Re: Functional differentiation

On Mon, 13 Sep 2004, Brian E Carpenter wrote:

> The benefit of having an Admin Director is that this person
> will have responsiveness to IETF needs and desires as the
> main item in their job description. I think that is much more
> significant than whether the person works for ISOC or a new
> entity. It's the person that counts, not their legal employer.
>

This is a very ietf-like point of view, IMO. We are all about individual
effort. Realistically, however, *both* the person AND their employer
matter.

I have worked at companies that contract to a US federal agency. People
who could give me direction were my line manager at my company, my
government task manager, and the government headquarters funding manager.
And yet my job was to serve users, my ostensible "customers." Conflicts
between these folks were not uncommon. Resolving them, in general, meant
resorting to the written contract (task plan) and understanding the
*government's* hierarchy of who could give what sort of direction.
However, in the end, my company boss could reassign me and put someone
else in my place without consulting the government.

The person "we" hire will report to their boss at whatever company they
work for. The company and "the ietf" will have some agreement regarding
duties and what constitutes acceptable performance.  I'm sure "the ietf"
will have some input about who is hired.  However, if some influential
IETF person or group (e.g. IETF Chair, IAB Chair or some vocal part of the
IESG) got it into their head that they didn't like the Admin type person,
could they fire them? What sort of process would that involve? Would, say,
the ISOC *have* to fire them if "the ietf" wanted them to? Who would face
employment liability, etc., in such a case? Probably not "the ietf" as we
currently understand it.

This is the point I was trying to make at the plenary. No matter how great
a person we hire, that person is reporting to their boss in whatever
corporate entity that boss works for.  And no matter how great that entity
is or is currently, what protection will be in place
structurally/contracturally if the current people change (as they will)?

April

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