additional Secretary and
Development
Commissioner (SSI)
Government of
India |
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Coming up... |
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Upscaling Cluster Development
Initiatives:
The Government of India in the Ministry
of SSI has decided to take a major step forward in the
holistic development of SSI clusters, beyond technology
and a single point focus. In about 24 clusters in the
country cluster development initiatives will be taken
up, modelled on the UNIDO cluster development approach.
It has also been decided to reorient its officers in the
process - intensive approach and to provide them with an
enabling environment for successful implementation. For
this purpose the National Institute of Small Industry
Extension Training (NISIET) Hyderabad, has been
designated the Resource Centre for training and related
issues. UNIDO is currently assisting the NISIET to gear
itself for the new role. It is noteworthy that the
NISIET would become the second national resource agency
for training on SME cluster initiatives; the other being
the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India,
(EDII) Ahmedabad, wherein capacities have already been
built in collaboration with UNIDO for conducting
advanced programmes for the training of cluster
development agents.
For more information contact Amir
Subhani at asubhani@nb.nic.in
or visit the Ministry of SSI website www.dcmsme.gov.in or NISIET
web site
NABARD’s New Clusters
NABARD, as part of its commitment to
develop 50 rural clusters under the National Programme
for Rural Industrialisation in a span of 5 years, from
1999 to 2004, has taken up 9 new clusters in the current
year. Its objective is to strengthen existing clusters
towards sustainable competitive advantage through
technology upgradation/transfer, raw material access,
skill development, managerial inputs, credit and market
support. Out of the 51 clusters identified so far
NABARD’s promotional programmes have been launched in 35
clusters in 17 States. The sub-sectors covered include
handlooms, brass & bell metal craft, leather craft,
juttie making, idol making,
woodcraft, black smithy, cashew
processing, ceramic, toy making,
etc.
For more information visit www.nabard.org
The Government of Kerala takes a Lead in Handloom
clusters
The State Government of Kerala is
launching a major cluster development initiative for
handloom weaving as well as industrial clusters. A batch
of 18 Handlooms and Districts Industries Centres
officials are being trained at EDII Ahmedabad as Cluster
Development Agents (CDAs). At the behest of, and in
collaboration with UNIDO Cluster Development Programme,
the EDII designed the first training programme for
Cluster Development Agents in India in 2000. Thereafter
3 UNIDO sponsored CDA Training Programmes have been
conducted by the EDII (with International participants
as well), and subsequently, the Institute has on its own
conducted CDA programmes for the State Government of
Gujarat, the Textiles Committee of India, the National
Small Industries Corporation of India (NSIC) and the
Development Commissioner (Handlooms), Government of
India.
For more information contact Kunal Sood
at kunal@ediindia.org
Formal Launch of SBI Cluster
Programme in Alleppy
The State Bank of India (SBI) under the
Project UPTECH is formally launching its work in the
Coir cluster of Alleppy in mid July. The cluster work
has been initiated jointly with UNIDO under the Project
Support to Country Effort to Promote SME Cluster
Development. Mr. Abraham Joseph, the Cluster Development
Agent at Alleppy has done remarkable work of formation
of over 50 consortia at the grass root level enabling
them to effect savings in raw material procurement. The
new approach by SBI UPTECH in Alleppy is interesting in
that it goes well beyond focussing on Techno-economic
Feasibility Studies. The ensuing impact over a span of a
few months has convinced the policy makers in Kerala
that the business network and cluster model offers
considerable potential for enhancing the competitiveness
of small and micro firms.
For more information contact Abraham
Joseph at hildaabraham@yahoo.co.uk
or visit SBI
Conference on Clusters, Industrial
Districts and Firms: The Challenge of Globalisation, at
Modena, Italy, on 12-13 th September
2003
To study the impact of globalisation on
small firms, the ways in which they mutually interact,
their relations with the markets, with large firms and
institutions and the determinants of their competitive
advantage, the Faculty of Economics of the University of
Modena and the Reggio Emilia are jointly organising a
2-day conference.
For more information visit
www.economia.unimore.it/convegni_seminari/CG_sept03
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News in Brief |
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EC Innovative Actions Regional
Programme - Erik Network Workshop on "Innovation,
Knowledge and Clusters" Bologna (Italy), 30th
June - lst July 2003
The workshop focuses on Clusters and
Business Networks. Several European regions have
experienced original successful development processes
based on SMEs, endogenous entrepreneurship, networking
and clusters. Networks and cluster are doubtless
essential to ensure a wide participation of SMEs in
global competition. The workshop builds on this
phenomenon, to foresee future perspectives, to evaluate
the capacity of clusters to face the challenges of
global competition, and diffusion of knowledge. The
outcomes are expected to provide the identification of
appropriate policy strategies and methodologies, with
the aim of figuring out which innovation policies can be
carried out at the cluster level, how clusters can
benefit from horizontal innovation policies, in what
measure they contribute to, SME competitiveness,
Knowledge accumulation and innovation performances.
For more information, contact Ms
Elisabeth Beer (UNIDO) at lisabeer@libero.it
The Drugs and Pharma Cluster of Ahmedabad takes up
a new agenda for Development
On the occasion of the visit of the
Director General of UNIDO, Dr. Carlos Magarinos, to
India, and to the Drugs and Pharina cluster of Ahmedabad
last April, Mr. Kamlesh Udani, the Chairman, Indian Drug
Manufacturers Association of Gujarat, along with IDMA
members highlighted their achievements of the cluster.
Indeed, the industry association has come of age over
the last 4 years. Instead of following the conventional
approach of local industry associations of mere lobbying
and conducting occasional seminars, the IDMA Gujarat,
has taken up strategic interventions central to the
growth of the cluster. The association has already for
instance, initiated work on patents in the face of TRIPs
by setting up a Patent Cell, development of cluster
specific infrastructure by way of the Pharma Techno
Park, and on improving the regulatory environment
through various measures like the Quality Circle for the
Food and Drug Control Administration. For more
information contact Kamlesh Udani at kamlesh@jbcpl.com.
Agro-Processing in
Sindhudurg
The agro processing cluster of
Sindhudurg (Maharashtra) has been taken up for
intervention by UNIDO for studying the impact of its
cluster development framework on poverty reduction in
relation to the livelihoods of small and micro
processors, workers, especially women and other
vulnerable sections, as also the small farmers and
growers at the back-end. The initiatives will be
undertaken in close collaboration with NABARD, which is
already working in the cluster with selected NGOs to
promote micro-enterprises in the cashew-processing
sector. For more information contact Alexandra
Sagarra at clusterimpactonpoverty@yahoo.co.uk
Foundry Men of Hyderabad in Dusseldorf
With active support from the government
of Andhra Pradesh, a group of 12 foundry men from the
Foundry cluster of Hyderabad visited the GIFA Trade Fair
at Dusseldorf between 16th-21th
June. While one of the units displayed its products, the
main object of participation in the fair was to know the
international market opportunities, the latest
technologies, and the international quality
requirements.
For more information, contact Nerusu Rao at nerusu90@yahoo.com
Focus on International Marketing for Ceramics
Cluster in Morbi
A local industry association at the
Morbi ceramics cluster, with support from the Central
Glass and Ceramics Research Institute organised a
seminar on international marketing to explore the
current status of ceramics tiles and its export
potential. As a result, some young entrepreneurs from
the cluster showed a keen interest to form a small
network in order to undertake common activities such as
organising missions abroad to explore technology
upgradation and related issues.
For more
information contact Rajveer Singh at rajveers@hotmail.com |
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A Case Study |
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Learnshop on Monitoring &
Evaluation, New Delhi, 27- 28.5.2003
As a follow-up of the first "Learnshop"
on emerging trends in cluster development in May 2002,
the UNIDO Focal Point recently conducted a second
Learnshop on monitoring and evaluation of cluster
development projects. The event took place in New Delhi
and was attended by over 40 participants from 21
different organisations, Government bodies,
international organisations, banks and NGOs.
Monitoring the progress of a cluster
development project and evaluating its impact (what one
refers to as M&E) are very complex tasks. For one
thing, cluster development is by its nature very
process-oriented and it does not therefore provide
objectives that can clearly stated at the beginning of
the intervention and easily monitored throughout.
Moreover, achievements, especially in terms of trust
building, institution strengthening and local governance
are hard to measure and therefore call for new
evaluation tools. Finally, as these initiatives are
implemented in very different and peculiar contexts,
results are hard to compare across clusters.
The Learnshop tackled these problems
and it focused on three broad topics:
What evidence emerges for actual use of M&E
tools?
Is there any difference between quantitative and
qualitative indicators?
How are evaluation and impact assessment best
integrated in long-term planning?
THEMATIC SESSION I: CASE STUDY ON
MONITORING AND EVALUATION
For a start, it clearly appeared in the
Learnshop that a lack of clarity surrounds the notion of
monitoring and evaluation. Therefore, for sake of
clarity, it may be useful to spell out that monitoring
is the broad process whereby an Organisation routinely
checks how it manages the resources at its disposal
(people, money, ideas, management). Impact assessment,
on the other hand, looks at the changes that are brought
about by the institution and it also looks at the
efficiency, efficacy and sustainability of its
intervention. Finally, evaluation, tries to ascertain to
what extent the outputs generated by the organization
are in line with the objectives of the programme.
Presently, emphasis on M&E
parameters is not equally shared among all stakeholders
involved in cluster development. First of all, donors,
government, implementing agencies have different
objectives (e.g. poverty eradication, technological
upgradation, enterprise profitability, employment
generation) and therefore look at different M&E
tools. Moreover, it is not uncommon that new parameters
are added in the course of implementation, which creates
data collection problems as well as lack of clarity in
objectives at the field level.
These problems highlighted the need for
a consensus on programme objectives and therefore on
M&E parameters. The importance of broadbased
monitoring committees (that is comprising stakeholders
with different objectives) and of a clearly spelt out
evaluation strategy to balance the interests of all
stakeholders were also underlined. It was agreed that
M&E should be viewed as the result of teamwork
whereby certain tasks (e.g. preparation of Terms of
Reference) should be undertaken together. Furthermore,
and in order to correctly capitalise on the lessons
emerging from M&E, it was suggested that whereas
evaluation may be outsourccd to an independent auditor,
monitoring should be undertaken by suitably trained
internal personnel.
Secondly, it emerged that M&E tools
cannot be applied mechanically to all kind of clusters.
M&E tools should be based on the initial diagnostic
study and strategy and they should match the long-term
vision of the cluster. However, this feature entails a
high degree of subjectivity in the use of tools
especially with respect to less tangible results.
Moreover, since cluster development process is a dynamic
process, the same M&E approach cannot do justice to
the entire project lifecycle. For this reason, the
tools, both formal and informal, should be periodically
reviewed.
THEMATIC SESSION II: QUANTITATIVE AND
QUALITATIVE INDICATORS
It was proposed that M&E should be
undertaken at three different levels that is at the
level of the beneficiary firms, of their
network/associations and of the cluster as a whole. For
each level, the relative relevance of quantitative and
qualitative indicators varies depending on the objective
of the implementing institutions and also on the nature
of the project. The relationship between quantitative
and qualitative indicators has to be further
explored.
At present, most indicators are
firm-based. More attention should be therefore paid to
monitor and evaluate qualitative aspects of cluster
development such as the degree of ownership by the
beneficiaries, the degree of support by the overall
policy environment, the extent of customization of the
concept to the socio-cultural peculiarities, the
focus on an equitable distribution of benefits.
Finally, it was found that M&E
indicators are seldom identified at the stage of project
planning. This often results in lack of clarity on the
outcomes to be delivered and measured.
THEMATIC SESSION III : USE OF
EVALUATION AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN LONG-TERM
PLANNING
Evaluation and impact assessment are
very useful to improve inputs quality, relevance of the
intervention and accountability of the implementing
institution. In particular, this means not only
improving the tools, procedures, and interventions
within the given project framework but also
disseminating best practices within the implementing
agency. Finally this helps conceptualising new
projects.
However, knowledge dissemination
(both inside the implementing institution and among
implementing institutions) was found to be difficult due
to lack of structured documentation format, requests
overload on limited human resources, complexity of data
processing and frequent personnel turnover. These
problems can be addressed by agreeing on simple and
uniform documentation mechanisms, ensuring a transparent
and free access to documents, shortening the project
cycle and increasing the frequency of review meetings.
Besides, free discussion on failures, rather than
exclusively on successes, should be strongly
encouraged.
Finally, several calls were made for
more opportunities for experience sharing at the
national level. The cause for such a phenomenon was
agreed to be lack of coordination among institutions
implementing cluster development initiatives. The
participants called for greater frequency for events
such as the Learnshop. |
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Interesting Web Sites |
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