Networked Tools: How Does the OECD Do Its Governance Work?

In 2010 the OECD published Brazil 2010: Federal Government, one in a series of reviews of human resource management in government. The 300-page document is a typical research product of the OECD — rather dry, well- researched, bursting with comparative insights from OECD members and how they manage their public sector human resources. But it is a result of a much more complicated and dynamic set of processes and interactions, of basic tools that the OECD uses to do its work. Brazil is not a member of the OECD, and so there were the initial negotiations over the parameters of the project and the eventual invitation by Brazil for the review. A decision was made to conduct the review in cooperation with the World Bank. Consultants were hired, and internal resources within GOV were mobilized — experts on pensions, job categorization, training and learning, reform implementation strategies, performance management, quantitative and qualitative data generation and analysis. There were study trips by OECD staff to build the initial data scan through meetings with relevant ministries and stakeholders — these included the Executive Secretariat in the Ministry of Planning; Secretariats of Human Resources, of Public Management, of International Relations; offices within at least three other ministries; the Ombudsman Office; the National School of Public Administration; public service unions; the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro; two institutes, and the University of São Paulo. And then in July 2009 came the signature instrument in the OECD toolkit — once the basic data had been assembled by OECD staff, five “high-level officials” (peers) from OECD member countries jetted in from Tokyo, Washington, Paris, Madrid and Ottawa to hear from stakeholders, ask questions, and provide subsequent guidance for the final drafting of the report. There was further drafting and discussion with Brazilian officials, and finally a submission to the PGC, where once again discussion ensued among members, speaking as representatives of member states. As we will see below, these types of reports and research comprise the ultimate “visible” product of the OECD’s work, but they are built on a foundation of networked interactions that - if we take the entire OECD and all its directorates and projects as a whole — take place daily in capital cities and ministries across the planet.

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