units and cross support).<sup>31</sup> These networks would then provide their knowledge to operational staffs through cross support.

**Cross support is defined as the staff time of an expert purchased from outside the responsible unit for specific tasks.** Cross support can be shared within VPUs and between VPUs, such as a network VPU and a regional VPU.  Cross support across VPUs could thus be used as a measure of internal knowledge sharing.  Cross support is short-term by nature and does not include staff movement or rotation.  Cross support tasks can be both operational and knowledge-generating, and they can take the form of participation in team visits, preparation of key inputs for analytical and advisory activities (AAA), and peer review. All cross support costs within FY08–FY12 were extracted from SAP.  These data were matched with the project codes for the policy reports.  Those policy reports that did not have matching cross support data are assumed to have zero cross support costs.

**DEC is one of the largest providers of cross-support within the Bank.** It has started to provide increasing cross support over the years, going as far as setting a goal of dedicating a third of its staff time for this purpose (World Bank, 2011a).  In FY12, DEC was the second largest provider of cross support within the Bank, only exceeded by SDN. Figure 9 below shows the levels of inter-VPU cross support sold by the different VPU.  Although DEC is a large supplier of cross support, key Bank reports tend to focus on cross support provided by other departments.<sup>32</sup>

**Figure 9: Total Inter-VPU Cross Support Sold**

_a) In Staff Weeks b) As a Percentage of Staff Years_ <!-- Start of picture text --> Total Inter-VPU Cross Support Sold, Staff Weeks Total Inter-VPU Cross Support Sold<br>Percentage of Staff Years<br>SDN<br>PRM SDN<br>HDN 11.80 PRM<br>FPD HDN<br>SARMNA 9.37 8.37 FPDSAR<br>LCR MNA<br>ECA 6.18 6.85 LCR<br>EAP ECA<br>AFR EAP<br>WBI 3.02 AFR<br>DEC 1.74 1.72 2.02 1.82 WBI<br>1.22 1.20 DEC<br>2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 FY2008 to FY2012<br>Source: World Bank SAP database. Source: World Bank Documents & Reports and World Bank SAP database.<br>Note: Staff are Grade E through Grade I<br>8,000<br>15<br>6,000<br>10<br>4,000<br>5<br>Inter-VPU Cross Support 2,000<br>Inter-VPU Cross Support Share, percentage<br>0 0<br><!-- End of picture text -->

**DEC also provides the largest amount of cross support by staff and for policy reports.** As reported IEG (2012), in FY10 Bank-wide inter-VPU cross support sold accounted for 5.6 percent of total staff time. When this is broken down among regions and networks we have 3.3 percent of staff time and 12.5 percent of staff time,<sup>33</sup> respectively.  These numbers correspond with calculations made from SAP data, shown in Figure 10 below.  DEC has typically provided the largest share of cross support with levels around 11.8 percent of total staff years, although the share for cross support provided by PREM has

> 31 These networks were Human Development, Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development (now simply Sustainable Development), Finance, Private Sector, and Infrastructure (all merged into Finance and Private Sector Development), and Poverty Reduction and Economic Management.

> 32 See, for example, Annex H of IEG (2012).

> 33 When calculating staff time, we use the Human Resources definition of a staff year, which is 44 weeks.

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