Round table

We have to do a ten minute informal presentation to colleagues and OUBS academics. There was some hint that we should provide PowerPoint type stuff as a handout, but then I got advice from one of our third years who's using a single sheet to brief herself, so here's what my handout will be:

Supervisors
Liz Daniel, Richard Holti

Topic
Public sector management and use of external consultants for value

Research question
How can public sector organisations engage with consultants in order to contribute to an effective project?

Main theories

• Schein’s types of client and levels of problem (Schein, 1997)
• Bovens typologies of accountability (Bovens, 2007)
• Social network theory in particular Nahapiet & Ghoshal’s idea that intellectual capital can be created through social capital (Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998)

Planned approach

• Constructionist
• Five-six case studies with six interviewees using Nahapiet & Ghoshal’s ideas as a framework
• Questionnaires
• Analysis – discourse analysis and social network analysis
• Contribution
• Academic: literature on engagement
• Practitioner: of interest to public sector in attempt to improve value, and of interest to consultants who work in the public sector

Problems

• Access to suitable organisations
• Philosophy of a constructionist approach when public sector measures value for money
• • Use of questionnaires to bring out relationships

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BOVENS, M. (2007) Analysing and Assessing Accountability: A Conceptual Framework. European Law Journal, 13, 447-468.
NAHAPIET, J. & GHOSHAL, S. (1998) Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage. Academy of Management Review, 23, 242-266.
SCHEIN, E. H. (1997) The concept of "client" from a process consultation perspective. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 10, 202.