What is the World Bank's
"Operating Model"?
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The operating model includes:
- organizational structures such as Practice Groups, Global Practices (GPs), and Global Themes (GTs)
- internal processes, such as budgeting, quality assurance, and strategic directions
- staff roles and reporting arrangements.
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An effective operating model that enables collaboration and use of relevant knowledge is important for delivering on the World Bank’s ambitious agendas. In 2014, the World Bank reformed its operating model.
The evaluation looks at the incentives and behaviors the model inculcates. Specifically, it evaluates how well the model contributes to global knowledge flow – the generation and movement of customized knowledge among staff and across geographic regions and organizational structures – and to collaboration for integrated solutions.
Main Findings
Certain aspects of the new operating model are valuable, especially its enabling of global knowledge flow; these are the effect of setting up Global Practices that operate more globally than before and Global Theme Groups that provide useful strategic directions and coherence to cross-cutting priorities. Establishing Global Practices improved knowledge flow and staff mobility across Regions, mobilized expertise for clients, and, sometimes, deepened expertise in operationally relevant areas.
However, the model’s structure and processes tend to inhibit collaboration and cause inefficiency, fragmentation, and internal competition. Some Global Practices lack coherent and systematic approaches to managing and investing in knowledge. If left unaddressed, these issues can cause risks to the World Bank’s ability to deliver for clients.