When Knowledge Is Power: Three Models of Change in International Organizations

The book is a testament to how difficult it can be to change a large international organisation. The focus is on the United Nations and the World Bank. For the UN, there is an analysis of its child agencies like WHO. The author gives a sociological perspective on the civil servants who typically staff these organisations. More to the point, these are public organisations, dominated by political groups from numerous nations. The heterogenous nature of the nations is reflected in the diversity of the workforce and in its aims. He considers these to be ideologies, often conflicting, as during the Cold War. Apart from the superpower rivalries, there was also tension between developed and developing nations. Which added to the difficulty of management. What the book did not address was the issues of inefficiencies in staffing, and a possibility of corruption in some agencies. All aided by conflicting societal mores. Change can happen, but often slowly in these organisations.