Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank announces the establishment of the WBG senior management team and realignment of responsibilities to enhance effectiveness and results, as well as several Vice-President changes
Senior Staff Appointments
• Sri Mulyani Indrawati – Managing Director, Regions and Networks
• Caroline Anstey – Managing Director, Operational Policy and Bank Group Services and Systems
• Bertrand Badre – World Bank Group Managing Director, Finance and CFO
• Mahmoud Mohieldin – President’s Special Envoy on MDGs and Financial Development
• Pamela Cox – Senior Vice President, Change Management
When I came to the WBG in July, I opened a conversation about ways in which we could strengthen implementation and outreach, and become a more effective institution. This conversation has provided me with valuable inputs from many of you within the institution, as well as from many stakeholders who have a good understanding of our work, as clients, business partners, beneficiaries, and development agents.
The results of this process of internal and external consultations were discussed in early November during a two day meeting attended by the entire Leadership Management Team of the World Bank Group, which includes all WBG MDs, EVPs and VPs. I came out from that meeting encouraged by the convergence of thinking in the group around both constraints, and a way forward. We agreed that we are moving into a new and more complex period and that further changes are required to meet the challenges ahead, in terms of global leadership, talent management, and ability to deliver global knowledge. We also agreed that transforming an organization of the size and complexity of the WBG is challenging. On several occasions, staff and management also reported that past WBG change efforts have failed to reach their full potential because of insufficient senior management attention, and that senior management time and commitment are essential to make the change process succeed.
Five areas emerged as critical to enhance our effectiveness:
Enhance our strategic focus. To implement our common vision of eliminating poverty and building shared prosperity, we must move towards a clear, unified strategy, focused on results. We are working on setting the targets that we will use to monitor our progress, and a strategy will be prepared to guide us on how we translate the targets into our day-to-day operational work.
Promote knowledge and solutions. Our knowledge is increasingly valued by our clients, and this trend will continue in the future. In the many discussions I have had with our staff, I have realized that the knowledge that we have built in the institution is impressive indeed. But I also believe that we need to develop adequate systems, technologies and structures to allow our staff to generate and disseminate client-focused knowledge that provides the solutions that our countries are demanding. We are working at putting in place those structures and systems that will make knowledge available and accessible to our staff, our clients and the global development community.
Improve leadership and talent management. The World Bank Group should be the employer of choice in the development area, with recognized excellence in leadership and effective merit-based performance systems. We have to invest in our staff and make sure that we nurture a pool of highly qualified professionals, while providing multiple incentives for excellence. And we also need to prepare our next generation of managers through a strong leadership curriculum. This will imply reviewing HR policies and our performance management system.
Focus on results, accountability and risk. During the many interactions I have had with staff, many of you have described how our bureaucratic processes are taking away precious resources that we could dedicate more effectively to achieving results. We should be focusing not so much on the process, but rather on the results for our clients. We should also be able to take calculated risks, learn from our mistakes and evolve from a culture of risk avoidance to risk management. I am aware of the cultural changes and of the shift in incentives that this will imply for the institution, and I am determined to move this agenda forward.
Mobilize our resources. All these reforms will be impossible without a more effective use of our resources. Our budgetary processes must be aligned with our strategy. Our financial products must continue to evolve to match the demand from our clients. Our IDA replenishment processes must offer a larger number of options to our contributors in order to continue leveraging funding for development, in these times of fiscal constraint. A working group has already raised a number of interesting ideas whose feasibility now has to be further assessed.
I know that these are all challenging issues that will not only require time to implement but also the right consultation and governance framework. I will continue my open conversation with you and with our clients, so that, together, we can create a more modern and responsive institution.
In this context, I am pleased to share with you the first round of changes that I have decided to introduce. They concern the establishment and the definition of the functions of the World Bank Group senior management team.
1. Establishment of a World Bank Group Senior Management Team
I have decided to establish a World Bank Group Senior Management Team (SMT) that will meet on a weekly basis to discuss issues concerning the management of the organization, assess progress against the strategic objectives and resolve decisions that cannot be made by the Management Teams of individual vice-presidencies.
The members of the SMT will include: the WBG President, the EVP of the IFC, the EVP of MIGA, the WB’s MDs, the WB Chief Economist, the Senior VP for Change Management, the WBG General Counsel, and the WBG Corporate Secretary.
The WBG Leadership Management Team (LMT), including all WBG MDs, EVPs and VPs, will continue to meet on a regular basis to discuss strategic priorities and broad operational issues.
2. Realignment of Managing Directors’ Responsibilities
One of the messages that emerged from my consultation with staff, clients and other stakeholders in the past months is the need to increase the accountability, oversight, internal coordination and quality of business processes, in order to enhance our effectiveness. To achieve this objective, I have decided to realign the responsibilities of the Managing Directors along the following lines:
I have asked Sri Mulyani Indrawati to be responsible for coordinating the work of the regional and network VPUs, to formalize the existing matrix under a common reporting structure. I expect that this new reporting arrangement will facilitate synergies between Regions and Networks, and allow us to operate in a more effective way, ensuring maximum client impact and accountability.
I have asked Caroline Anstey to be responsible for ensuring that the WBG’s internal operations, policies and systems are designed and aligned to maximize our impact – including across the WBG. As a signal of the importance I attach to WBG synergies, her portfolio will include Group-wide responsibility for HR, IMT, and EXT/ IFC Corporate Relations, and she will lead our work to deepen these synergies across the Bank Group. She will also continue to lead our policy work through OPCS and take on responsibility for coordinating our work on innovation and on the science of delivery, assuming responsibility for WBI. As recently endorsed by IDA Deputies, Caroline will also Chair the IDA 17 replenishment.
The World Bank Group Managing Director for Finance and CFO will be responsible for all critical internal financial functions and the General Services Department. This would include finance operations (corporate finance and treasury), control functions (risk and controller), and global partnerships and concessional finance. I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Bertrand Badre as WBG Managing Director for Finance and CFO.
Bertrand, a French national, is currently serving as the Group Chief Financial Officer at Société Générale, and before that, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of Crédit Agricole SA from July 2007 to July 2011. He has also been Managing Director of Lazard and an advisor to President Chirac.
Bertrand began his career in 1989 as Assistant Group Controller for BFI-Ibexsa, a Franco-American company that distributed professional electronic components now part of Avnet.
From 1995 to 1999, in the Ministry of Finance he was charged with several control, audit and consultancy missions for the French National Audit Office. In that capacity he was seconded to the World Bank in Togo in 1997.
He later joined Lazard in London as Assistant Director in the Corporate Finance Division, and then went up the ranks becoming Vice President and later Director in Lazard’s New York office.
In 2002 he was a member of the global panel on “Financing Water for All” chaired by Michel Camdessus. He later worked with Michel Camdessus as President Chirac’s deputy personal representative for Africa for the G8. He was then spokesman for President Chirac’s working group on new international financial contributions (the Landau report).
From 2004 to July 2007, he served as Partner and Managing Director of Lazard in Paris.
Bertrand has also served as a Director on a number of boards, including the Supervisory Board of Eurazeo between 2010 and 2012, Haulotte Group since 2005, various boards of the leading French regional daily Newspaper Group Ouest France (1M issues) and represented Crédit Agricole and Sociéte Générale on the board of a number of their subsidiaries.
Bertrand has also co-written several works on economy, development and finance, including Entreprises en Révolution – 1990 on manufactures during the French revolution, L’avenir des retraites en Europe et en Amérique du sud – 1998 on pension reforms;La mondialisation a-t-elle une âme – 1999 on business ethics and Eau – 2004, with Michel Camdessus on water policies.
Bertrand is a graduate of HEC business school and of Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris.
He is a former student of ENA and also holds a Master’s degree in History from La Sorbonne.
He is married with four children.
3. President’s Special Envoy
Nothing could be more important in our effort to help eliminate poverty and build shared prosperity than the achievement of the current Millennium Development Goals and the clear articulation of a framework for supporting the post 2015 agenda. During my conversation with client countries, as well as multilateral and bilateral development partners, many raised the need for having a more strategic and coordinated approach to this agenda. I have asked Mahmoud Mohieldin to assume the position of Special Envoy with the responsibility of coordinating the WBG agenda on MDGs and the Post-2015 process, reporting directly to me. He will coordinate the WBG’s efforts to strengthen our partnership with multilateral development institutions and the G20. Mahmoud will complement this responsibility by leading the WBG work on long-term finance and financial inclusion, as these issues are vital for achieving inclusive and sustainable growth.
4. Senior Vice President for Change Management
Transforming an organization of the size and complexity of the WBG is challenging – though given the WBG’s mission, also critically important. At the same time, change cannot come at the expense of the day-to-day business of the WBG. To implement our change agenda, and address the five key areas mentioned above, I have decided to create the position of Senior Vice President for Change Management. This will establish a focal point of accountability and ownership for coordinating and pushing forward a complex change agenda which includes initiatives that touch many different parts of the organization. The Senior Vice President for Change Management will report directly to me, and will be responsible for coordination and sequencing of all change initiatives; as well as overall internal and external communications concerning the change agenda.
I am very pleased to inform you that Pamela Cox has agreed to take on this role. She brings to the position an unparalleled wealth of operational and managerial experience across the institution.
Pamela, a US national, is currently Vice President for East Asia and Pacific. Since she joined the Bank in 1980, she has worked in a number of capacities, including: Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean Region, Country Director for Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland, and Namibia; Division Chief for Agriculture and Environment in East Asia; Country Operations Division Chief; Principal Economist in South Asia and LAC; Economist in Africa; Director, Strategy and Operations in the Africa Region and Region’s focal point on decentralization.
Prior to joining the Bank Group, Pamela was an economic consultant at the Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Asian Institute of Management in the Philippines.
Pamela holds a Ph.D. in Development Economics and Policy from the Fletcher School, Tufts University.
Let me reiterate that this realignment should be seen as part of our ongoing effort to improve our service to clients. These changes will strengthen our capacity to meet our responsibilities to clients and shareholders in the challenging period ahead.
The new structure and realignment of responsibilities will become effective on January 1, 2013.
Bertrand Badre’s appointment as World Bank Group Managing Director, Finance and CFO will be effective March 1, 2013. Chuck McDonough will continue to act as WBG Chief Financial Officer until then.
Ulrich Zachau will be acting Vice President of the East Asia and Pacific VPU during the month of January 2013.
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Joachim von Amsberg as Vice President, Concessional Finance and Partnerships (CFP).
Joachim, a German national, joined the Bank in 1993 as a Young Professional. He currently is the Vice President and Head of Network, Operations Policy and Country Services. Over the last two years, he successfully managed from that position the Bank’s reforms to focus on results in all our activities and oversaw reforms to our fiduciary and safeguard functions to better balance strong and effective controls with the need for flexibility, speed and results. He also has provided effective leadership in strengthening and deepening ongoing efforts at simplifying and modernizing Bank’s operations. Recently, Joachim oversaw the operationalization of the 2011 World Development Report on Conflict, Security and Development and the creation of the Nairobi Hub to support our FCS work.
Prior to that, Joachim was Country Director for Indonesia, where he oversaw one of the Bank’s largest country programs and country offices. He supported the Government of Indonesia’s efforts to improve the investment climate and service delivery to the poor through stronger governance; and led the Bank’s relationships and engagement with Indonesia, its Government, and other stakeholders, in close collaboration with IFC and MIGA. Previously, he was Country Director for the Philippines where he led a new World Bank strategy for enhanced support to the Philippines.
Joachim was a member of the steering committee that oversaw the preparation of the World Bank’s Governance and Anti-Corruption Strategy, and he also was an integral part of several task forces to strengthen the World Bank’s programs in support of middle income countries.
The Concessional Finance and Partnerships Vice Presidency has a crucial institutional role to play as we approach new replenishment negotiations for IDA and Trust Fund support for our clients hardest hit by the crisis. I am delighted that Joachim, with his strong track-record of innovation and results, will be taking on this task.
Joachim holds a Ph.D. in Finance and Economic Policy and an MBA from the University of British Columbia, Canada, and a Masters in Electrical Engineering from the Technische Universität Berlin, Germany.
Joachim’s appointment will be effective February 1, 2013.
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Axel van Trotsenburg as Vice President, East Asia and Pacific Region (EAP).
Axel, an Austrian and Dutch national, joined the Bank in 1988 as a Young Professional. Axel is currently the World Bank’s Vice-President for Concessional Finance and Global Partnerships since August 2009. In this capacity, he led the policy negotiations and replenishment process for IDA 16 which concluded in a record replenishment of almost US$50 billion. Most recently, he oversaw the IDA Mid-Term Review that was successfully concluded in November.
Axel also co-chaired the replenishment process for the GEF and managed the largest replenishment increase ever, with pledges of over US$4 billion. He ably exercised policy oversight of the World Bank’s trust funds portfolio, and directed the on-going trust fund reforms. In addition, Axel oversaw a wide range of global initiatives and innovative financing mechanisms with which the Bank is involved in various capacities, such as the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm), and the pilot Advance Market Commitment (AMC) for pneumococcal vaccines. He also led an extensive donor outreach on IDA and trust funds.
Previously, Axel served as Country Director for Colombia and Mexico in the Latin America and Caribbean Vice Presidency, where his attention to client needs has been deeply appreciated. Prior to that he held a number of positions at the Bank, including Country Director for Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, and Senior Manager of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) in PREM. In this capacity, he helped design the original and enhanced HIPC Initiative and supervised the preparation of debt relief packages for 24 countries, yielding US$37 billion in debt relief.
Axel holds Masters and Doctorate degrees in economics and a Masters degree in International Affairs.
Axel’s appointment will be effective February 1, 2013.
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Kyle Peters as Vice President and Head of Network, Operational Policy and Country Services (OPCS).
Kyle, a US national, joined the World Bank in 1983 and has since held various technical and managerial positions in the East Asia and Pacific Region, IEG, OPCS and ECA. He currently is the Director, Strategy and Operations, in ECA and prior to this, was the Director of Strategy and Country Services in OPCS.
Throughout Kyle’s long career in the Bank, he has acquired an in-depth knowledge of operations and the needs of both operational staff and clients. He has demonstrated an ability to exercise solid judgment in developing and overseeing the implementation of a number of crucial operational policy reforms that enabled the Bank to become more results focused. He is respected by Executive Directors and peers and he has consistently been a key contributor in strategic deliberations within Management and with the Board.
Kyle holds a Masters in Economics.
Kyle’s appointment will be effective February 1, 2013.
Jim Yong Kim
President