MANAGING CHANGING ORGANIZATION

Managing Changing Organization

Managing Changing Organization

Introduction

Since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in the mid-1970s the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, have helped the world avoid the horrors of a systemic collapse. However, when we look at the volatility in financial markets, the growing imbalances in the global economy, the increasing income inequality both within and between countries, the facts that nearly half the world's population lives on less than $2 per day and about 22% live on less than $1 per day, and that hundreds of millions of people live without safe sources of running water, shelter, education or health care, it is clear that they are failing in their mandate to reduce poverty, promote and maintain high levels of employment and real income, a stable international monetary system, and shorten the duration and lessen the degree of payments disequilibria.

Unfortunately, they are failing us at a time when we badly need them to be functioning effectively. The increasingly integrated global financial system, with its apparently endemic volatility and uncertainties and unbalanced allocation of resources desperately needs some form of effective global governance.

The IMF has lost influence over its richest member states, particularly the G-7, and has steadily gained influence over its developing country member states. This process has resulted in the IMF slowly mutating from a monetary organization into a macro-economically oriented development financing institution. These developments have important implications for the IMF's relations with its member states, the citizens of those member states and other international organizations. Unfortunately the IMF has not yet adequately acknowledged these implications. Consequently, the IMF is experiencing serious problems that are caused by the distortions that arise from it trying to squeeze its new functions and relations into its old structures. These problems are calling into question its legitimacy and undermining its ability to function effectively. They are leading many in the developing world and in international civil society to view the IMF as an uncaring bully that is more responsive to the concerns of its richest member countries than to the real problems of the citizens of the countries in which it operates. They are also leading some in the rich countries to question the IMF's current ability to effectively manage the international monetary and fiscal problems of most interest to the rich countries.

Stakeholder of IMF

The document that guides engagement with external stakeholders in the IMF is called the Guide for Staff Relations with Civil Society Organizations. While this is one of the more developed stakeholder engagement documents from among the assessed IGOs, it leaves significant room for improvement. The policy meets a number of good practice principles, such as identifying the conditions under which external stakeholders should expect to be engaged (either in public outreach, policy inputs or ownership), and committing the organization to communicate the purpose of engagement and how much stakeholders can influence final outcomes. However, its contribution to strengthened accountability in the IMF is undermined by the fact that it has not been adopted ...