Value Stream Mapping Analysis on Process Capability of the Constituency Development Fund for Project Approval and Funding in Zambia

Abstract

The constituency development fund is a widely adopted decentralized fund by most governments to improve the living standards of local communities. However, its implementation continues to be plagued by challenges such as underutilization, bureaucratic delays in project approvals and fund disbursement. Hence, the study aims at exploring the current constituency development fund process (CDF) from an operational mechanism point of view. In order to appreciate the challenges inherent in the process, and pave way for process improvement, the study employs lean methodology by use of value stream and process mapping to analyze process design and discover critical points of waste in the process workflow, personal interviews were utilised to appreciate lived experiences of the process operators and Literature review to benchmark with best practices particularly the international standardization organization (ISO) process symbols. The study design is exploratory sequential design. Key Findings indicate that the current CDF process is modelled as a basic linear flowchart, which operationally functions as a Value Stream Map (VSM), it has redundant process steps (too many steps of a similar kind e.g., approval steps) thereby resulting in a lot of handoffs, which increases the chances of process delay, most process steps lack cycle time, which compromises process lead time and data entry is mostly done manually resulting in missing data between handoffs. Recommendation(s): The Government should adopt the appropriate Process Map (VSM) with basic ISO compliant symbols in order to enhance its capability and make it adaptable to conventional software in case of automation, Similar process steps especially approval ones should be merged to reduce on process handoffs and lead time. Conclusion: The goal of value stream mapping analysis on process capability of the CDF process was to explore qualitative factors as a baseline of later process capability computation.