Institutional Readiness of the Local Government Units and Higher Education Institutions as Implementing Arms of the Donation Program

An institutional readiness assessment is a formal evaluation of an organization’s readiness to undergo significant change or start on a huge new project. Qualitative and quantitative methods were employed to assess the institutional readiness of the implementing arms of the proposed donation program facility. The study used the institutional readiness and Internal and External Matrix Analysis Frameworks that focused on the environmental factors assessment of the selected Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)and Local Government Units (LGUs) as implementing arms of the program. Data was gathered among the academic and non-academic staff, students and LGU employees. The assessment on the institutional readiness of the model city on the areas of people; system; technology and process indicated the ability to respond to changes and adapt to the proposed implementation of the donation program facility that further determined to a large extent how effectively they can deliver better services, supported by a combination of robust processes, the right people, and the precise infrastructure. In examining the internal and external factors influencing the operations of the target Higher Education Institutions and Local Government Units, the factor evaluation matrixes such as Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE), External Factor Evaluation (EFE) and Internal-External (IE) matrixes were used to determine their capabilities to handle the program. Even though the arguments in favor of establishing a food and nonfood donation system are clear and widely accepted, it is a reality as revealed by the responses that several obstacles and resistances may be faced, such as the program policies, management of the donated items, health and safety measures and other related concerns. Creating efficient donation program and logistics operations presents an additional set of challenges. A very rigorous monitoring on the implementation of the program particularly the disposal of good food and non-food items to poor communities is recommended to avoid possible health and other issues. Keywords: institutional readiness, internal and external factors, environmental analysis, Internal-External Matrix