Neal Keny-Guyer, director general of the International Mercy Corps, built his organization, following the advice of Theodore Roosevelt: "Be smart enough to hire good people and have the good sense to get out of their way." For eight years, Keny-Guyer helped Mercy Corps to grow in size and scope, and by 2001, has put $ 117 million in social programs for people in more than 30 countries. Convinced that much of the success has come from empowering front-line managers to lead the agency, conducting opportunities in this field, he wanted to continue the approach. However, recent events in Afghanistan identified some shortcomings in the ability Mercy Corps "to maintain an entrepreneurial approach in an emergency. What worked so well in the organization of 200 was facing difficulties now that the worldwide staff exceeded 2,000. At the world conference of the In late October 2002, Kenny-Guyer met with his senior management. In addition to fighting political difficulties working in Iraq, he wanted to get their input as Mercy Corps should respond if they thought it was the right course of action. "Hide
by Christopher A. Bartlett, Daniel F. Curran Source: Harvard Business School 25 pages. Publication Date: June 10, 2003. Prod. #: 303079-PDF-ENG