Catalog

	Table of Contents
p. 22 of 26 BACK | NEXT I. Introduction II. Changes in Development Environment and Agenda III. Themes for Organizational Effectiveness IV. Objective and Principles of Organizational Change V. Analysis of Options VI. Main Features of Organizational Change VII. Complementary Changes VIII. Challenges and Responses IX. Budget Implications and Implementation Plan X. Conclusions XI. Recommendations

Reorganization of the Asian Development Bank

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VII. Complementary Changes

93. The proposed organizational changes are necessary, but not sufficient, to make ADB more effective in delivering its agenda. They will need to be complemented by changes in other key areas. These include staff skills, business process changes and incentives, documentation and information management, and information systems and technology.

A. Staff Skills Requirements

94. From a broader perspective, and independently of the reorganization, ADB must continuously ensure that it has the right skills to effectively deliver its agenda. ADB increasingly operates as a “change agent,” catalyzing a dynamic change process within its DMCs. To be credible and effective, ADB must acquire skills to better understand the effect of policies, institutions, legal frameworks, and social structures on the development process. ADB needs staff who are able to develop holistic development strategies for its DMCs. Over the past five years or so, ADB has systematically pursued a realignment of staff skills to meet these requirements. While significant progress has already been achieved, the assessment of ADB’s skills base over the medium term will continue to be pursued, especially in light of the new structure. It will also be necessary to develop and provide resources for a significant training and reskilling exercise.

B. Business Processes and Incentives

95. Changes in operational business processes will be needed to make the reorganization work. These changes can be categorized into two: (i) those that are consequential to the changes in structure, such as the routing of documents, designations, and so on; and (ii) those that will make the reorganization more effective. These will include processes for the functioning of the sector and thematic networks; the functioning of the Knowledge Management Committee; and arrangements to ensure close coordination and consultation among the regional departments themselves, as well as with the “knowledge” departments. In addition to changes in business practices, there must be changes in accountability and incentives, so that staff are motivated to make the new structure work effectively, and to deliver the overall goal of greater development impact. Changes in all these important areas need to be identified, developed and made available to staff simultaneously with the implementation of reorganization. The President has established a Working Group on Business Process Change to review all relevant business processes that are required to achieve the objectives of reorganization and to recommend necessary changes and simplifications. The Working Group has begun work on 21 August and is expected to complete its recommendations by December 2001.

C. Documentation and Information Management

96. Documentation requirements have expanded over the years to the extent of often becoming counter-productive. Major gains in efficiencies and effectiveness can be obtained through a thorough rationalization of the current extensive written documentation requirements. Ongoing efforts in this area, such as the rationalization of the country strategy and programming documents, have yielded good results. The objective should be the introduction of brevity, succinctness, and strict adherence only to substance. There is also scope to discuss with the Board a rationalization of Board documentation, including Report and Recommendation of the President, CSPs and other key documents. The maintenance of records and documents could be modernized.

D. Information Systems and Technology

97. To maximize the efficiency of the new structure and to enable the regional departments and RMs to work as a team, ADB’s information systems and technology (IST) must be upgraded on an urgent basis. The requirements for IST should be reviewed jointly by the Office of Information Systems and Technology and the user departments. If considered necessary, ADB’s IST strategy should be updated.

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