Abstract
The project for developing a good governance index is a part of the developing research management
system of the Health Systems Research Institute (HSRI) and its research alliances. The objectives of
this project are to (a) define the framework for monitoring and evaluating project administration in accordance
with good governance practices; (b) develop good governance index; (c) study the appropriateness
of the developed index and the perceived barriers; (d) set a guideline to gather essential data for
project performance evaluation, which is based on the principle of good governance for the research management team in the health system.
The process of this project began with (a) reviewing theories, concepts, and research reports related
to good governance practices and its index both domestically and internationally; (b) interviewing experts
from related disciplines, and research managements; (c) developing and testing a questionnaire and
then analyzing the data obtained; (d) using the drafted good governance index to conduct an internal
pilot test with Health Systems Research Institute, and (e) reviewing the index and modifying it to make it
more suitable.
The results of this study indicated that two crucial conceptual frameworks of index development
emerged, with the first conforming to the six good governance practices, namely the rule of law, transparency,
worthiness, participation, quality, and accountability, and the second applying those practices to the
five steps of the research management process.
The outcome of evaluating the Health Systems Research Institute’s good governance practices has
been depicted overall at the organizational level, where HSRI has high levels of good governance practices.
When considered the perspective of the five research management processes, the process of gathering
and allocating resources gains the highest level of engaging good governance practices; it is followed
by the process of planning research management. Other research management processes were evaluated
and their utilization of good governance practices was found to be at the middle level.
