Autonomy and Authority in Public Research Organisations: Structure and Funding Factors

Laura Cruz-Castro,Luis Sanz-Menéndez

doi:10.1007/s11024-018-9349-1

Laura Cruz-Castro, Luis Sanz-Menéndez

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-018-9349-1

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Abstract

This paper establishes a structural typology of the organisational configurations of public research organisations which vary in their relative internal sharing of authority between researchers and managers; we distinguish between autonomous, heteronomous and managed research organisations. We assume that there are at least two sources of legitimate authority within research organisations, one derived from formal hierarchy (organisational leadership) and another derived from the research community (professional); the balance of authority between researchers and managers is essentially structural but is empirically mediated by the funding portfolio of organisations and the corresponding endowment of resources at the disposal of leaders or researchers. Changes in the level, sources and strings of organisational and individual research funding are expected to affect the balance of internal authority in different ways depending on the organisational configuration, and to open the door to the influence of external actors in the development of research agendas.

Highlights

In recent years Public Sector Research (PSR) has undergone important changes
In some countries demands for accountability from governments and the implementation of reforms inspired in New Public Management (NPM) have favoured an increase in the autonomy of Public Research Organisations (PROs), and in universities, in relation to the state, and have granted managers or administrators more formal authority over resource allocation and personnel decisions to meet the research targets set by agencies (Schimank 2005; Musselin 2006; Whitley and Glaser 2014)
The first dimension, research agenda choices, relates to the types of autonomy and who decides the establishment of the research agenda and directions. We have termed this strategic autonomy; the related dimension of the discretion to decide over methods, techniques and work processes is what we have described as operational autonomy

Summary

Introduction

In recent years Public Sector Research (PSR) has undergone important changes. Universities have gradually become the major actors undertaking research in almost all European public research systems (Paradeise et al 2009; Nedeva 2013), but nonuniversity Public Research Organisations (PROs) continue to play an important role in many countries (Laredo and Mustar 2004).

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