AMK, Cambodia: SPM in Practice

The 'SPM in Practice' series emerges from the experience of the Imp-Act Consortium Global Learning Programme on social performance management (SPM), a two-year project which seeks to gather evidence of effective SPM and understand its organisational value.

This paper describes the social performance management (SPM) strategies of AMK, a Cambodian MFI. The paper observes that:

• AMK shows commitment to achieving financial sustainability while meeting social goals;
• The business model and financial services cater to the vulnerability of its target clientele – rural agricultural households;
• AMK uses internal audits and social research to monitor social responsibility and client protection;
• Its governance structure and internal controls support AMK’s social objectives;
• Further, the paper states that AMK has a socially responsible organizational culture that is reflected in gender aware policies and staff relations with clients; 
• AMK also collects, stores and analyses client information on an ongoing basis and uses it to improve performance and adjust products and systems.

The paper states that SPM has enabled AMK to make informed decisions on how to maintain its social focus, with the knowledge that these will not have negative financial outcomes. 

Finally, the paper identifies future challenges for AMK:

• Ensuring staff buy-in for a balanced view of performance management;
• Strengthening research and consolidating linkages with SPM across departments;
• Creating a mechanism for updating SPM systems regularly to adapt to AMK’s long-term strategies.