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THE Knowledge Center Business Plan 2011-2014 version June 2011
Page 1 of 38
Powered by the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro (UOM)
Union of Municipalities
of Montenegro
Business Plan 2011-2014
DRAFT
Under Construction
Prepared by:
Zana Dukic (UoM)
Vanja Starovlah (UoM)
Gerrit Jan Schep (VNG International)
Zajednica Opstina Crne Gore
Adresa : Mitra Bakica 142, Podgorica ; T :020 620 097 F :020 620 123
e-mail : [email protected] web : www.uom.me
THE Knowledge Center Business Plan 2011-2014 version June 2011
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Summary
(After completion of the business plan the summary has to be written and should not exceed 2
pages)
To do
THE Knowledge Center Business Plan 2011-2014 version June 2011
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Table of content
1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 5 2 Client Identification and Market Information relevant for the Knowledge Center ............ 7 3 Context, PEST and SWOT-analysis ................................................................................... 8
3.1 PEST Analysis ............................................................................................................. 8
3.1.1 Political Environment ........................................................................................... 8 3.1.2 Economic Environment ........................................................................................ 9 3.1.3 Social Environment ............................................................................................ 10 3.1.4 Technological Environment ............................................................................... 11
3.2 SWOT Analysis ......................................................................................................... 12
3.2.1 Strengths ............................................................................................................. 12 3.2.2 Opportunities ...................................................................................................... 16 3.2.3 Threats ................................................................................................................ 17
4 Vision, Mission Statement, Strategies, Envisaged services and products and Priority
Areas ......................................................................................................................................... 19 4.1 Our Vision ................................................................................................................. 19
4.2 Our Mission ............................................................................................................... 19 4.3 Our Goals ................................................................................................................... 19 4.4 Our Slogan ................................................................................................................. 20
4.5 Our Profile ................................................................................................................. 20 4.5.1 Product range and service offer .......................................................................... 20
4.5.2 Marketing and Public Relations ......................................................................... 21
4.5.3 Financial sustainability/institutional strengthening ............................................ 23
4.5.4 Relationship with UOM ..................................................................................... 24 4.5.5 Co-operation with others .................................................................................... 25
5 Objectives, Activities, Results and Actions ..................................................................... 26 6 Management and Organization ........................................................................................ 31
6.1 Management Team .................................................................................................... 31
6.2 Contracts and Franchise Agreements ........................................................................ 31 6.3 Knowledge Center Advisory Council ........................................................................ 32
6.4 Infrastructure .............................................................................................................. 32 6.5 Employee Plan ........................................................................................................... 32
7 Review mechanisms and quality control .......................................................................... 33 8 Preconditions for success ................................................................................................. 34
9 Financial Projections ........................................................................................................ 35 9.1 Calculation of billable days/hours of UoM Staff and their transfer-price ................. 35
9.2 Business Case on KC-UoM Service Package Basket (See ANNEX 1) .................... 36 9.3 Projection Total Turnover and Staffing of the Knowledge Center 2012-2015 ......... 38
Annexes:
1. Business Case on KC-UoM Service Package Basket
2. Register Helpdesk Q&A KC-UoM
3. Registration Form for Helpdesk Questions
4. Database Experts and Fields of Interest KC-UoM
5. UoM Cost Price Calculation & KC Budget Projection 2012-2015
THE Knowledge Center Business Plan 2011-2014 version June 2011
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Abbreviations:
KC Knowledge Center of UoM
EU European Union
UoM Union of Municipalities of Montenegro
VNG Association of Netherlands Municipalities
THE Knowledge Center Business Plan 2011-2014 version June 2011
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1 Introduction
Since the promulgation of the decentralization policy, Montenegro has made a great progress
in the devolution of responsibilities and authority to local governments to achieve three main
goals: promotion of good governance, promotion of local self-governance and effective and
accountable delivery of services. In accordance with the Strategy of Public Administration
Reform in Montenegro 2011-2016 the decentralization process will be more promoted in the
next period.
Naturally, as one could have imagined, publications on capacity needs assessment of local
governments, reveal that Montenegro municipalities still require support in the form of
training, capacity building and advice in various areas in order to satisfactorily fulfill their
roles and responsibilities transferred to them in the decentralization process.
The Union of Municipalities of Montenegro, UoM, was founded in 1972 with the following
mission: “The Union of Municipalities of Montenegro by representing the interests and
strengthening the capacity of local governments and their joint action is contributing to
effective decentralization, sustainable and balanced regional development and faster European
integration of Montenegro“. In order to fulfill its mission, UoM has identified three main
areas of activities: (i) representation, (ii) advocacy (iii) capacity building.
General strategic framework for all activities of the Union in the future will be based on:
- fundamental principles of decentralization given in the European Charter of Local Self-
Government
- directions of regional development in Montenegro, as defined by the Law on Regional
Development and the Strategy on Balanced Regional Development in Montenegro 2010-
2014
- activities planned by the National Program for Integration of Montenegro into the EU and
other policy documents that guide the process of European integration.
During its existence, the association has developed into a vibrant entity in the decentralization
process accompanying Montenegro local governments in every step of the process. The UoM
Secretariat has as of 2006 established in partnership with a number of development partners
programs which shall serve to fulfill the mission of the association, notably Program
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Strengthening Local Self-Government in Montenegro-Phase I and II with the Council of
Europe supported by the European Commission, Program Support to local self-government
reform supported by the Delegation of European Union to Montenegro, Increasing
transparency and accountability at the local level in Montenegro with VNG International,
Improving good governance at the local level with OSCE, etc.
In addition, UoM is currently being asked by its members and other stakeholders to conduct
trainings; to provide information on the implementation of decentralized responsibilities for
local government and best practices for capacity building purposes; to provide information on
the process of the European integration and IPA Funds, to provide information on
transparency and accountability on the local level, and to provide other consultancy services
concerning local governance and decentralization issues. This high demand of services to be
delivered cannot be satisfied by the Association in its present state. It is, therefore, in demand
of a Knowledge Center which could suffice the members‟ needs and become the full fledge
services provider from the association.
The Knowledge Center with the ambition to develop and deliver high quality services in
training, information, consultancy and research which will FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS,
TOGETHER WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, AND BY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
strengthen the efforts in delivering quality services. The Knowledge Center will provide
services to meet the needs of the members and other stakeholders at local level, and thus to
improve quality and performance in service delivery to the public. The Knowledge Center
strives for “Excellence in Information, Advice, Training, and Research.”
The UoM management envisages the Knowledge Center by 2015 to cover a percentage of the
association‟s operating costs. Following a strategy based management style and with the
ambition to successfully launch the Knowledge Center, the UOM management resolved to
write a Business Plan for the Knowledge Center. VNG International supported the association
to elaborate this Plan.
This Business Plan documents the analysis of the current situation of the market and the
strategies the Association adopts to successfully launch the Knowledge Center.
THE Knowledge Center Business Plan 2011-2014 version June 2011
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2 Client Identification and Market Information relevant for the Knowledge Center
Key clients of UoM will be 21 Montenegro Municipalities, and other institutions and
stakeholders engaged in the promotion of local governance, decentralization issues, EU
integration, transparency and improvement of quality service delivery to the public by the
local administration.
The key clients‟ (municipalities) ability to pay for services especially consultancy and
trainings is limited. The financial position of the target key clients is weak, especially because
of the economic crisis and the extent of public finance in Montenegro. In addition, currently
the market for consultancy services is significantly spoiled by services provided for free from
donors especially trainings. Therefore in the start-up phase the Knowledge Center will
provide services to members for free, which will be financed either from the membership fees,
with donor grants or from the central government.
Local governments receive numerous consultancy services, may it be general and special
training, elaboration of terms of references for some local infrastructure projects, development
of specialized software, support in the elaboration of specific strategies and project
implementation, etc. The consultancy and training services currently consumed by Local
Governments are mainly financed by two channels: firstly, the central government has
established a national training institute (Human Resources Management Agency) which, in
cooperation with UoM and within the framework of the National training Strategy for Local
Self-Government, is providing training also for local governments; secondly through
development partners, which are either engaged in the support of the Montenegro
decentralization process.
Another category of clients will be stakeholders in the decentralization process, thanks to the
specific knowledge THE Knowledge Center is acquiring while working with its key clients.
These stakeholders could be civil society organizations, central government institutions and
development partners.
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3 Context, PEST and SWOT-analysis
This chapter presents the assessment of UOM staff concerning the political, economical,
social and technological environment (PEST analysis) in which the Knowledge Center will be
operating. It also presents results of their assessment concerning the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) of the Knowledge Center‟s service offer. These
analysis comply with the new Strategic Plan from UoM.
3.1 PEST Analysis
A PEST Analysis is a simple tool for understanding the market environment of a business. It
is also sometimes conducive in identifying competitors and/or SWOT factors. It concerns
essentially the external environment and is usually performed before conducting a SWOT
analysis.1
3.1.1 Political Environment
The political environment in which the Knowledge Center will be operating is characterized
by
The political environment in which the Knowledge Center will be operating is characterized
by
Government commitment - The Government is strongly committed to implement its
Strategy of public administration reform in Montenegro 2011-2016. As it was highlighted
in this Strategy, a further decentralization of authorities and responsibilities is one of the
main pillars of the Government. Hence, in the coming years there will still be a strong
need from local governments for consultancy services, support in capacity building and
information – especially in the field of promotion of regional economic development,
possibility of using the EU funds, establishing a quality system of human resources
management and policy, strengthening legality in the work of local government,
transparently work of the local government bodies, local taxation and public financial
management, infrastructure development, etc;
Regulatory bodies and processes – Montenegro has build institutions which are
supposed to guarantee transparency of the governance and competition in business
1 Normally, the PEST analysis is presented in a grille. However, for optical purposes, this way of presentation
has not been chosen here.
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process. This is one of the requirements of whose fulfillment will depend a destiny of
Montenegro in the process of EU integration.
Political Integration - The ongoing integration of the Balkan countries to the EU is
progressing rapidly. Montenegro is decided to become part of the European system of
values (acquis). Also, Montenegro undertakes significant activities in the area of NATO
integration. These are the biggest challenges for the administration and society.
Montenegro Local Governments are directly affected by decisions made on the (multi-)
national level. Among the other of seven requirements of the European Commission,
Montenegro will have to work on the improvement of public administration and on the
fight against the corruption. The UoM members therefore have a constant need to be
informed of the latest developments and what the decisions imply for them. As UOM staff
is in regular contact with EU representatives and bodies, the Knowledge Center can
include in its website and newsletter as one of its services offered within its service
package regular information and analysis on the latest EU integration process.
Political stability – The political stability and the strength of the democratic system
makes Montenegro one of the more stable countries on the Balkan. Promotion of
international politics and improvement of regional cooperation are fields which will be
especially promoted in the coming period. Small and open economy, geographical
location, „Eurozation‟ of the economy, low tax rates are just some of the benefits that will
be used for achieving of this goals.
3.1.2 Economic Environment
The economic environment in which the Knowledge Center will be operating is characterized
by
Economic Integration – The ongoing integration of the EU challenges Montenegro Local
Governments in reinforcing the business environment and strengthening local business to
remain competitive as compared to competitors from EU member countries. Therefore,
implementation of the Law on improvement of business environment and activities of the
Council for Regulatory Reform and improvement of business environment, together with
improved local economic policies, will help in achieving entrepreneurship development,
new investment and new capital. This aspect constitutes another reason why UoM
strongly believes that in the next few years the Montenegro Local Governments will
require services and assistance in terms of capacity building.
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Competition – Except training, which are free provided by national Human Resources
Management Agency, consultancy services are usually provided within specific
international projects. Also, there are only few private companies which are specialized in
these services. Conclusion - Not many formal consultancy companies exist in the
Montenegro market.
Economic crises - Montenegrin municipalities are faced with the economic crises.
Consequences of the global economic crisis quite are affected on whole economy (and
thus the budgets of local self-governments). Revenues from which local self government
units finance activities from their own jurisdiction do not provide coverage of basic needs
and therefore neither local economic development for the greatest number of these units.
There is also reduced flow of foreign direct investment. Therefore, insuring the stability of
local public finances is set as one of the main goals in the coming period.
Economic and financial dependence of clients – All municipalities have their own
budgets, which consist of their own resources. These resources are used for covering its
responsibilities. In that sense, the strong support to the implementation of the national
decentralization strategy (Strategy of Public Administration Reform in Montenegro 2011-
2016) an also represent a risk. Since its implementation depends significantly from the
fiscal decentralization, the progress may be threatened in the case not adequate fiscal
decentralization.
3.1.3 Social Environment
The social environment in which the Knowledge Center will be operating is characterized by
Demographic pressure – Montenegro is characterized with the demographic pressure. It
is characterized with the migration of populations from the north to the center and south of
the country. North municipalities have mostly undeveloped economy, with significant
natural beauty. On the other side, centre and south of Montenegro, are most developed and
have better opportunities for education, employment, promotion, etc. This is the main
reason for migration of people from north to the center and south of the country. If we
want to stop this process, we will have to significantly promote the policy of balanced
regional development in the future.
Citizens’ attitudes and opinions – The Montenegro citizens are critical about the
transparency of the public sector and about the level and quality of the services provided
by the public sector, including the municipalities.
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Influence of media – Media views have an important influence on the public opinion.
Fashion – The Montenegro society likes new fashion and innovations. The service offer
from the Knowledge Center of UoM innovation in form of a service basket may therefore
be welcomed by the Local Governments.
Buying access and trends - The Montenegro society likes proximity. Buying a promise
for a future service might not easily accepted by Local Governments.
Publicity - Publicity has great impact on the image of the Knowledge Center and the
support from the members.
Acceptance of useful changes - Montenegrin administration (including local
administration) accepts changes which will improve their work. This is definitely one of
the prerequisites for achieving the objectives which are placed in front of the Montenegrin
administration.
Perfection attitudes – The Montenegro society constantly struggles to improve and to
reinforce its socio-economic development. The “performance “contracts and transparency
measures on the Local Government level need to continuously improve.
3.1.4 Technological Environment
Interest – Montenegro citizens are open to technology development and interested in
using latest technological gadgets. The Local Governments are becoming more and more
used to communication via internet and email. A service offer partly based on the usage of
the internet is therefore considered to be possible.
Research, training and innovation funding – Research, training and innovation are
mainly provided by the central level (Ministry for Information Society and
Telecommunications, Human resources Management Agency). One part of these activities
is also donor funded. Information and communication technology are very important to
the success of the Knowledge Center.
Technology access, licensing, patents - Intellectual property rights are not sufficiently
protected. The Montenegro society has a duplication culture, i.e. using of others‟
innovation without paying for it.
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3.2 SWOT Analysis
The SWOT analysis below reviews the business unit, the Knowledge Center in general and
the service proposition of shared services and member services to Local Governments and
other organization engaged in local development in Montenegro to be offered by the
Knowledge Center in particular. It measures also the future business unit of UOM and its
business proposition and thereby complements the PEST analysis which has focused on
measuring the market for services to Local Governments. It is the subjective assessment by
UOM staff on how they evaluate the business unit and its current and planned service offer.
For reasons of practicability, a list instead of the usual grid, comprising four sections, one for
each of the SWOT headings: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats has been
chosen to present the results of the SWOT analysis in the following section.
3.2.1 Strengths
the strong link between UoM and its future key clients and their quality
communication: the members;
membership - All municipalities in Montenegro are full and active members of the
UoM
membership fees – All membership units pay membership fee and UoM has
developed a mechanism to complete collection of these fees
relationship - Good relations with the ministries, international organizations, NGO
organizations, etc.
dedicated staff - UoM staff is dedicated to carrying out the basic mission of UoM
the profound knowledge of the consultants, which will either be UoM staff, freelance
trainers and consultants used by UoM in past and present, or qualified personnel from
the Local Governments themselves.
Service Packages to which Local Governments can subscribe and their advantages :
Subscription package is a new service proposition, not common in Montenegro – It
has a great advantage: once the Local Governments have access or subscribed to this
service basket they can consume the services offered within the basket and without
going through the tender process for each little service.
Shared services are cost effective – Considering the tight budget constraint for Local
Governments, it is very important for the Knowledge Center to offer the most possible
services at the start for free (financed from the membership fees), and in the future at
THE Knowledge Center Business Plan 2011-2014 version June 2011
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the highest possible quality at a price level which is affordable for Local Governments.
By including products in the service basket which have been developed in one
municipality and then adapted and updated including the necessary manuals and
instructions by the consultants of the Knowledge Center so that they may be used by all
the Local Governments. This guarantees that products can be offered cost effectively.
Basket service package is an innovation – Within this concept, local government
units will have possibility to have all related information about some subject on one
place (at the start about transparency and EU integrations).
The following resources of UoM and/or the Knowledge Center could with support,
promotion, or investments, become a strength:
Experts / Competent staff – UoM staff will partly work as experts for the Knowledge
Center. Moreover the most competent staff of UoM for the delivery of various services
to be offered within the service basket of the Knowledge Center will be chosen. Since
UOM has highly competent staff with different skills, UOM can assure a high quality
services.
Office space – The Knowledge Center will have its office in the same place as UoM
General Secretariat. The proximity and the regular exchange of staff and local leaders
will assure that the Knowledge Center remains up-to-date with the latest developments
during the decentralization process.
Financial resource and equipment – In the early stage, UoM needs to invest in the
Knowledge Center to set up the desired service (packages). Investments are needed to
set up the digital handbook system, which will be the core of the Knowledge Center,
staff needs to be trained in advisory skills, running a helpdesk etc. In the initial phase
some of these investments can be covered from the MATRA-VNG International
project, but UoM needs to secure the financial resources for the Knowledge Center for
the post MATRA project period. With this business plan UoM provides the foundation
for that.
Links of UoM with both its members and development partners – The UoM
business unit may benefit from the good relationship UoM has with both its members
and its development partners. These relationships may be tapped for publicity purposes
and to increase the knowledge about the Knowledge Center and its provided services.
THE Knowledge Center Business Plan 2011-2014 version June 2011
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The following services are esteemed to have potential to be included in the
Knowledge Center services, even if it may require some support, promotion, or
investment:
Digital Handbook System with Help desk and Monthly Newsletter –interpretation
of laws, national government orders, and ministerial instructions; manuals and
handbooks for the implementation of laws and regulations; and providing models for
local by-laws and instructions is a challenging task for which local leaders and
municipal staff need support. This especially applies for laws and regulations
concerning the fiscal and financial management at the local level, consequences of EU
integration for the municipalities, and transparency and anti-corruption measures. The
Knowledge Center will support UoM members also with a help desk on these issues
and a monthly newsletter with information on new developments and new adds in the
digital handbook system.
Topics for the digital handbook system, helpdesk and newsletter are:
EU Integration – from the needs analysis which has been conducted for the Strategic
Plan the UoM members pressed the most urgent need to get access on information on
the EU Integration, such as:
- A simplified explanation for local politicians and staff about the structure of the EU
- Information about funds and integration programs
- Information about calls for proposals
- Guidelines to write project proposals
- Examples of approved projects
- Links to relevant EU websites
- Relevant websites on EU Integration:
o www.delmne.ec.europa.eu/code/navigate.php?Id=59
o www.eucharter.org
o www.europeancharter.eu
o www.europarl.europa.eu/charter/default_en.htm
National strategies and Strategic plans – Local Governments are often called to
formulate strategies concerning the local development. At national level most of the
ministries have their own strategies, but these are not collected and published at one
central point. The Knowledge Center will collect and make the national strategies in
different field of interest (e.g. tourism development, environmental protection, waste
management) available for the UoM members through the digital handbook system.
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Transparency and accountability– One of the main tasks of Local Governments is
the monitoring and evaluation of local policies and procedures, and thus measure the
performance of the municipality. However, they often lack the capacities to properly
conduct this task. The Knowledge Center can help the municipalities by developing
and offering them instruments to support this such as peer to peer reviewing and
benchmarking. This will benefit the transparency of the municipalities and their
leadership.
Prevention of corruption - The Knowledge Center will offer the municipalities help in
implementation action plan for fight against corruption at the local level, guidelines for
a code of ethics for local politicians and civil servants, public ethics standards in a local
authority, etc.
Inter-Municipal Cooperation - The Knowledge Center will offer the municipalities
implementation guidelines to set up inter-municipal cooperation.
Also to be included in the service package from the Knowledge Center is Training:
Skills development - for mayors, local council members and civil servants. On: leadership,
management, policy cycle planning, participatory planning, municipal service provision,
monitoring and evaluation, corruption prevention, etc. And on: specific municipal interests,
such as good governance, energy efficiency, waste management, and creating awareness on
these topics among their citizens (with best practices from regional and EU countries). And
on Legal procedures for public procurement (with best practices from regional and EU
countries), on Code of ethics, plan of integrity, local anti-corruption plans
Best practices collection, selection, distribution and dissemination on multiple (+3)
themes:
Selection of best practices (pitch meetings)
Annual conference on municipal best practices
Price awarded for the winning best practices
Online publishing of the winning best practices
Expert database for all fields of municipal interest:
Search and Find: online access to database of experts
Contracting through the UoM (20% for UoM, 80% for expert)
(Annual expert meeting, free access for experts to UoM information sources, etc)
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Weaknesses
The following points are perceived as weaknesses of UoM:
Lack of enough Staff Skills – UOM staff which will partly work as staff of the
Knowledge Center is – as underlined above - highly qualified, however, working for
the Knowledge Center may require specific skills. Moreover, the lack of adequate and
enough staff could cause insufficient quality work in the UOM, as well as in the
Knowledge Center.
Lack of adequate office space - UoM has very limited space which might be a
constraint for the staff to receive and meet members and partners at the office and work
efficiently.
Limited resources – The Knowledge Center will depend on the financial support and
technical assistance from both UoM and its development partners. This will cause an
increasing burden to the membership fees when the MATRA project is finishing.
Therefore it will be necessary to develop a paid services strategy.
Inflexible organizational structure - New challenges, which are faced with UoM,
require new and more efficient organizational structure.
Conflict with core business – The concept that UoM staff will need to reserve at least
20-30% of its time to provide services for the Knowledge Center. As the staff usually is
fully occupied by advocacy and running donor projects this will probably create a
conflict in the capacity management of UoM.
Lack of information – UoM and its members have limited information related to
consultancy and service delivery in Montenegro. Having a data base on experts and
trainers working in different fields of interest, could facilitate the UoM staff‟s work,
especially when it will need to team up with partners to work on a project.
Publicity/Marketing – UoM has some ideas on how to organize its publicity and/or
marketing for its service proposition. However, it does not have a full fledged
marketing strategy. This will be needed to promote the Knowledge Center.
3.2.2 Opportunities
• The availability of EU funds and possibilities of attracting investment – The
Knowledge Center should increase the opportunities to municipalities, as well as to
UoM in the possibilities for using the available EU funds. Greater using of EU funds
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should provide better conditions and possibilities for attracting investment on the local
level, as well as on the central level;
• Improving transparency and accountability on the local level - The Knowledge
Center should contribute in the strengthening of transparency and accountability on the
local level. Transparency and accountability are starting point in the prevention of
corruption.
• Networking on national, regional and international levels – The Knowledge
Center should also help to all stakeholders in achieving this opportunity;
• Taking an active role in the process of European integration (including the
programming of EU funds) - Continuous monitoring of events and opportunities in
this field should provide an active role in this process to the UoM, as well as to key
clients;
• Possibility of improving relations with central authorities - guided with the
common purpose, the Knowledge Center should contribute in improving relations with
the central authorities;
• Improving service delivery to citizens – If the Knowledge Center achieve its goal
and contribute in strengthening capacity of local governments, citizens should receive
services on the improved way.
3.2.3 Threats
The following points are perceived as threats to the service proposition of the
Knowledge Center:
Slow development because of lack of facilities and human resources – As
mentioned above the current human resource base of UoM is weak. If the key staff
leaves, the continuity of the service offer is threatened. Also, there is not enough office
space and other facilities for providing services by the Knowledge Center. For the first
period, the Knowledge Center will work with existing staff , office space and other
facilities;
Perception – UoM members are quite demanding concerning the services they expect
its member association should provide to them for free as part of their membership fee.
There is a risk that once UoM is offering in the future paid services at their actual cost,
the good relations the Association is maintaining with its members might be perturbed.
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A political "identity" of the UoM – The Knowledge Center‟s business proposition
may be influenced politically. Especially the new capacity building approach and
innovative way in disseminating tools based on shared services. There is a vital threat
that other institutions may not accept it and might try to stop other parties to share
services with the Knowledge Center;
Differences between developed and less developed municipalities, as well as
between regions (coastal and north) - Montenegro is a country characterized by
unequaled regional development. This difference might be a threat in using services of
the Knowledge Center. Also, a lot of services to be offered by Knowledge Center shall
be Internet based. As IT development speed is not as fast in all municipalities and
regions, this can be also threat in functioning of the Knowledge Center.
The unwillingness of members to cope with the accelerated process of European
integration - Process of European integration requires a modern local government that
will be ready to face with all challenges and changes which can improve their work.
Montenegrin municipalities have a problem with these adjustments.
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4 Vision, Mission Statement, Strategies, Envisaged services and products and Priority Areas
4.1 Our Vision
Our vision is that the Knowledge Center emerges into an innovative, modern, appreciated
and visible service supplier to UoM members and other stakeholders on local government
interests, complying with highest standards of advisory work, training, information and
research.
4.2 Our Mission
The mission of the Knowledge Center is:
To provide top quality information, training, advisory services to various stakeholders
at local government level and others involved in the process of decentralization.
4.3 Our Goals
Taking into account the mission statement and the results of the SWOT analysis our strategy
will be based on the following goals:
1. By the end of 2011, the Knowledge Center is established in the UoM;
2. By the end of 2011, the service basket offer by Knowledge Center will be
successfully launched and appreciated by local government. All municipalities in
Montenegro are informed about the possibility of using services provided by the
Knowledge Center (this services will be free for members in 2011 and 2012);
3. By the end of 2012, the number of permanent staff of UoM is increased. There is
at least one full time officer who serves and co-ordinates the Knowledge Center;
4. By the end of 2014, the Knowledge Center should fully cover its own costs.
During 2013 users start paying a modest fee at 25% of the cost level for the
services provided by the Knowledge Center. In 2014 the fee will be increased to
75% of the cost level. From 2015 the services provided by the Knowledge Center need
to be cost covering.
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4.4 Our Slogan
“Pooling knowledge to develop Local Governments’ capacities”
4.5 Our Profile
In the starting phase, the Knowledge Center will not have permanent staff officers who will
work on service delivery. The permanent UoM staff will devote part of their working time on
the Knowledge Center servicing. This approach has several advantages: Firstly, it provides
balanced and coordinated development growth of the Knowledge Center and UoM. Instead of
hiring a great number of staff right at beginning of its establishment, the Knowledge Center
will only need to hire a permanent staff once the service has proven to be successful. Thereby
the risk of a failure of the Knowledge Center can be hold very low.
Secondly, all the staff members of UoM add to the financial sustainability of the Association.
Permanent staff of UoM will work free of charge for the Knowledge Center. Later payment
for services of the Knowledge Center will contribute to the financial sustainability of it.
Thirdly, the Knowledge Center can improve knowledge of UoM staff in different areas.
4.5.1 Product range and service offer
The Knowledge Center will provide services which are required by local governments and are
tailored to the needs of the clients. Following product groups have been identified:
1. Consultancy;
2. Information;
3. Training;
4. Competition.
Consultancy services will be focus on the issues concerning:
- transparency and accountability
- strategic planning
- access to the EU and other funds
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- European integration process
- economic development
- decentralization
- legal issues
- municipal finance
- inter-municipal cooperation, etc.
The Knowledge Center will provide information to its users through:
- joint meetings
- website
- establishing the digital handbook system
- a bi-weekly e-newsletter (e-zine)
Training shall be organized on specific skills identified in the frame of the Knowledge Center
and on the request of municipalities.
Implementation of the Best practices Programme will give competitions dimension to this
CENTER.
4.5.2 Marketing and Public Relations
Sales Concept
In the future the Knowledge Center intends to sell the services included in the service package
basket at the lowest possible price for its subscribers.
As an introduction period the Knowledge Center will provide free subscription to the service
basket for UoM members in 2011 and 2012. Necessary funds for its free usage period will be
provided in the frame of the VNG International project (MATRA). Non-UoM members who
want to subscribe to the service basket will have to pay for the service package basket from
the start on.
The shared services principle and the fact that the first period of subscription is actually free
for UoM members, will encourage a great number of municipal users to subscribe to the entire
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basket (with two topics in the first time). Therefore, the Knowledge Center will insist that all
services including in the basket are part of one package and adopts two pricing strategies.
Firstly, if users prefer to select only one of the services offered within the basket, they will
have to pay full charge for each separate service. It will therefore be more favorable for a
member to subscribe to the whole service basket instead of selecting just one or two of the
services offered.
Secondly, if the municipalities use the basket of services, the total price will correct in
accordance with the number subscribers. More municipalities subscribing to the service
basket from the Knowledge Center will result in a progressive reduction of the price for
individual subscribers.
Here we mention again that the Knowledge Center will financial help UoM members who
subscribe to the service basket by providing the service basket for free in the first period.
Promotion Concept
The promotion of the Knowledge Center will include specific publicity, uniqueness in the
work, and communication measures.
It is especially important in the early years to work on publicity of the Knowledge Center.
This means that it will be necessary to produce flyers, presentations and mailings to local
governments and other potential clients about the services offer of the Knowledge Center.
The Knowledge Center will take advantage from the close relationship between the UoM and
its members. This relationship will give opportunity to UoM staff to present the services offer.
The Secretary General and all the staff of the UoM should take it on as a responsibility to
make publicity for the Knowledge Center and its service offer whenever they are in contact
with local governments or other potential clients.
Uniqueness in the work will be important in establishing a standard format for letters,
presentations, reports, communications, etc. All documents produced and send to customers
should be printed on the uniqueness format. As the Knowledge Center will be a unit within
UoM, this uniqueness should be coordinate with the UoM brand.
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The communication concept will follow the approach that the Knowledge Center has been
established in UoM for members in order:
to receive custom tailor services they require to be provided by specialists and insiders
in the decentralization process.
to add to the financial sustainability of the Association
Marketing Research Concept
In the first few years of the Knowledge Center, it will establish a database concerning:
providing consultancy and other services for which it was founded, and which are
related to the local government requirements;
network of experts for providing answers to questions and consultations from local
governments
best practices in Montenegro in the field of the promotion of good governance and
promotion of local economic development
4.5.3 Financial sustainability/institutional strengthening
The Knowledge Center will generate income from the following three sources:
Local Governments
Other clients (NGO‟s, national institutions (Ministries), independent organizations,
private companies)
International organizations
Income from local governments includes the subscription fee for the service basket or a fee
for additional advisory services provided to them. Also, it should be noted that local
governments pays membership fees to UoM. As in the first two years services of Knowledge
Center will be free and employees of the UoM will provide it, membership fees will
contribute in promotion of the new services.
Income from other clients also includes the fees for the service basket and for the advisory
services provided to them.
Income from International organizations will be generated as a fee for consultancy services
provided directly to them, or in the form of subsidies to Local Governments to finance
consultancy services provided to them by the Knowledge Center.
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1.Project Accounting and Time Registration
THE Knowledge Center will adopt a project accounting approach. Each project will be
calculated separately and has its separate budget line. Also, each of these budget items will be
an integral part of the UoM general budget. This is because the Knowledge Center will
operate within the UoM.
The costs in form of the time spent by consultants to produce the project deliverables are
registered against the project budget. This will allow for a transparent monitoring of the
profitability of each service. Thereby, THE Knowledge Center will be able to adapt its pricing
strategy. It should be highlighted that each service included in the basket has been budgeted
and has its separate budget line.
2. Staff re-numbering and renumeration
To the end of 2012 UoM staff will work in the Knowledge Center. For the time of their work,
the staff will not receive an additional premium (maybe, a small increase of current salary).
But, as there is an intention to hire at least one officer, his/her salary will have the same
structure as the UoM staff.
2.Financial independency
The financial projection of the Knowledge Center should secure additional revenues for the
whole UoM.
4.5.4 Relationship with UOM
The Knowledge Center will be special unit in the UoM. This means that the Knowledge
Center will use recognisable label of UoM under which it will collect, develop and provide a
package of interconnected and coherent services and products.
This kind of organization of the Knowledge Center will provide unified policy on the UoM
level. All decisions will be made on the level of UoM bodies. By doing so, the UoM will
guarantee that services and products will be integrated, interlinked, as well as maintained and
regularly updated.
The introduction of the Knowledge Center should not confuse the members and partners of
UoM in the sense of overlapping the work of the UoM. The Knowledge Center should be
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complementary and not competitive to the work of the UoM, and it should strengthen the role
of UoM in general.
As mentioned above, UoM staff will serve and partly work as consultants for the Knowledge
Center (especially in the first two years). For this concept to work efficiently,
Each member of the UoM staff will be assigned a task for the provision of one or a
few services included in the service basket during the annual activity planning process.
For each task, the staff will be accorded a certain time. This will be necessary so that
the Knowledge Center can prepare the pricing offer for the service basket;
Each member of the UoM staff will reserve a certain percentage of his annual work
time to be free to work for the Knowledge Center;
When it creates the conditions for payment of services, these will contribute to strengthening
the financial position of the UoM.
Training of staff in advisory skills
Since the UoM staff will partly work as consultants and being a consultant requires additional
skills, it will be necessary that UoM invests in the consultancy skills of its staff.
Internal organization (consolidating procedures, working methods, quality control)
As mention above, the Knowledge Center will be special unit in the UoM. This means that the
Knowledge Center will use the same internal organization as it exists in the UoM.
4.5.5 Co-operation with others
Cooperation with independent experts
Sometimes the Knowledge Center will engage individual consultants for the solving part or
entire of the task. Based on these consultations, the Knowledge Center will invest and
establish in a date base on consultants including their contact address, their qualification, their
field of specialization.
Cooperation with development partners and Central Government Institutions
The financial independence of the UoM is also in the great interest of the Association‟s
development partners and the Central Government to assure a long-term existence of this very
important institution in the decentralization process. Therefore, the success of the Knowledge
Center is also in the interest of the development partners and the Central Government.
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5 Objectives, Activities, Results and Actions
For each of the strategic priority areas a 3 year covering overview of objectives and milestones has been produced including timelines and
responsibilities.
Priority Area 1: By September 2011, the Digital Handbook System (DHS) of the Knowledge Center on air.
N° ACTIVITY OBJECTIVES/ RESULTS &
OUTPUTS
TIMING
2011 HR Finance
RISKS /
SUPPOSITIONS
1. Establishing a digital handbook system Operational Digital Handbook System
on air
End of August/
Early Sept
Overall Project
Manager for DHS –
Vanja Starovlah
2011-2012
period
financed by
Matra
Financial sustainability after
2012.
Business case needs to be
developed to build up and plan
financial coverage for the future.
1.1 Install software system (edition and
publishing) and train UoM staff to work
with the system
- system Installed by VNG-Diskad and
UoM
- Staff trained by VNG-Diskad
May/June Vanja & Arjaan
Kunst (Diskad)
- Communication between UoM
and Diskad
- Technical: editors (at UoM)
have to use non-Cyrillic versions
of Word in the beginning period
1.2 Collect materials to fill the editorial
system on 2 topics:
1- Accountability and Transparency
(A&T)
2- EU integration
- results from previous projects on these
topics
- training materials
- materials from municipalities
- relevant laws and regulations in MNE
- relevant links to websites of EU, int.
organizations, NGS‟s, etc
May/June Co-ordination by
Vanja
- too few or too much documents
- unstructured documents
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1.3 Produce 2 handbooks on these topics:
- appoint Project Leaders
- design structure of the handbook
- recruit authors (Staff UoM, independent
experts, experts from municipalities)
- assign tasks to the authors
- make a maintenance plan
- appointed Project Leaders for each
handbook
- recruited network of authors
- structure Lay-out for the handbooks
- maintenance Plan
June- August - Sanja or Ljubinka
(?) for A&T
- Vanja for EU
Integration
- sufficient participation of the
authors
- too little refreshment of text and
data (handbooks getting
outdated)
- unstable internet connection
1.4 Publish 2 handbooks on the current
website of UoM www.uom.me :
- open access to all in first 6 months
- limited access to members and key
partners of UoM after 6 months
- install Google Analytics to follow user
results & behavior
- Digital handbooks accessible through
the UoM website.
- Installed limited access through referral
(after 6 months (by March 2012)
- Weekly review of Google Analytics
Statistics from the start on
August
March 2012
From Sept
Sanja and Nada unstable internet connection
1.5 Inform the members/ users:
- presentation at the general assembly of
UoM in September 2011
- presentation at the UoM Municipal Fair
in Budva Oktober (?) 2011
- prepare and distribute an introductory
flyer for the focus groups (mayors, head
of municipal departments, local experts,
other civil servants)
- announcement DHS in UoM quarterly
newsletter „Nasa Zajednica‟
- promotion on UoM website
-Digital Handbooks launched on Gen
Assembly UoM Sept 2011
- Flyer
- „Nasa Zajednica‟ + pdf
- pages on UoM site with announcement,
introduction and referral to new
handbooks
September
July
September
July
Vanja/ Zana
insufficient interest and usage of
the focus groups
1.6 Establish quality management:
- create a editorial group with experts
from some municipalities for each
handbook topic to regularly review and
discuss refreshment of the handbooks (+/-
4 sessions per year)
- functional editorial groups of experts
coordinated by project leaders of each
handbook
From June quarterly
(during production
more often)
Sanja and Vanja - sufficient participation of the
authors
- too little refreshment of text and
data (handbooks getting
outdated)
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Priority Area 2: By January 2012 the Knowledge Center Service Package Basket on air.
N° ACTIVITY OBJECTIVES/ RESULTS &
OUTPUTS TIMING HR Finance RISKS /
SUPPOSITIONS
2. Establish a Knowledge Center Service
Package Basket
SEE BUSINESS CASE on SERVICE
BASKET in ANNEX 1
Operational by
Dec 2011
Vanja = Basket
manager
2011-2012 From
UoM budget (free for
Members UoM)
From 2013 on from
subscription fees
Lack of financial resources
of the Members
2.1 Determine the Services of the Basket 2011-
2012 period:
1- access to the digital handbooks
2- access to model-texts for by-laws,
examples of municipal decisions in different
fields of interest
3- unlimited support from legal and financial
helpdesk
4- expert database for all fields of municipal
interest
5- bi-weekly e-zine KCnews
6- access for 2 representatives per
municipality to 1 expert conference of
Knowledge Center per year (PM as from
2012)
7- access for 2 representatives per
municipality to training for handbook users
on A&T and EU Integration
8- discount 10% to all other KCservices
Lack of capacity at UoM.
2.2 Production of digital handbooks See under Priority Area 1 Matra
2.3 Collect and publish model-texts for by-laws
examples of municipal decisions in different
fields of interest that can be used as hands-on
examples by the municipalities
Relevant model-texts and other documents
available through the Download Centre of
the digital handbook system
June/July Vanja co-ordination
Input from all
UoM experts
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2.4 Set up a legal and financial helpdesk for
members
0-Instructions and procedures for the
helpdesk
1- questions by phone and e-mail
2- registration of questions and answers on
fiche (on paper), and in a database
3- monitor deadlines for answering (e.g.
within 3 working days)
4- produce Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQ‟s) for the UoM website and Question
of the Week for the e-zine
5- Produce statistics on nr. questions asked
and their fields of interest, identify key
problems of members
Full functioning legal and financial
helpdesk, including registration of Q&A‟s
(SEE EXCEL MODEL in ANNEX 2 and
REGISTRATION FORM in ANNEX 3) and
providing feed back to the members on a
general level (statistics, FAQ‟s, etc).
Preparation
Sept- Dec
Operational
from Jan 2012
Act.0 Gerrit Jan
(proposal +
instructions)
Act.1-3 & 5 Nada
Answering Q‟s: all
UoM experts
Act. 4 Vanja, Zana
or Sanja
Lack of continuity in
service provision. This
requires high discipline
from UoM staff.
2.5 Set up an expert database for all field of
municipal interest:
- collecting experts and their fields of
expertise, key competences, and contact
information
- publishing on websites with access only for
subscribers
- maintenance of the database
Updated expert database for subscribers
(SEE EXCEL MODEL for internal use in
ANNEX 4)
Okt-Nov Nada and Vanja Lack of specialized experts,
with knowledge of local
government problems.
2.6 Set up a bi-weekly e-zine from Knowledge
Center:
- Organize a webbased e-newsletter facility,
which manages e-mail addresses, control
limited access for subscribers, archive
facility of the e-zines etc (?)
- collect content for the e-zine (new services,
news from Knowledge Center linked to
sections in handbooks, new meetings,
trainings, Q of the week, best practices,
vacancies, etc)
- edit the e-zine
- send the e-zine
- follow up on reactions of readers
Bi-weekly e-zine only for subscribers to the
service basket.
First e-zine
published
Okt-Nov at
municipal fair
in Budva
Vanja, with
assistance from
Rajko and Zana
Software from Matra
(?)
Lack of continuity in
service provision. This
requires high discipline
from UoM staff.
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2.7 Organize 2 trainings for handbook users on
how to use the UoM digital handbooks: One
for A&T and one for EU Integration
2 trainings delivered Okt-Nov Vanja with
assistance from
Sanja and Ljubinka
Priority Area 3: By 4th
quarter 2011 Additional Services from the Knowledge Center on air.
N° ACTIVITY OBJECTIVES/ RESULTS &
OUTPUTS TIMING HR
Finance
RISKS /
SUPPOSITIONS
3. Additional Knowledge Center Services –
ad hoc
Additional turnover for the Knowledge
Center
3.1 Municipal Fair in Budva Okt-Nov 2011 Annual Fair for Municipalities sponsored by
the private sector
Okt-Nov Vanja OECD + Sponsors
from private sector
(?)
3.2 Requests for consultancy and Research in
different fields of interest from the
municipalities
For individual members Whenever it
occurs
Requesting
municipality
3.3 Trainings in different fields of interest Too free trainings from donors at the
moment. Future perspective
Whenever it
occurs
participants
3.4 Creating new digital handbooks e.g. on:
- Local Economic Development
- Inter-municipal co-operation
- Municipal legal and financial implications
of Decentralization
New extensions after proven success of the
first 2 digital handbooks
Review in 2012 New subscriptions or
expansion of the
service basket
3.5 Benchmarking on different topics Pm
3.6 Expansion of Database with Municipal
information (www.uom.me)
1st quarter of
2012
Sanja, Nada, Vanja UoM budget
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6 Management and Organization
6.1 Management Team
The Knowledge Center will be part of the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro (UOM). In
the future the daily management of the Knowledge Center will be entitled to a “Manager”, to
be recruited by UoM, who will report directly to the UoM Secretary General. In the inception
phase however the Knowledge Center will be managed by one of the recent staff members of
UoM .
The responsibilities vested with the Manager (inception manager) will be to:
Finalise the Knowledge Center business plan 2011-2014 and prepare implementation
of the Knowledge Center,
Identify selling services as a way of income generation,
Recommend systems, process for resource mobilization and financial sustainability of
the Knowledge Center
Organise and facilitate the services offered by the Knowledge Center
Maintain the network of experts to be involved in the work of the Knowledge Center
Communicate with The Knowledge Center‟s users and provide all required
information,
Implement transparent financial management within the Knowledge Center
(budgeting, billing, profit-loss calculation, time sheet filling, etc.) and follow up the
payments of provided services,
6.2 Contracts and Franchise Agreements
At the early stage in the life of the new Knowledge Center, one of the main limitations the
company is facing is the lack of professional references in the consultancy industry in
Montenegro. The cater for this, the company (i) will constitute a pool of experts in several
fields, highly experienced and having good references in their respective fields, (ii) contract
chosen consultants from the pool as lead consultants in each field so that they can use their
personal influence in the market to gain contracts, (iii) enter into partnership contracts with
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national and international institutions and firms to use their experience and expertise as a
back-up
.
6.3 Knowledge Center Advisory Council
As the Knowledge Center will be a unit of UoM during the first part of its existence, it is
advised to install an advisory council for the Knowledge Center to give advice on the needs of
the members of UoM and the type of the services to meet those needs. The Advisory Council
will consist of five members: 3 representatives from (member-)municipalities (preferably 2x
municipal experts, 1x mayor), 1 representative from ministerial level and 1 independent
consultant or scientist.
6.4 Infrastructure
The Knowledge Center will be based at UoM office, using the UoM facilities such as
secretarial support, financial administrative support, internet, hardware etc. When the
Knowledge Center develops well the positioning of the Knowledge Center will be reviewed.
6.5 Employee Plan
The UoM staff that in the first period will be engaged in the work of the Knowledge Center
will need a training on advisory skills, service delivery and generating paid services.
Once the Knowledge Center has been established and is up and running, a HRM plan for
newly recruited staff for the Knowledge Center should be made. According to the plans this is
needed in the second half of 2012.
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7 Review mechanisms and quality control
The strategic priorities as pictured in our business plan and the annual work plans will in the
first place of course have to meet full the needs of UoM members. Endorsement by the
management and board of UoM periodically implies reconfirmation of service/product offer
and demand being in line with each other and of the targets for our performance.
In order to keep the process of implementing the work plans on track and on speed, the
following monitoring instruments will be applied.
1. For each service offer we will establish a Business Case to be adopted by UoM.
2. Establishment of Annual Work Plans (as a format for the Annual Work Plan we
can use the tables for Priority Area‟s as in Chapter 5).
3. The manager of the Knowledge Center will review the achievements at the end
of each quarter and report them to the Secretary General of UoM.
4. The Secretary General will report the achievements and financial results of the
Knowledge Center to the Assembly General Meeting of UoM.
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8 Preconditions for success
The Knowledge Center’s road to success includes 10 commandments:
1. Our knowledge of local affairs is our key strength
2. Our service approach is our unique selling proposition (USP)
3. We have a good network with the members of UoM
4. We will build up a solid network and cherish our users and sponsors by
contacting them regularly and evaluate our work with them
5. We will clearly define our product range and service offer
6. We will develop and use operational and expert tools
7. We will identify our competitors and outsmart them
8. We are highly motivated (and freshly trained) expert
9. We are not alone, we work as a team
10. We will use the project support from our donor partners to develop
sustainable service delivery
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9 Financial Projections
This section documents the financial projections for the Knowledge Center in accordance with
the objectives and strategies formulated in this Business Plan.
Firstly, we determine the real cost of UoM staff capacity to be used for activities for the
Knowledge Centre. The result of this is a realistic tariff (per day/ per hour) for the use of UoM
staff capacity.
Secondly, we calculate budget for the KC-UoM Service Package Basket (see also priority area
2) and the price setting for the subscription fee of the Basket.
Thirdly, we make projection for the estimated total turnover (costs and revenues) of the
Knowledge Centre for the period 2012-2015.
The year 2011 will be used for the preparation of the Knowledge Center, and is financed by
MATRA/VNG-I.
9.1 Calculation of billable days/hours of UoM Staff and their transfer-price
Table 1: UoM’s capacity to produce billable days/man-hours, based on real staff
capacity in 2011
Capacity of UoM to produce billable days and hours per year
Function Name FTE
Total
working
days
days on
leave
days
available
perc.
billable
days
billable
Hours
billable
1 Secretary General Rajko 1,0 260 35 225 50% 113 900
2 Vice SG Ljubinka 1,0 260 35 225 70% 158 1.260
3 Finance and Administration Manager Zana 1,0 260 35 225 80% 180 1.440
4 Advisor for International Cooperation Vanja 1,0 260 35 225 80% 180 1.440
5 Advisor for Local Government System Sasa 1,0 260 35 225 80% 180 1.440
6 Advisor for Urban Planning Sanja 1,0 260 35 225 80% 180 1.440
7 Administrator Nada 1,0 260 35 225 50% 113 900
8 Housekeeper Zaga 1,0 260 35 225 0% 0 0
9 0 0
10 0 0
11 0 0
12 0 0
13 0 0
14 0 0
15 0 0
16 0 0
17 0 0
18 0 0
Total 8,0 2.080 280 1.800 1.103 8.820
The fee per day and man-hour (see table 2) has been calculated by dividing relevant elements
of UoM‟s budget (see table 2) by the number of billable days/hours (see table 1).
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Table 2: UoM transfer-price calculation for UoM staff man-hours Items to be included in the cost price calculation from UoM Budget 2011
1.1 Staffing Costs 167.168
1.2 Office Operational Costs 24.683
1.3 IT, transportation, equipment 5.410
1.4 Housing Costs 0
1.5 Insurance 1.296
subtotal 198.557
contingencies 2% 3.971
grand total operational costs of UoM 202.528 Fee per day/ per hour
Operational Costs of UoM 202.528
Billable days 1.103
Operational costs per billable day 184
Pofit 2% 4
Average Fee per Day in € ex VAT 187
Average Fee per Hour in € ex VAT 23
For the budgetting of the activities, services and products from the Knowledge Center of UoM
we use the tariff of € 23 per hour or € 187 per day.
9.2 Business Case on KC-UoM Service Package Basket (See ANNEX 1)
Products and services in the Service Basket Timing UoM Staff
inputs
in €
Out of pocket
Inputs
in €
Total
Costs
in €
1 Bi-weekly e-zine: [name of newsletter] 22x 4hrs at € 23 ph See annual plan KC-UoM e-zine
Pm 2.024
(88hrs)
0 2.024
2 Unlimited Access to Helpdesk for Legal and Financial Questions 15 Q * 52w * 1,5hrs * € 23 ph See annual plan KC-UoM Helpdesk
Pm 26.910
(1.170hrs)
0 26.910
3 Access to Model By Laws and Model Texts Rough estimate: 100 hrs * € 23
Pm 2.300
(100hrs)
0 2.300
4 Access to the Digital Handbook in the Knowledge Centre UoM website that will be updated daily 40w * 4hrs * € 23
Pm 3.680
(160hrs)
4.000 7.680
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See annual plan K- UoM Digital Handbooks system
5 Expert Conference participation: each subscriber to this service package can send one person to one KC venue per year without extra charge and a second person at 50% discount. (costs for transport and accommodation at participants’ expense)
(20p x € 23 + 32 hrs (2 UoM experts) * € 23)
Pm 736
(32hrs)
460 1.196
6 Two trainings (for 2 participants per subscriber) on KC digital handbooks 80p * € 23 + 64 hrs (2 UoM experts * 2 trainings) * € 23
Pm 1.472
(64hrs)
1.840 3.312
7 10% discount to all other KC-UoM products and services, except consultancy inputs
Grand Total Service Basket per year 43.422
Including contingencies 5% + 10% margin 49.935
At 21 Municipalities (subscribers)
Sales price per subscriber
Sales price per year:
2.378
Discount in 2011-2012 is 100%
0
Discount in 2013 is 75%
(in case all members are subscribers) 594
Discount in 2014 is 25 %
(in case all members are subscribers) 1.783
Discount in 2015 is 0 %
(in case all members are subscribers 2.378
Focus business start-up
Sponsor request for 1st year:
- Initial up-starting and buffer: …
- Subsidy to each subscriber (district): …
Sponsor will get logo at each of the activities mentioned.
Pm PM
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9.3 Projection Total Turnover and Staffing of the Knowledge Center 2012-2015
BUDGET PROJECTION KNOWLEDGE CENTER 2012-2015
2012 in € 2013 in € 2014 in € 2015 in €
Resources
Service Basket revenues € 49.935 0% 25% 75% 100%
0 12.484 37.451 49.935
Other services, like: 20.000 60.000 90.000 120.000
>municipal fair
>Requests for consultancy and research
>Trainings in different fields of interest
>Creating new digital handbooks e.g. on:
- Local Economic Development
- Inter-municipal co-operation
- municipal legal and financial implications of Decentralization
>Benchmarking
>Expansion of Database with Municipal information (www.uom.me)
Subtotal Resources 20.000 72.484 127.451 169.935
Costs
Service Basket inputs Total Inputs 43.422 43.422 43.422 43.422
HRM Input
Out of Pocket
Other services 19.000 57.000 85.500 114.000
Subtotal Costs 62.422 100.422 128.922 157.422
Budget Result Knowledge Center -42.422 -27.938 -1.471 12.513
HRM input estimated in days Service Basket 202 202 202 202
Other services 80 241 361 481
Total KC workdays 282 443 563 683
KC capacity needed in FTE (1=180 days) 1,6 2,5 3,1 3,8
According to the budget projection of the Knowledge Center taking into account the input
from staff capacity needed for the KC, UoM will subsidize the KC from 2012 unto 2014,
starting with €42.422,- in 2012, €27.938 in 2013 and €1.471 in 2014. From 2015 on the KC
will work cost covering with an net profit of € 12.513 in 2015.
The Staff capacity needed for the Knowledge Center will grow from 1,6 fte in 2012 to 3,8 fte
in 2015.
Naturally, this prognosis will have to be reviewed and renewed on annual basis.