Praxis Note 4. How Should Impact Be Assessed Cross-Culturally?

The assessment of impact involves a number of stakeholders often working within different cultural assumptions, in different power relations to each other. Assessing impact must be considered from a cross-cultural perspective.

To successfully build NGO capacity in an international development context, it is imperative to look at issues through a cross-cultural lens. This must not be an add-on or an afterthought. It must be integrated into a capacity building approach. The project Management and Change in Africa: A Cross-cultural Perspective, funded by Danida and the Paris Chamber of Commerce, although focusing primarily on the commercial and public sectors, was the first of its kind to address issues of managing in a developing region in a critical way and from a cross-cultural viewpoint. This project has important implications beyond Africa for the third sector and for development NGOs in particular.