Abstract
This paper examines power dynamics and political challenges which an insider action researcher without line authority or formal power encountered while leading cross-functional New Service Development (NSD) initiatives in a traditional, publicly funded university. NSD, as any development activity, faces competing interests in organisations and often power dynamics and political tactics which may impede service actors’ development endeavours. The paper describes and reflects on how an insider action researcher together with service staff, managers and directors, conducted several different types of NSD initiatives. The paper draws on insider action research (IAR) principles, which engage theory with practice, and action with reflection. The study was carried out over an extended time period of almost three years. The paper concludes with a framework for addressing power dynamics and political action, identifying tactics available to service development actors when engaging in NSD.
Highlights
This paper examines how power and political activity influence the development of new services in the context of a traditional, publicly funded university
In order for managers and researchers to be better prepared for these emergent challenges, we explore the following research questions: How do power and politics impact the development of new services in the publicly funded university; and, what political tactics may be applied by new service development (NSD) actors to secure the development of new services?
Formal and informal sources of power and how power and politics affect the implementation of new services in the publicly funded university are critically evaluated
Summary
This paper examines how power and political activity influence the development of new services in the context of a traditional, publicly funded university. The impact of power and politics on the development of new services and improving existing ones is explored in the context of a well-established, traditional and publicly funded university, which undertook several initiatives to generate independent income and to improve existing administrative services. For both types of initiative, the university’s operations director (OD) was in charge who in turn nominated the first author (FA) to coordinate the initiatives on their behalf. They were: 1) Café: Development and implementation of a new outdoor café. 2) Heritage: Exploiting a heritage trademark for merchandising opportunities. 3) Filming: Offering the university campus as a location to make movies. 4) Experiential: Developing and implementing new experiential services for tourists/visitors. 5) Emergency: Improving and implementing an emergency response plan. 6) Service Level: Developing and implementing a service level agreement. 7) Risk: Developing and implementing a risk management policy
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