Palladium leadership is excellent at rhetoric, making frequent statements about a "commitment to international development," but in fact there is no such commitment. As an example, Palladium has recently set new policies whereby company leaders in developing countries have purchasing authority only up to $200. The approach to development is paternalistic with programs being run from the US and Dubai. The Dubai-based CEO has some odd fixations such as "open plan" for everyone including staff with sensitive positions such as the head of HR and head of business development. Getting work done in the DC office is difficult (lack of privacy for sensitive business calls, noise, generally unpleasant environment), so many people find reasons to work from home. Yet, the CEO and his cronies persist in citing the benefits of open plan to productivity (contrary to study findings). I have to agree with the previous commenter that the true focus of Palladium is on making money, not making a difference in the developing world. The reason for keeping work in the US rather than delegating authority to the field, where it belongs, is that Palladium takes a hefty overhead on US based staff salaries. They do not get such overhead on field salaries.
