Understanding Organizational Change - A case study of the IMF from 1945 to the late 1980s

Abstract: This thesis examines the causes of change and the process of change within international organizations. By using a method and theory derived from a study by Ernst B. Haas I have examined the causes of why, according to Haas, IMF is a case of successful organizational learning. By applying Haas? theory on IMF at different points, 1945-69, 1971-79 and the 1980s, of time I reached the conclusion that IMF has undergone change through first an adaptation and then a learning process. The thesis also tests Haas? theory empirically; Haas identifies three types of models of the organization during this period; however I see the change as a step from organizational adaptation to learning with a transition period in between. I argue that he answer to my problem, ?What is (are) the cause(s) for IMF being a case of successful organizational learning??, is the introduction of the Second Amendment in the Articles of Agreement and its emphasis on surveillance. With the IMF's realization, due to earlier experiences, that adjustment and not financing was the key to solve the debt crisis of the 1980s learning occurred. The adjustment took place through IMF conditionality, which Haas views as the cause for learning. What I found in my study was that surveillance is actually a prerequisite of conditionality and this meant that it was the Second Amendment that enabled IMF to take the step from financing to adjustment and should therefore be regarded as the cause for IMF being a case of successful learning.