Long-term evaluation systems

In 1988 Operational Research OR Insight published an article entitled ‘Evaluating organisations with multiple goals’ by Mike Clemson and Mike Jackson. The paper focused on the design of an appropriate evaluation system for the newly established Council for Voluntary Service for Beverley Borough (CVSBB). Seven years later CVSBB and the evaluation system are still going strong. Whilst there is a lot of information available on selecting evaluation systems and their introduction to organisations, discussion of how evaluation systems change over time has largely been neglected. The ability of CVSBB to sustain an ongoing evaluation system affords us the opportunity to reflect on how evaluation systems develop and change in the long term. This article seeks to bring the reader up-to-date with developments in the CVSBB evaluation system and to discuss the issues which arise when an organisation seeks to maintain an ongoing system of evaluation.