Administrative Convergence in the UN System? Patterns of Administrative Reform in Four UN Organizations Over Time

The article asks how and why UN organizations reform their administrative organization and processes over time. Especially it explores whether we can observe a convergence towards a coherent administrative model in the UN-system, given their distinct organizational histories and styles (Beigbeder 1984). The adoption of reforms like NPM (Pollitt & Bouckaert, 2017) or Post-NPM (Reiter & Klenk, 2017) in nation-states have been a trigger of extensive comparative research in Public Administration which asks for drivers and preconditions of administrative reforms. Against this background, the question of convergence arises also for UN-IPAs: do they adapt their administrations according to a specific reform concept and when and how do organizations diverge from these concepts (Knill et al 2017; Pollitt & Bouckaert 2017)? On the one hand, similar challenges, common reform ‘fashions’, and an increasing exchange in the UN system make convergence likely; on the other hand, distinct tasks, administrative styles and path dependencies might support distinct reform trajectories. This question is addressed by measuring the frequency, direction and rationales for reforms, using a sample of four UN-IPAs (FAO, ILO, IMF, WHO). We map different reform events in four reform dimensions (personnel, finances, organization, control) covering important questions of integration, coordination and decentralization (Pollitt 2004). We make use of a qualitative content analysis of annual reports over 30 years. Results are mixed: Some far-reaching reforms were initiated in the 1990s in all IPAs; a second wave occurred about ten years later. Certain UN-IPAs however implement reforms faster than others and seem more flexible in terms of adaptation.