Reviewing the Rat : Evaluation of the Rationalization Plan at the National Tobacco Administration

Abstract

The Rationalization Program (RP) of the Philippine Government was created under Executive Order No. 366 which directed a strategic review of the operations and organizations of the Executive branch. It was designed to streamline the bureaucracy and remove any redundancies, overlaps or duplications in its operations. The Rationalization Program (RP) provides a set of guidelines for GOCCs to follow but it is also flexible enough, providing room for GOCCs to design their own Rationalization Plans based on the specific needs of each organization. In order to evaluate the Rationalization Program of the Philippine government, it is imperative that an organization is chosen as the effectiveness of the Rationalization Program varies depending on the interpretation and implementation of the different agencies. This research paper then seeks to evaluate the Rationalization Program as applied to the National Tobacco Administration. The National Tobacco Administration has had two reorganizations prior to the Rationalization Program. It has had experience of downsizing and at the time the RP was released, the agency was again planning to reorganize. On March 22, 2007, the Rationalization Plan of the National Tobacco Administration was formally approved. To evaluate the effectiveness of the RP at the National Tobacco Administration, it is important to review the program theory and the theory in practice. As William Glazer puts it, “if the study of theory and the study of fact do not fertilize each other, both will be barren”. In order to satisfy this, the researcher made use of Huey-Tsych Chen’s Program Evaluation Theory. Under this theory, Chen identified two Domains to be considered: the Normative and Causative Domains. The Normative Domain looks at the Program design and evaluates through the review of bow the program should be. The Causative Domain on the other hand evaluates the impact of the Program to its constituents. The combination of these two Domains leads evaluators to a Generalization about the program effectiveness. In order to evaluate the RP based on Chen’s domains, the researcher made use of qualitative methods. A review of the planning and implementation process was conducted based on submitted documents and interview with the Administration Officer. Eighteen separate interviews were also done with six department heads and two employees from each department to find out the impact of the RP. Data then was evaluated through Chen’s Domains. Each was grouped under each dimension namely: treatment, implementation environment, outcome, impact, and intervening mechanism. Result of the study reveal how the Rationalization Program was interpreted at the National Tobacco Administration. Some changes the agency had are in their: strategic direction, organizational plan/layout, financial plan, operations, and decision-making process. The impact of the Plan on its workers was also evaluated. Results reveal that there was improvement in employee morale and satisfaction. However, the overall effectiveness of the RP as perceived by the employees is inconclusive. Based on the standards set by this research, the effectiveness of the Rationalization Program at the National Tobacco Administration is measured through the attainment of the objectives/benefits defined by the Rationalization Program. After gathering pertinent data, the researcher has concluded that the RP is effective at the National Tobacco Administration with the realization of all the objectives of the Rationalization Program as measured in this study. This research also provides a proposed evaluation model for the Rationalization Program. The model incorporates evaluation of the Program Design and Application of the Plan. Recommendations are also given for more studies on the same topic.