Organizational change in an Australian university: Responses to a research assessment exercise

Neo-liberal reforms have flowed through the public sector since the 1980s, with new public management (NPM) practices resulting in a global cultural and managerial transformation of the sector (Ferlie & Steane, 2002). There has been a dramatic change from a public administration focus to a more competitive, corporate culture that emphasizes results (Parker & Guthrie, 1993; Skalen, 2004). Academic research has focused in particular on changes in health and higher education, identifying not only the politically mandated changes themselves, but organizational responses to a results-oriented approach (Agrizzi, 2008; Broadbent, 2007; Broadbent, Jacobs & Laughlin, 2001; Broadbent, Laughlin & Read, 1991; Fredman & Doughney, 2012; Skalen, 2004; Taylor, 1999; Vaira, 2004; Watty, Bellamy & Morley, 2008). Focusing on the Higher Education Sector (HES), this paper contextualises the changes that have occurred and examines organizational responses to those changes as research performance is built into universities’ Performance Management Systems (PMSs)