Factors affecting Rehabilitation and Reconstruction

Much of the material in this section was originally written for the UN Disaster Management Training Programme (DMTP).

It is the experience of National Societies that the scope of rehabilitation and reconstruction depends on the following main factors:
• The nature of the disaster
• The scale of the damage
• The location of the event
• The sectors affected
• The available resources
• The quality of services and structures

Reconstruction is part of rehabilitation. It is defined as the replacement of buildings, machinery, equipment and materials destroyed or damaged in a disaster. Reconstruction must be fully integrated into long-term development plans, taking into account future disaster risks and possibilities to reduce such risks by incorporating appropriate measures. Damaged structures and services may not necessarily be restored in their previous form or location. It may include the replacement of any temporary arrangements established as a part of emergency response or rehabilitation.

We will discuss three important aspects of rehabilitation.

1. Nutritional aspects of rehabilitation
2. Water and sanitation aspects of rehabilitation
3. Construction aspects of reconstruction
4.Social and economic aspects of rehabilitation

1. Nutritional aspects of rehabilitation

The nutritional component of a rehabilitation programme aims to restore self-reliance through local production and/or market exchange, whilst ensuring a supply of sufficient basic foods, to encourage employment and self-help rather than relief, to stimulate food production by all means, and to improve storage facilities and distribution.

The restoration of food-supply systems and nutrition after a disaster may take a very long time, but the period during which relief food is distributed should be kept as short as possible and relief food should be replaced by locally-produced or traded food.

In areas with recurrent food shortages, rehabilitation should be included in development planning and not treated as a separate issue.
Food and nutrition are not separate issues and must be considered within the processes of emergency relief and rehabilitation, as the restoration of the production and marketing of local food may take a very long time and, in the meantime, it may be necessary to distribute relief food. Prolonged distribution of limited rations causes deterioration in the health of the survivors and the final withdrawal of the agencies providing relief food may precipitate a further disaster.

Nutritional aspects of rehabilitation should aim to:

• Restore local production and trade (highest priority).
• Prevent and treat malnutrition.
• Prevent and treat micro-nutrient deficiency.

In all rehabilitation programmes which involve a nutritional component, the following six questions should always be asked.

1. Who is suffering from malnutrition?
2. Why are they suffering?
3. How many are they?
4. Where are they?
5. How can they be reached?
6. What needs to be done to improve their food supply?

2.Water and sanitation aspects of rehabilitation
Water supply and sanitation have implications for all aspects of health as well as for labour quality and environment. Water is absolutely essential for life. An adequate supply of clean drinking water in sufficient quantity is a first rank priority in any situation and particularly after disasters. Sanitation is a key issue in all situations and it becomes even more important when a community is displaced outside its normal environment.
As part of their responsibility to assist the most vulnerable. National Societies should take upon themselves the responsibility to ensure that the water and sanitation needs of the most vulnerable are being met, either directly by the Society or by other appropriate government or non-government bodies. The restoration of basic water and sanitation services requires expert technical knowledge. National Societies should only become directly involved in this field where they have access to such knowledge.

3. Construction aspects of reconstruction
Construction covers a wide range of activities from the distribution of materials for emergency/temporary shelter and building houses, to the reconstruction of public buildings such as schools, hospitals or health posts. Before embarking on major civil engineering construction projects such as cyclone shelters, housing complexes, reconstruction of schools or hospitals, it is also essential to carry out a proper feasibility study which should lead to a clear project description and detailed project agreement. The project must be managed by a professional engineer.

4.Social and economic aspects of rehabilitation

National Societies should concentrate upon the following social aspects of rehabilitation:
• Ensuring the follow-up of victims, assessing their needs and resources and giving support, encouragement and guidance
• Keeping in contact with concerned authorities and community agencies for co-ordination purposes, through a specially designated person
• Helping arrange for the resumption of children schooling, in co-operation with the proper authorities, if there is a prolonged shelter operation
• Planning or continuing activities that will contribute to the rehabilitation effort, such as: recreational programmes, special programmes for the elderly and the disabled (e.g. day centres).
In general National Societies will only play a peripheral role in economic rehabilitation. Where they do play a role, their programmes should aim to:
• Target those individuals and families whose economic security has been most threatened by the disaster
• Replace household economic assets lost in the disaster, such as tools, seeds, agricultural animals
• Where old economic activities cannot be restored National Societies should consider programmes to stimulate the growth of new activities which will be directly accessible by the most vulnerable
Just as every disaster is different, every rehabilitation programme will take place in a unique set of circumstances. Nevertheless, experience in past disasters suggests that the National Societies should use the following principles.
• Many victims do not need help in making future plans only the resources to implement them
• Economic and social planning should meet the needs of the victims, not the planners
• Disasters bring out latent problems; economic, social and emotional
• Disaster victims need to have confidence in National Society personnel in order to accept counselling or assistance in community organisation programmes. As far as possible, National Society personnel should be appointed with the expectation of remaining over the emergency period and into the rehabilitation period
• There is a need to maintain contact between the National Society personnel and the victims. This is very important because after the first emotional public reaction, disaster victims are usually left alone to cope with their problems
• Communities as well as individuals need help during this phase. National Society personnel skilled in community work (community development, community organisation) can play a key role in helping the community to: focus on the problems, mobilise resources, get organised

Sectors affected
A comprehensive rehabilitation and reconstruction plan should take into consideration both the physical and non-physical needs of the communities. Failing to ensure that rehabilitation needs are addressed in all their complexity can have adverse consequences. First, it may result in large investment in buildings without the necessary inputs to help the victims become psychologically fit, socially coherent and economically self-sustained. Secondly, it is important to recognise the links between physical and socio/psychological recovery. For example, when disaster victims are active in rebuilding their houses it can have an important economical and therapeutic value. Thus double dividends may result from their active involvement in physical rebuilding.

Organization Structures in Project Management

A project is defined by the Project Management Institute (PMI), as a temporary Endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or service”. In lay person terms a project is a grouping of tasks with a specified start and end date, a specific and defined objective, a budget and resources assigned to the effort.
A project is one time event that creates or manages change. Either you are implementing something new such as a new program, a new system or you are enhancing existing programs or systems. Repetitive task or performing the same task again and again is not by definition projects.
To manage a project, a company or authority has to set up a project organization, which can supply the resources for the project and service it during its life cycle.
There are three main types of project organizations:
1. Functional;
2. Matrix;
3. Project or task force.
Functional Organization: This type of organization consists of specialist or functional departments each with their own departmental manager responsible to one or more directors. Such an organization is ideal for routine operations where there is little variation of the end product. Functional organizations are usually found where items are mass produced, whether they are motor cars or sausages. Each department is expert at its function and the interrelationship between them is well established.
In this sense a functional organization is not a project-type organization at all and is only included because when small, individual, one-off projects have to be carried out, they may be given to a particular department to manage. For projects of any reasonable size or complexity, it will be necessary to set up one of the other two types of organizations.
Matrix Organization: This is probably the most common type of project organization, since it utilizes an existing functional organization to provide the human resources without disrupting the day-to-day operation of the department. The personnel allocated to a particular project are responsible to a project manager for meeting the three basic project criteria, time, cost and quality.
The departmental manager is, however, still responsible for their ‘pay and rations’ and their compliance with the department’s standards and procedures, including technical competence and conformity to company quality standards. The members of this project team will still be working at their desks in their department, but will be booking their time to the project. Where the project does not warrant a full-time contribution, only those hours actually expended on the project will be allocated to it.
Project Organization: Project Organization is a structure that is specifically designed for executing projects. It is specifically tailored to meet the demands of complex projects by isolating unique work and maintaining a strong focus on completing the project. Once the project is completed, this structure disbands. This structure is effective in maintaining dedicated resources throughout the life of the project.
The major criticism of this structure is that it is inefficient in transferring technology and the use of resources. Also, by the time the members actually begin acting as a cohesive team, the project is over and the organization dissolves. Since this project has dedicated resources throughout its life, major inefficiency ensues when there are underutilized employees during certain parts of the project.
Project objectives define target status at the end of the project, reaching of which is considered necessary for the achievement of planned benefits. They can be formulated as S.M.A.R.T.E.R;

1. Specific
2. Measurable (or at least evaluable) achievement
3. Achievable (recently Acceptable is used regularly as well)
4. Realistic (given the current state of organizational resources)
5. Time terminated (bounded)
6. Ethical and Recorded

The evaluation (measurement) occurs at the project closure. However a continuous guard on the project progress should be kept by monitoring and evaluating. It is also worth noting that SMART or SMARTER is best applied for incremental type innovation projects. For radical type projects it does not apply as well. Goals for such projects tend to be broad, qualitative, stretch/unrealistic and success driven.

Customer Retention:In View of Total Quality Management

Customer Retention

Customer Retention is the activity that a selling organization undertakes in order to reduce customer defections. Successful customer retention starts with the first contact an organization has with a customer and continues throughout the entire lifetime of a relationship. A company’s ability to attract and retain new customers, is not only related to its product or services, but strongly related to the way it services its existing customers and the reputation it creates within and across the marketplace.

Customer retention is more than giving the customer what they expect; it’s about exceeding their expectations so that they become loyal advocates for your brand. Creating customer loyalty puts ‘customer value rather than maximizing profits and shareholder value at the center of business strategy’. The key differentiator in a competitive environment is more often than not the delivery of a consistently high standard of customer service.

Customer retention is not only a cost effective and profitable strategy, but in today's business world it's necessary. This is especially true when you remember that 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customer and clients. With these statistics I am wondering why most marketing and sales campaigns are designed for the new customer.

Take for instance the wireless telephone companies; if you sign a new contract you are given a large rebate or even a free cellular telephone. If you are a current customer you have the privilege of paying full price. Can someone please explain that methodology to me. With this type of promotion are we not just pushing current customers and clients to seek services elsewhere when their contract ends?

Perhaps we need to rethink our marketing and sales strategies, after all many experts will tell you that it's five times more profitable to spend marketing and advertising dollars to retain current customers than it is to acquire new customers. In years past the importance of focusing on customer retention was not as important, stickiness came naturally. We shopped in our neighbourhood shops and our corner grocery stores. We had a personal connection with our service providers and the thought of shopping at another store would have never crossed our minds.

That has all changed now. Our stores our larger, the majority of the sales personnel don't know that you even exist. Not to mention that now we have the convenience of the Internet and do a large portion of our shopping online, where you are known by your email address. As a result, customer loyalty has disappeared and large corporations and virtual storefronts are unable to ask the millions of disloyal customers what caused them to stray.

However, there is a solution. Sophisticated technology and database equipment has made it possible for specialized firms to make attempts at customer retention through database marketing programs. Establishing a detailed client database will allow these companies to keep track of personal information and individual preferences of all their customers. This enables them to provide better service and value. Just like the corner grocery store owner kept information on 200 customers in his head, the large superstore can now keep track of 20,000 customers through its customer database. With effective implementation of customer databases, companies will be able to re-establish contact with customers, and will be able to work successfully towards increasing customer retention, repeat sales, and customer referrals.

To achieve the objectives of the database and customer retention programs, the entire campaign should be designed and carried out with the customer in mind. The exercise will only be effective if the customer recognizes and associates some value with being part of your database. If they do not perceive value in your program all of your communications, coupons, special offers, and newsletters will be discarded. Your customers have been inundated with meaningless "junk" mail and email spam, so embed your campaign with value.

A few values-add strategies that you can use include:

* Membership cards and programs that entitle your customers to special offers, discounts, or preferential treatment.

* Welcome, acknowledgement, sales recognition, thank you statements.

* After sales satisfaction and complaint inquiries and surveys.

* Event oriented communications in which the customer is genuinely interested.

* Enhanced and empowered customer, after sales, and technical support.