Beyond individual leadership and managerial practices, the effectiveness of the FAO of the Xi’an Municipal People’s Government is fundamentally shaped by its organisational tools and institutional arrangements. These tools include formal rules, approval procedures, protocol systems, coordination mechanisms, and emerging efforts at standardisation. This section analyses how these organisational tools operate in practice, how they influence project implementation, and where structural strengths and weaknesses lie.
6.1 Administrative Approval Systems and Hierarchical Control
One of the most prominent organisational tools at the FAO is the administrative approval system. All major external communications, event proposals, speeches, and agreements are subject to multi-level review and sign-off. This tool is designed to ensure political correctness, legal compliance, and alignment with municipal and national policies.
In practice, the approval system functions as both an instrument of control and a bottleneck. For example, during the Cuenca–Xi’an Ceramic Mural Initiative, bilingual texts for the mural’s explanatory panel had to be reviewed by multiple units—ranging from cultural experts to propaganda and foreign affairs officials. While this reduced the risk of inaccurate or inappropriate wording, it also prolonged turnaround times and limited the flexibility to respond to feedback from international partners.
As an organisational tool, the approval system provides clear lines of authority and accountability. However, it also reveals a structural trade-off: high control is achieved at the expense of agility. This is especially significant in international cooperation settings, where responsiveness is often crucial for maintaining momentum and trust.
6.2 Protocol and Ceremony as Organisational Instruments
Protocol systems—covering seating arrangements, order of speeches, gift exchanges, flag placement, and formal greetings—serve as another core organisational tool. These procedures are not only symbolic; they structure events, signal respect, and communicate the status of relationships between cities.
During events such as the Kyoto Youth Choir visit and delegations related to the Silk Road Cities Roundtable, protocol guidelines determined how delegations were received, where leaders stood or sat, how group photos were arranged, and how names and titles were introduced. These practices ensured consistency, prevented diplomatic missteps, and reinforced the image of Xi’an as a professional and respectful host.
However, protocol as an organisational tool also tends to formalise interaction patterns, sometimes at the expense of spontaneity or substantive discussion. It can also make event planning highly detail-intensive, requiring significant administrative labour for relatively brief ceremonial moments. Nonetheless, in the context of municipal foreign affairs, protocol remains an indispensable tool for managing perceptions and maintaining diplomatic norms.
6.3 Inter-Departmental Coordination Mechanisms
Organisational tools for inter-departmental coordination include coordination meetings, joint working groups, and formal notices assigning responsibilities to different bureaus. These mechanisms are crucial because the FAO seldom implements projects alone; it depends on collaboration with departments responsible for culture, tourism, economics, education, and media.
In theory, coordination meetings serve as platforms for information sharing and joint decision-making. In practice, their effectiveness varies. During preparations for the Euro-Asia Economic Forum and related city diplomacy events, some meetings successfully clarified roles and timelines, while others remained largely ceremonial, with limited follow-up or explicit assignment of accountability.
As organisational tools, coordination mechanisms are therefore necessary but insufficient. Their impact depends on the quality of facilitation, the clarity of written records, and the existence of complementary tools such as responsibility matrices or progress-tracking systems. Without these, coordination remains vulnerable to ambiguity and diffusion of responsibility.
6.4 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Emerging Standardisation
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are a key organisational tool for translating organisational expectations into repeatable practices. At the FAO, some aspects of work—such as reception processes, document formatting, and high-level event workflows—are partially standardised through experience and precedent, even when formal SOP documents are limited or not widely circulated.
During my WBL, I observed that many procedures were “known” by experienced staff but not comprehensively documented. For example, the steps involved in hosting a foreign delegation—covering airport reception, hotel arrangements, meeting scheduling, translation support, media coordination, and security—were generally understood, yet not always available as written SOPs for new staff or interns.
In response, my City Diplomacy Strategic Handbook project explicitly aims to strengthen SOP-based organisational tools by documenting best practices, clarifying responsibilities, and offering templates for recurring tasks. By institutionalising such processes, the FAO can reduce reliance on tacit knowledge and make its operations more resilient, consistent, and scalable.
6.5 Organisational Culture as an Informal Tool
In addition to formal rules and procedures, organisational culture functions as a powerful but less visible tool. The FAO’s culture is characterised by a strong sense of political caution, respect for hierarchy, and pride in representing the city externally. This cultural environment shapes how staff perceive risk, how they relate to one another, and how they prioritise tasks.
For example, the emphasis on “not making mistakes” in foreign-related work encourages careful checking and conservatism in decision-making. It also fosters high levels of diligence in seemingly small tasks such as verifying the spelling of foreign names or ensuring that agenda items align with approved talking points.
At the same time, this cautious culture can sometimes discourage bold initiatives, experimentation, or open debate about alternative approaches. As an organisational tool, culture thus reinforces stability but may limit innovation if not balanced with mechanisms that reward creativity and constructive risk-taking.
6.6 Information Flows and Internal Communication Structures
Information flow is another critical organisational tool. At the FAO, formal information often travels through written memos and internal circulation of documents, while informal information moves through interpersonal networks, messaging groups, and verbal updates.
The coexistence of these channels creates both redundancy and fragmentation. On the one hand, staff typically receive the most important instructions through multiple sources, reducing the likelihood of missing key messages. On the other hand, the absence of a unified digital information system makes it difficult to maintain an up-to-date, organisation-wide picture of ongoing projects, historical commitments, or previous agreements.
During my placement, I attempted to improve information clarity at the micro level by keeping my own communication logs and sharing concise summaries with relevant colleagues after important interactions. While modest in scope, this practice demonstrated how structured internal communication can serve as an organisational tool for reducing confusion and enhancing collective awareness.
6.7 Institutional Learning and Knowledge Retention
A final organisational tool—or, more precisely, a missing tool—relates to institutional learning and knowledge retention. Many insights gained from past events, interactions with specific partners, or previous projects are stored primarily in the memories of individual staff members rather than in systematic archives or learning mechanisms.
For example, lessons learned from earlier rounds of the Euro-Asia Economic Forum or from long-standing sister city relationships could inform improvements in agenda design, stakeholder engagement, or communication strategies. Yet, without structured after-action reviews or institutionalised reflection processes, such learning often remains informal and person-dependent.
My Strategic Handbook project implicitly responds to this gap by proposing tools that capture recurring patterns, common challenges, and recommended approaches. In doing so, it aims to contribute to the development of a more deliberate organisational memory and a culture of continuous improvement.
6.8 Overall Assessment of Organisational Tools
Overall, the FAO’s organisational tools reflect a strong emphasis on control, protocol, and stability, supported by hierarchical approval systems and long-established practices. These tools are effective in preventing political and diplomatic errors, but they can also limit agility, innovation, and institutional learning if not complemented by more modern mechanisms.
My WBL experience highlighted both the strengths and the limitations of the current organisational toolkit. It also demonstrated that targeted enhancements—such as formalising SOPs, improving coordination mechanisms, strengthening information systems, and fostering structured learning—could significantly improve the organisation’s ability to manage complex international relations projects. These reflections lay the foundation for the subsequent sections on findings and recommendations.