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Annexes

Annex 1 - Mutual Recognition

Annex 2 - Accountability framework

Sample organigram

Whilst every country context is different, the below organigram represents a typical structure relevant to the BOS with roles and responsibilities.

Generic roles and responsibilities (to be refined to reflect country context)

Headquarters

DCO:
- Resourcing and technical advice
- Secretariat of BOS Task Team
BOS Task Team:
- Provide guidance and support to RCs and UNCTs in developing, implementing and reporting on the BOS
- Provide quality assurance on the proposed BOS by country while incorporating country typologies and differentiated approaches accordingly.
- Identify, fine-tune and share best practices with UNCTs
- Advice UNCTs regarding latest global guidance on common business operations
Agencies:
- Reflect the commitment to BOS in strategic and operational plans
- Support agency heads at the country level in their engagement in BOS

Country-level BOS leadership

RC:
- Accountable to the Secretary-General for advances towards UN common business operations to enable joint work and generate greater efficiencies, synergies and coherence
- Final sign-off of BOS, on behalf of the UNCT
- RC’s office managed the user access of the BOS online platform at country level
UNCT:
- Ultimate decision making for all matters related to the BOS
- Responsible for finalization of BOS and reporting against agreed results
- Responsible for outlining the medium-term vision for common business operations and providing the OMT guidance regarding the operationalization of the BOS
- Final decision making on issues that cannot be resolved at the OMT level
- Final endorsement of the BOS priorities and implementation plan including budgets
- A member of the UNCT chairs the OMT

All engaged agencies:
- Ensure commitment to and responsibility for BOS is included in agency strategic plans
- Ensure the availability of staff and funds to implement activities towards delivering BOS targets

Country-level BOS management

OMT[1]:
- Management and coordination of the development and implementation of the BOS.
- Oversight of annual monitoring of the BOS to ensure common service delivery is in line with the KPIs and annual targets.
- Regularly reporting to the UNCT on BOS progress and any issues arising that require UNCT decision making or policy advice.
- Design and implement required resource mobilization strategies and reporting on status to the UNCT.
- Coordinate monitoring and review guidance and capacitate the OMT task teams for a quality annual monitoring and review of the BOS.
- Oversee the work of the OMT task teams/working groups
- Oversee the work of any timebound BOS taskforces.[2]

Technical implementation of BOS

OMT working groups / task teams:
- Support to the OMT in coordination and implementation of the BOS.
- Participate in the BOS development through provision of data, BOS planning, identification of risks and limitations and development of the BOS Results Framework.
- Responsibility for the annual work planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and review of their assigned BOS outcome areas
- Provide specialized technical expertise.
- Highlight of any resource mobilization needs/opportunities for the BOS to the OMT.
- Regular reporting to the OMT on progress in implementation of their BOS outcome area, highlighting any challenges and bottlenecks faced and proposed solutions.
- Create links with programme staff as needed to enhance the design and implementation of common services.

All engaged agencies:
- Manage and implement BOS activities as assigned to their staff during the OMT working group meetings.
- Report on cost avoidance and efficiency gains for all relevant common services.

[1] It is recommended that the chair of the OMT attend UNCT meetings to provide ongoing update on BOS management and implementation. Links to generic TOR for OMT can be found in the tool kit.

[2] BOS taskforces are generally time-bound with the responsibility of developing and finalizing a specific action relevant to the BOS on behalf of the full OMT.

Annex 3 - Stock take terminology

Terms used during stock take step of BOS.

The below terms are used when deciding the "action to be taken" and indicating the next steps to be taken for each common service selected:

Discontinue – there is no longer any identified added value for this common service, and it is, therefore, recommended for discontinuation.

Continue as is (maintain status quo) – no issues noted, and the common service is performing as anticipated. No action required beyond continuing the common service as is.

Scale up (increase volume/activity) – the common service is exceeding expectations in terms of increased quality and cost avoidance. There is a plan to expand volume by adding additional service users or expanding the common service.

Scale down (reduce volume/activity) – the common service (or parts of it) are not meeting expectations in terms of increased quality or cost avoidance and therefore the scope of the common service to be reduced.

Modify (change the way it works or fix bottlenecks) – the common service is generating increased quality or cost avoidance, but changes are needed for it to reach its full potential.

Annex 4 - Cost benefit analysis methodology

Estimated or exact approach:

Not all services require the same level of analysis. It is recommended that the level of detail corresponds to the complexity and/or investment cost associated with the common service. The more costly or more complex the investment, the more detailed the CBA needs to be. Cost can be assessed using two different approaches: the exact approach and the estimated approach.

Exact approach: If the data is available and it is cost effective to do so, an exact approach draws on actual and quantitative data from agency databases, actual data from business process maps (BPM) such as time expenditure/labour cost, and quality surveys. This data supports the establishment of cost-avoidance targets within the BOS Results Framework. The advantage is more accurate data. The disadvantage is higher transaction cost.
Estimated approach: If exact data is not available an estimated approach provides a valuable indication of trends and potential change. The CBA draws on approximate figures from alternate regional or country data for similar costs. The estimated approach provides more ‘directional data’, meaning a rough idea of the anticipated impact or change over time. The advantage is a faster transaction and lower transaction cost. The disadvantage is lower accuracy of data.

The OMT decides which approach to use in their specific country context. Local needs, capacity, and the cost of data collection generally influence which combination of approaches are used. Some services are analyzed with the exact approach, e.g. using actual procurement figures. Some services are analyzed using the estimated approach, e.g. business process maps, or activity-based costing using standard data for HR, or general costs for ICT from an alternate country or region.

Methodology:

The detailed CBA starts with the identification of direct monetary and labour costs (one-time/investment costs and recurring costs) of a service being implemented individually by each agency minus the estimated cost of implementing the service collaboratively. The final amount is the expected cost avoidance.

Monetary costs - are the cash investments needed to establish and implement a service.
- One-time monetary costs – are the upfront one-time only investments that need to be made to establish the common service, for example the cost of advertising for establishing LTA, or the cost of procuring equipment or technical expertise to establish a service (IT equipment, solar panels, GPS technology, database software).
- Recurring monetary costs – are the ongoing costs of maintaining the established common service, for instance periodic maintenance of equipment or upgrade of software.
Labour Costs – refer to the cost of labour (staff) to establish and implement a service. Labour costs (time) are converted into a dollar value and calculated using activity-based costing or process maps to list all involved labour (process steps and time required) in any one service and to then estimate the total labour cost.
- One-time labour costs – the upfront and one-time only labour costs of establishing a service, for example the labour costs of rolling out a procurement process for establishing an LTA, or one-time installation of wiring for new shared technologies.
- Recurring labour costs – the ongoing labour costs of maintaining a common service, for example LTA renewal processes, staff implementation of any one common service e.g. reception or help desk services.

Examples of one time and recurring monetary and labour costs and cost avoidance:

Annex 5 - Evaluation sample questions

With reference to the Evaluation component of BOS reporting, following questions are tailored to BOS and could be utilized to structure the guiding questions within a BOS evaluation.

Reference: UN Evaluation Group (UNEG) http://www.unevaluation.org

Relevance: BOS addressing country or multi-country priorities and opportunities

The extent to which the priorities of BOS are consistent with country needs, programming priorities, and BOS global commitments. The extent to which the BOS reflects the UN in the country’s ability to adapt to changing circumstances for common business operations and changing demands of the country context, so that the UN’s BOS interventions and results achieved continue to be relevant.

Do the BOS outcomes address the country’s priorities for common business operations?
Has the BOS been flexible to adjust to new common service opportunities?
Have the BOS outcomes guided UN agencies in the context of UN system wide business operations goals and commitments?
To what extent has global policy commitments to common business operations been highlighted in the BOS?

Efficiency: BOS is a coordination and partnership framework

The extent to which the UN in the country’s ways of working affected progress of results and implementation of the BOS. The extent to which outcomes are achieved through the appropriate amount of resources. The extent to which transaction costs were minimized in the implementation of BOS.

To what extent has the BOS increased synergy between the operational practices of UN agencies?
Has the efficiency of UN entities increased as a result of BOS and its common services?
Are all roles and responsibilities in relation to BOS clearly defined? Are the different roles and responsibilities respected by everyone? If not, why not?
Have the internal and external coordination structures of BOS increased efficiency and effectiveness and reduced duplication? If not, why not?
Are BOS budget allocations aligned with BOS priorities?

Effectiveness: BOS implementation contributes to progress of the BOS outcomes

The extent to which each level of the accountability framework for BOS contributed to the outcomes defined in the BOS. The evaluation will note how unintended results, if any, have affected common business operations positively or negatively and to what extent these issues were foreseen and managed. The evaluation documents lessons learned for future BOS implementation and how BOS can continue business operations reforms.

What progress has been made towards the realization of BOS outcomes?
What lessons can be identified and used to guide planning of global commitments to common business operations?
What are the main factors that contributed to the realization or non-realization of the outcomes?
Where the expected outcomes realized given the BOS timeframe and available capacities and resources?
To what extent and in what ways has the comparative advantage of UN Agencies been utilized in the country/multi country context?

Impact: BOS impacted the realization of global targets for common business operations

The extent to which the BOS has impacted global priorities for common business operations, notably the implementation of the SG’s global reform priorities.

Are there any changes to the global business operations that can be attributed to this BOS?
What contribution has the BOS made to working with key strategic partners through BOS implementation?

Sustainability: BOS results contribute to the sustainability of cooperation among individual UN agencies

The extent to which common business operations strategies implemented in the current BOS are likely to contribute to the sustainability of common business operations toward the establishment of a common back office.

Has the BOS contributed to establishing common services that would be able to achieve positive results in the future?
Have joint structures and processes strengthening happened?
To what extent does the BOS promote ownership of common business operations?

Annex 6 - BOS Task Team - Terms of Reference [under construction]

This page is under construction.