Managing Institutionalization of Strategic Decision Support for the Egyptian Cabinet

Our approach to managing institutionalization has evolved from the implementation of 28 large projects in Egypt. The projects were part of a program initiated by the Cabinet of Egypt late in 1985. The aim of the program is to improve strategic decision making at the cabinet level. Projects were driven by macro strategic issues or needs for management and technological development in establishing decision support systems (DSS) in different ministries, sectors, and governorates. The systems supported debt management, public sector performance evaluation, customs reform, energy pricing, and general performance administrative decision making. Our experience with the introduction, development, and use of these systems suggests that managing institutionalization is as important as model building. It should be an explicit, complementary, and integrated process that accompanies system development and model building.