The Matrix System at Work - Independent Evaluation Group - World ...
The Matrix System at Work - Independent Evaluation Group - World ...
The Matrix System at Work - Independent Evaluation Group - World ...
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CHAPTER 3<br />
THE PROMISE OF A KNOWLEDGE BANK<br />
Table 3.1. Dissemin<strong>at</strong>ion of Knowledge within the Bank<br />
Survey question<br />
To wh<strong>at</strong> extent was your sector family effective in . . .<br />
. . . the production of oper<strong>at</strong>ionally relevant knowledge within the<br />
Bank?<br />
. . . the dissemin<strong>at</strong>ion of internally gener<strong>at</strong>ed knowledge and<br />
experience across the Bank?<br />
. . . the dissemin<strong>at</strong>ion within the Bank of oper<strong>at</strong>ionally relevant<br />
global knowledge produced outside the Bank?<br />
Source: IEG staff survey<br />
Percent indic<strong>at</strong>ing to a substantial or<br />
very large extent<br />
3.19 A frequent concern among staff was th<strong>at</strong> the regional sector units are<br />
disconnected from each other, a fact th<strong>at</strong> is complic<strong>at</strong>ed by the deep<br />
decentraliz<strong>at</strong>ion of sector staff in recent years. As one survey respondent from an<br />
SDN sector in Europe and Central Asia said, “with some technical staff<br />
decentralized, and little resources devoted to knowledge sharing among sector staff,<br />
it is difficult for oper<strong>at</strong>ional staff to reflect experiences from other Regions or from<br />
outside the Bank to enhance [the] quality of the oper<strong>at</strong>ions.”<br />
3.20 Sector managers and country directors were just as candid as staff<br />
regarding the dissemin<strong>at</strong>ion of knowledge gener<strong>at</strong>ed in their portfolios. While<br />
about half of the sector managers reported th<strong>at</strong> lessons from their unit’s portfolio<br />
were provided to global, corpor<strong>at</strong>e, and sector str<strong>at</strong>egies to a substantial or very<br />
large extent, a third provided knowledge to other Regions. Cross-regional sharing of<br />
lessons was r<strong>at</strong>ed even lower by country directors, with just two of 11 reporting th<strong>at</strong><br />
this occurred in their portfolio to a substantial or very large extent (Table 3.2).<br />
3.21 In most sectors, sector managers and regional sector staff were very critical<br />
of the usefulness of their anchors in dissemin<strong>at</strong>ing oper<strong>at</strong>ionally useful<br />
knowledge, and of Sector Boards for managing th<strong>at</strong> knowledge. On a ten-point<br />
scale, sector managers gave their anchors an average r<strong>at</strong>ing of 5.0 regarding their<br />
effectiveness in providing knowledge and learning services to the Regions. A typical<br />
comment from a manager was, “<strong>The</strong> anchor does wh<strong>at</strong> it wants to do, with a cottage<br />
industry mentality and without reference to country needs or even discussion with<br />
sector people in the Regions.” Staff in the Regions indic<strong>at</strong>ed th<strong>at</strong> the anchors “seem<br />
to have their own agenda” and are “too far away from oper<strong>at</strong>ions.”<br />
53<br />
40<br />
25<br />
45