INTRODUCTION

This and the following chapters deal in more detail with the reform initiatives of the 1990s. Here we deal with the range of initiatives that were core elements of the reforms, that is, related to organizational restructuring. First the matrix management system is considered because that was the central element, and then it is combined with the next key element, known as the internal market. Associated with these two initiatives was reform of the structure of management. Closely intertwined were the new knowledge networks and the information systems, and related to all these organizational initiatives was the aim of moving to the front line. A specific organizational change, the merger of parts of the Bank and the IFC, is considered, and then finally we look at what the employees thought about it. The order of events is as follows:

• the matrix

• the internal market

• management structure

• knowledge and networks

• the front line and backline

• Bank/IFC corporate merger

• the verdict of the employees

THE MANAGEMENT MATRIX

In accordance with the proposals of the Strategic Compact, set out in Chapter 2, at the core of the 1990s reforms was a reorganization of the operational areas of the Bank, the purpose of which was to address the issues of excess bureaucracy – that is, the excessive cost of doing business with the Bank, and the slowness and lack of response of the organization, while at the same time increasing its focus on the country clients of the Bank and increasing the chances of country buy-in.