Project Name:
Training of Operators in India and Mexico on Australia’s Irrigation Water Provider Benchmarking Process
Client:
World Bank
Project Description:
Building on the example of the Australian industry and the emphasis given to performance benchmarking by various international agencies, benchmarking has been applied in China, Egypt, Malaysia, Maharashtra and other Indian states, Mexico and Sri Lanka. These countries represent a very diverse range of management types and cultures and as a consequence the benchmarking process has been applied in various ways to meet a range of objectives. Hydro Environmental conducted a forum which brought together the experiences of the irrigation service providers in Mexico and India with a view to addressing the following types of questions:
- What are the drivers that have led agencies to use performance benchmarking as a management tool?
- Can agencies point to specific benefits arising from the use of benchmarking?
- Are their minimum pre-conditions that must be in place before benchmarking can be used to good effect?
- What are the start-up and on-going costs associated with implementing benchmarking?
- What progress has been made in defining performance targets for different types of scheme?
- Why have certain measures of performance been selected?
- What levels of management are engaged in and using the benchmarking process?
Specific benchmarking reports were prepared by Hydro Environmental for a major irrigation system in Mexico and India.
Key Skills Applied:
Facilitation, technical understanding, high level communication skills, irrigation practices, community consultation, water planning and management, project management, water policy, water savings initiatives and strategies, international understanding.