Organisational transformation and environmental sensemaking in New Zealand's Crown Research Institutes

Abstract

The New Zealand public science sector was radically and irreversibly reformed in 1992 when the government departments which had formerly been responsible for the provision of public good science research were transformed into ten Crown Research Institutes. This thesis takes advantage of this natural experiment in organisational transformation, exploring both the progressive evolution of science policy and the organisational responses to this Dew context. An underlying theme which permeates this analysis is the tension between the traditional values of the science profession and the newly imposed values of the marketplace. In the years leading up to this restructuring, science policy had shifted progressively from a science-centred model which focussed on the growth of science activity for its own sake, towards a more strategic view of the role of research in the nation's economic development. By 1992, a basic policy framework, including a statement of strategic direction and a pseudo-market for the contestable purchase of science outputs, was in place. The subsequent development of policy is explored using the contrast between traditional science and neo-classical economic models for scientific innovation. The emergent policy model belongs to neither of these. The Crown Research Institutes have responded to this changing policy environment in a variety of different ways. A comprehensive typology for the analysis of design options for innovating organisations is developed to classify the various structures that have been adopted. The typology comprises four archetypal designs: 'Solitary Genius', 'Technology Push', 'Market Pull' and 'Strategic Network'. These four are combined into a coherent framework using collegial and market connections as integrating dimensions. Some of the Crown Research Institutes are found to belong clearly to one or other of these archetypes, but others appear to be in a state of transition. Structure is a manifestation of shared values, beliefs and norms in an organisation. In order to gain a more complete understanding of the designs adopted by the Crown Research Institutes, it is important to accommodate these values in the analysis. To this end, a multi-method cognitive mapping technique is developed to reflect the shared understandings that strategic managers use to make sense of their environment(s). The technique combines multi-dimensional scaling and repertory grid analyses to produce robust maps which capture the unique sensemaking characteristics of each Crown Research Institute. A dialectical model of transformational change which combines structural and cognitive data is used to explore the change experiences of four Crown Research Institutes. The dialectic counterposes traditional science and market models as thesis and antithesis respectively, and identifies yet another organisational form as an emergent synthesis. The performance implications of these various forms of organisation suggest that neither the traditional science model nor the market model in their pure expressions is particularly effective in the developing policy environment. A successful transition from the design characteristics of traditional science into a responsive, excellent organisation is shown to require an in-depth analysis of the assumptions which underpin organisational identity.