The Matrix System at Work - Independent Evaluation Group - World ...

APPENDIX A
MATRIX MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE WORLD BANK
supervision, and thus development outcomes. Its primary recommendation was “to
focus attention at all levels more fully on the central objective of achieving
sustainable development impact” (pg. 24). While the Bank has place more emphasis
on “results” in recent years, staff and managers have confirmed that the lending
culture still reigns. Given the primacy of lending, devoting attention to ”matrix
behaviors”—behaviors such as utilizing knowledge produced across the Bank,
mobilizing expertise from across the Bank, and carefully considering the complex
interactions of the various sectors—is seen to detract from, rather than contribute to
successful working.
The Bank and the New Aid Architecture
27. In addition to client responsiveness and technical excellence, the reforms of 1997
were intended to address new efforts to increase coordination among donors and
align donor systems with country systems to improve aid effectiveness. The United
Nations adopted the Millennium Development Goals in September 2000. The central
units (network anchors) became the external face of the Bank on issues relating to
their sectors, adding an important external responsibility to their internal Bank
function as aggregators and disseminators of knowledge.
28. This aspect of the network anchors has greatly expanded over time, in line with
the evolving international aid architecture and the emergence of new global
partners. This expansion has gone well beyond what was expected in 1997, and has
coincided with the emergence of global public goods and cross-national challenges
as new features of Bank assistance. The Bank’s action in these areas developed in a
reactive manner in response to external demands and expectations, and often
without a clear results framework linking objectives, instruments, and expected
results.
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