Performance management and strategic planning at Banco de Moçambique

The case of the Bank of Mozambique illustrates how it is possible to progressively bring about changes in management systems and practices in a large African institution - in this case the Central Bank of Mozambique. Over the course of several years, with the help of a team led by the author of this book, but largely thanks to the efforts of its own staff, Banco de Moçambique developed one of the best Management by Objectives systems supported by a strategic planning process in the entire universe of large African organizations. The "SMD" (Performance Improvement System) has revolutionized the management of human resources at this institution, but its implementation has come up against an African management culture that is very adverse to all processes of decentralization and differentiation of individual performance. Overcoming these cultural barriers requires careful change management, but the result is rewarding: an institution with management practices in line with the best international standards, which combines tradition with modernity and serves as an inspiring model in this area for other large organizations in Africa.