9 February 2006
Wheeler also answers questions about allegations of corruption within the Bank Group and deceleration of decision making.
Posted on the World Bank internal website. Interview was with Graeme Wheeler. Interviewer identity is unclear.
Where We Stand
February 2, 2006—There have been articles in the media in the last few days raising questions about the Bank Group's internal processes, in particular focusing on the issues of corruption and the appointment of senior managers. We spoke with Graeme Wheeler, Acting Managing Director, to get his impressions about the questions being raised.
What is your response to comments in the media that the Bank Group is not handling its internal affairs the way that some would like?
The media are free to make comments as they wish but the work of this organization is more extensive and its functioning more complex than many outside observers appreciate. Leadership, responsibility, and accountability are key, which is why Paul is intent on building a strong senior management team. He puts a great deal of emphasis on management qualities and considers the appointment and development of leaders to be among the most important aspects of his job. He has made it a high priority to meet individually with colleagues appointed to management and senior technical positions.
The recent appointments of Lars to head the IFC and Vincenzo as our Chief Financial Officer are good indicators of the type of person we are seeking. Lars and Vincenzo are widely recognized for their technical and managerial skills, and for their deep sense of values that align with those of the organization. I recall that when we were writing the position description for MD Operations, Paul took a very keen interest in describing the values that we are looking for.
Paul brought with him a few advisors to help him on follow-up and implementation issues. This is a complex organization and it's natural for the President to want to have around him some people who he has worked with in the past and who can help him settle in to the new organization. Under the Bank's Articles, Paul has the power to appoint key positions at his discretion, something that previous Bank Group Presidents have also done.
A number of senior managers have recently left the Bank Group. Some of this is inevitable in any period of transition; other departures are simply the result of natural attrition as people reach retirement age or legitimately decide to pursue their careers elsewhere. This presents challenges but, more than that, it gives our organization an opportunity to appoint new, talented, and diverse managers.
What about allegations of corruption within the Bank Group, which is how some in the media seem to be treating the issue?
Well, that's an unfair way to characterize things because our focus has been on governance and corruption in the development process at large. Paul and I know that the vast majority of Bank colleagues work very hard to maintain the institution's integrity. They are dedicated, and fully committed to the success of the Bank Group's mission. Any organization would be very proud to have such colleagues. But any single case of corruption in our midst is one too many. After all, the most important asset of the Bank Group is its reputation.
Because of the ongoing nature of any investigations, I cannot provide specific comments, although, in a letter to the editor of the Financial Times, I responded directly to some of the more far-fetched allegations. What I can say is that the number of people who may have violated the rules is small – and, if such cases are proven, they will be held accountable in order to protect the reputation of the staff and the effectiveness of our organization (see August 29 Kiosk announcement).
Paul and I agree that anti-corruption efforts are essential for our work because they are central to development effectiveness. And Paul is committed to taking action against graft, bribery, and kickbacks. This applies to Bank projects, and also more broadly to working with our clients to strengthen their capacity to fight corruption. At the Gleneagles G-8 Meeting in July last year, heads of government placed enormous faith in the Bank Group. I believe that they will carefully review our performance over the next three to four years. We will be judged on our ability to help reduce poverty, and the quality of our lending, technical assistance and capacity building work.
Fortunately, in recent years, the Bank has done a great deal of work in the areas of governance and anti-corruption in client countries. It is important to continue building on this work and to outline more clearly the operational framework in respect of corruption issues so that Bank colleagues know how to deal with them when they arise on our projects and programs. Paul asked me to work with regional VPs to explore the various operational questions which can arise. We have also set up a working team drawing on colleagues from across the Bank Group, and are also working with OPCS.
On another issue, some staff believe that there may be a slowness in decision-making creeping into the organization, and they worry about the delivery of our operational results. Is that a legitimate concern, in your view?
When you have a change at the top in any organization, there is going to be a period when normal operations slow down because colleagues want to know if their work is still important and relevant. I think what you are currently seeing is a bit of that.
But we should not forget that we are making terrific progress on many issues. I think of the work around the Gleneagles Summit, the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative, the Africa Action Plan, Avian Flu, the Clean Energy Investment Framework, the African Catalytic Growth Fund, the work on governance and anti-corruption, and the hundreds of smaller scale individual projects that staff are working on every day to deliver on behalf of their clients, who are relying on us. I think we are also successfully addressing any operational backlogs that may have occurred in the early stages of the transition.
On appointments to senior manager positions, including Vice-Presidential succession, we do hear concerns being expressed, but these are processes which take time and we shouldn't sacrifice quality for the sake of expediency. Several searches are currently underway to fill senior positions and we hope to have some selections to announce well before the Spring Meetings.
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