Measures Across Organizations and Contexts

Abstract

D uring the various workshops and interviews we conducted, both donors and recipients expressed concern about the need to develop mechanisms to assure consultant quality, reliability, and accountability that are designed to deal with consultants working across organizations and in varying international contexts (see appendix F). For example, donor representatives at our discussion groups at the 2005 Global Forum on Combating Corruption held in Brasilia, Brazil, and those at the Friday Morning Group of the World Bank have argued that, from the perspective of the individual donor manager, the current system of implicit incentives promotes the practice of simply abstaining from hiring a problematic consultant again. Sometimes, negative experiences are shared within organizations by making evaluations internally available, through formal, internal “blacklists,” or through informal professional networks. However, these evaluations are rarely shared outside the organization. Interorganizational sharing is limited to public debarment and information exchanged informally via professional networks. Poor communication among donors may allow consultants to escape consequences of past misconduct.