Learning and Accreditation for Staff Acting under Delegated Authority from World Bank Corporate Procurement

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Learning and Accreditation for Staff Acting under
Delegated Authority from World Bank Corporate
Procurement
a presentation by Stephen B. Gordon, Ph.D., CPPO,
Education Program Officer, World Bank Corporate
Procurement as part of a panel on Introducing
Reforms and Improving Processes Focusing on
Acquisitions, Procurements, and Contracts at The
International Consortium on Governmental
Management's 20th International Conference and
Training Program Miami, Florida May 9, 2006
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World Bank Corporate Procurement

• Institutional buying arm of World Bank Group
• A unit of the General Services Department
• Responsible for planning, formation (bidding),
  execution, and administration of all
  administrative contracts
• Responsible for executing all administrative
  contracts and operational consulting contracts
• Not responsible for planning or formation
  (bidding) of operational consulting contracts
• 750 million in annual spend
• 95 of procurements implemented at HQ
• Staff complement of 35

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More about Corporate Procurement

• 5 Internal Teams
• Production (vendor registration, contract
  execution, small purchases)
• Country Office
• Technology
• Facilities
• Services
• 3 guiding principles
• Fairness
• Transparency
• Competition

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External Participants in the Corporate
(Administrative) Procurement Process

• Three categories of external staff
• Project managers/task team leaders
• Country office staff
• Transaction processors
• Learning and accreditation programs (LAPs)
  planned for each group

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Common Elements of the Forthcoming LAPs

• Education (for awareness and understanding)
• Training (for skills development)
• Accreditation (to verify learning)
• Performance monitoring and intervention (as
  necessary)

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Why Learning and Accreditation?

• To mitigate risk
• To build
• Risk awareness
• Capacity to support mission/vision attainment
• Presidents focus on governance and practice
• Emphasis on combating corruption and unethical
  conduct

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The LAPs will

• Align with existing efforts to drive
• Excellence in performance and results
• Mission and vision attainment
• Ethical conduct
• Be mandatory
• Require periodic re-accreditation
• Provide for suspension/revocation

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Underlying Concepts of the LAPs

• A formal, defined body of knowledge
• Related to demands and needs
• Will continue to evolve
• Effective and appropriate learning methodologies
• Career-long learning

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Body of Knowledge and Skills

• Public sector contract management principles
• Project management (broadly defined)
• Ethics, integrity, and social responsibility
• Individual/professional responsibility and
  accountability
• Interpersonal skills and strategies
• Bank rules, policies, and procedures

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The LAPs will be Performance-Based

• Goals
• Immediate 1 increased level of learning
• Immediate 2 improved job performance
• Ultimate maximum contribution to Bank
  mission/vision attainment
• Requirements
• Metrics to measure learning impact
• Ongoing assessment
• Program assessment / intervention

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Other Details of the LAPs

• Focused courses
• Pre and post exams for each course
• Opportunities for specialization
• Course development make, buy, or adapt
• Linkage to other initiatives within the Bank
• Other LAPs
• Ethics Management
• Detailed plan of approach timing

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Two Ways that the World Bank Seeks to Promote
Ethical Conduct

• Compliance-based ethical management
• Integrity-based (value-based) ethics management

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Compliance-Based Ethics Management

• Clear rules and enforcement
• Investigations and control mechanisms
• Penalties for non-compliance

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Compliance-Based Ethics System within the World
Bank Group

• Staff Manual
• General obligations of Staff Members (Principle
  3)
• Standards of Professional Conduct (Staff Rules
  3.01 3.05)
• Disciplinary measures (Staff Rule 8.01)
• Various other guidance
• Conflicts of interest
• Domestic issues
• Misconduct
• Financial disclosure
• Outside interests
• (continued)

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Compliance-Based System (continued)

• The Department of Institutional Integrity (INT)
• Preliminary inquiries of allegations
• Investigations
• Staff duty to report suspected fraud, corruption,
  or misconduct (Staff Rule 8.01, Paragraph 2.02)

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The Staff Manual Specifies Ethical Issues that
Must Be Reported to INT

• Most listed issues are procurement-related
• The procurement-related issues
• Relate directly to mission/vision attainment
• Are addressed in the existing Values-Based Ethics
  System within the WBG
• Will be addressed in the Learning and
  Accreditation programs

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Examples of the Procurement-Related Issues that
Must Be Reported

• Contract irregularities violations of
  procurement guidelines
• Bid irregularities
• Bid collusion
• Fraudulent bids
• Fraud in contract performance
• Product substitution
• Price manipulation

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More Examples

• Substandard or inferior parts and materials
• Cost or labor mischarging
• Kickbacks, bribery, acceptance of gratuities
• Abuse of authority
• Misuse of bank funds or entrusted funds
• Conflict of interest
• Forgery
• Involvement of Bank staff in any of the above.

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The Value-Based Ethics System within the World
Bank Group

• WBG Core Values
• Code of Professional Conduct
• Training in Ethics and Integrity
• Internal System for Help and Advice
• Conflict Resolution System
• Human Resources Department
• Respectful workplace advisors
• Staff Association
• Ethics Hotline
• Fraud and Corruption Hotline

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The Office of Business Ethics

• Role communicates WBG values, rules, and norms
  on ethics
• Responsibilities outreach and training,
  counseling, policy guidance, Ethics Helpline
• Areas staff misconduct, conflict of interest,
  financial disclosure, domestic/family issues

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Collaboration with the OBE

• In all planned LAPs
• To address specific issues of strategic
  importance, as needed

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Closing

• Summary
• Questions, comments, suggestions
• Contact information
• Stephen B. Gordon, Ph.D., CPPO
• Education Program Officer
• World Bank Corporate Procurement
• Phone [phone]
• Email sgordon_at_worldbank.org