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"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."

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' 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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