Overview

The United Nations is in many ways a unique organization. The Secretariat, composed of international civil servants, includes upward of 100 nationalities. The Secretary-General is specifically designated in the UN Charter as the ""Chief Administrative Officer"" and the staff generally perceive him as ""management"". Yet the Secretary-General does not have the power to determine the budget of the organization or the number of staff positions or even the level of wages. These are subject to the decision of the General Assembly, now composed of representatives of 184 countries. The Secretariat is the subject of persistent criticism for inefficiency and poor management to which the inescapable corollary are repeated calls for reductions, assessments of independent commissions and, very occasionally, the actual introduction of reforms, not always for the better.

Full Product Details

Author:   Tapio Kanninen
Publisher:   Kluwer Law International
Imprint:   Kluwer Law International
Volume:   22
Weight:   0.708kg
ISBN:  

9789041101020

ISBN 10:   9041101020
Pages:   320
Publication Date:   01 September 1995
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Out of Print
Availability:   Out of stock  

Table of Contents

Foreword. Preface. List of Tables. List of Illustrations. Part I: The Setting. 1. Introduction and Summary. 2. Previous Studies on Retrenchment, Reorganization and Management Issues. Part II: The Case Study. 3. Onset of Crisis and Formulation of Responses. 4. Adoption and Implementation of Reforms. 5. Analysis of the Case Study: Organizational and Managerial Aspects. Part III: Theory and Analysis. 6. Downsizing the Organization: Similarity of Retrenchment in Urban vs. International Settings. 7. Inside the Organization: Leadership and Decision Making in Retrenchment and Reorganization. 8. Outside the Organization: Milieu of Organizational Change. Part IV: Conclusions. 9. Practical and Theoretical Findings of the Study. 10. Epilogue: Intangibles of the Leadership at the United Nations. Bibliography. Annex: Developments in the UN Financial Crisis, Streamlining and Reorganization since 1990. Index.

Reviews

' The United Nations is in many ways a unique organization. The Secretariat, composed of international civil servants, includes upward of 100 nationalities. The Secretary-General is specifically designated in the UN Charter as the Chief Administrative Officer' and the staff generally perceive him as management'. Yet the Secretary-General does not have the power to determine the budget of the Organization or the number of staff positions or even the level of wages. These are subject to the decision of the General Assembly, now composed of representatives of 184 countries. The Secretariat is the subject of persistent criticism for inefficiency and poor management to which the inescapable corollary are repeated calls for reductions, assessments of independent commissions and, very occasionally, the actual introduction of reforms, not always for the better. [...] The author has subjected the structure and leadership of the United Nations Secretariat at a particular point in time to critical examination and, in the process, provided valuable insight into how the Secretariat functions and how the Secretary-General dealt with the exigencies of external demands for reform on which the very viability of the Organization became dependent. [...] His findings, while based on conditions that prevailed at the end of the Cold War, remain relevant to the United Nations of today and of the future. <br>From the Foreword'by James S. Sutterlin, Yale University, Chairman of the Academic Council on the UN System. <br>

'The United Nations is in many ways a unique organization. The Secretariat, composed of international civil servants, includes upward of 100 nationalities. The Secretary-General is specifically designated in the UN Charter as the 'Chief Administrative Officer' and the staff generally perceive him as 'management'. Yet the Secretary-General does not have the power to determine the budget of the Organization or the number of staff positions or even the level of wages. These are subject to the decision of the General Assembly, now composed of representatives of 184 countries. The Secretariat is the subject of persistent criticism for inefficiency and poor management to which the inescapable corollary are repeated calls for reductions, assessments of independent commissions and, very occasionally, the actual introduction of reforms, not always for the better. [...] The author has subjected the structure and leadership of the United Nations Secretariat at a particular point in time to critical examination and, in the process, provided valuable insight into how the Secretariat functions and how the Secretary-General dealt with the exigencies of external demands for reform on which the very viability of the Organization became dependent. [...] His findings, while based on conditions that prevailed at the end of the Cold War, remain relevant to the United Nations of today and of the future. From the Foreword'by James S. Sutterlin, Yale University, Chairman of the Academic Council on the UN System.

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