Presentation at the Politecnico di Milano 1 st of March 2012

1. Research theme:The practice-orientation of academic researchers in public sector management accounting Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012 Presentation at the Politecnico di Milano 1st of March 2012 Jan van Helden, University of Groningen

2. Overview of research projects Public sector practice, politicians and managers supply demand demand supply Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012 Academic researchers (public sector management accounting) Consultants (public sector market) Project 1: the research arena Project 2: supply of advice by academics and consultants Project 3: demand for advice by academics and consultants

3. Project 1: Examining the practical relevance of public sector management accounting research, with Deryl Northcott, New Zealand, FAM, 2010 • Two themes of practical relevance: 1. Content Do the stated objectives (and subsequent content) focus on matters of practical relevance? 2. Communication Do the conclusions identify and communicate the practical implications of the research? • Method: Literature review of 128 papers in international journals Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012

4. Research findings Research goals categorized according to practical relevance: • A: Developing new MA techniques • B: Evaluating existing MA techniques • C: Conditions for successful implementation • D: Understanding the adoption and use of techniques Goal D is mostly (ca. 75%) addressed, while goals A, B and C, with more immediate practical relevance, are underresearched • Communication: in around 50% of papers the practical implications are presented • Potential for more research on topics of immediate practical relevance (objectives A, B & C) and for greater reflection on the practical implications of our research for practitioners: via other outlets (practice journals, media, consultancy, reports, research networks), but also in academic papers (engaging peers) Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012

5. Types of know-ledge consultants in expertise centres Types of knowledge created by consultants Types of knowledge created by researchers Types of know-ledge created by consultant-researchers practice Project 2:Knowledge Creation for Practice in Public Sector Management Accounting by Consultants and Academics, MAR, 2010 (with Harrie Aardema, Henk ter Bogt and Tom Groot), 18 interviews in the Netherlands Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012 Strong relationship Weak relationship Hardly any relationship

6. Project 3Public sector managers’ preferences for attracting consultants or academics as external experts; a multi-country exploratory study Paper to be published in QRAM, Summer 2012 Jan van Helden, University of Groningen Anders Grönlund, University of Stockholm Riccardo Mussari, University of Siena Pasquale Ruggiero, University of Siena N Politecnico Milan, Feb. 201 6

7. Agenda • Introduction and background • Research questions and research design • Theoretical framework • A diversity of methods of data collection • The findings of the varying methods of data collection • Conclusions and discussion Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012

8. Introduction and background • Practitioners are asking for new knowledge, which external experts can give (Jacobsen, 2004); • Public sector reforms may lead to public managers’ competence shortage (competence movement – Lodge and Hood, 2005); • In the last years expenses of public administrations, especially at the central level, for external advices are increasing substantially (Management Consultancies Association, 2001). • Our study focuses on public sector managers demand for external expertise by consultants and academics and builds on an earlier published study on the supply side of external expertise (Van Helden, Aardema, ter Bogt and Groot in MAR 2010) Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012

9. Research question and research design • Research question: • Which factors determine public sector managers’ preference to approach either consultants or academics in order to solve their managerial problems? • Research design: Face to face semi-structured interviews with 24 central government agencies top managers (eight in each country) Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012

10. Knowledge created by consultants and academics • Differences relate to: • Objective of knowledge creation and kinds of knowledge produced • Process of knowledge creation • Transfer of knowledge Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012

11. Framework: Knowledge created by consultants and academics Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012

12. Methods: three types of questions used in interviews • Reflections on six real-life-cases (real-life constructs) • Factual experiences of managers regarding a project for which a consultant was attracted and a project for a which an academic was attracted • Reactions on statements about circumstances under which a consultant or an academic is preferred Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012

13. Examples of real-life cases Case 2 Currently your organization uses two separate financial systems, one for external reporting and the other for internal budgeting and accounting. In your capacity as public sector manager, you want to introduce a so-called multi-purpose financial system that provides relevant information for both external and internal purposes. Case 5 In your capacity as public sector manager, you introduced a new system for job appraisal for managers three years ago. This system is based on quantitative information about issues such as meeting budget targets, sick leave of employees, complaints of clients, and the productivity of key processes. This system is considered highly controversial: some managers argue that it overrates the value of quantitative information and that it stimulates a tunnel vision. The supervisory board of your organization therefore wants this system to be evaluated. Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012 Expectations: in case 2 preference for consultant and in case 5 preference for an academic

14. Findings on real-life cases Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012

15. Factual experiences of managers regarding a project for which a consultant was attracted and a project for a which an academic was attracted • Consultants: • mostly approached for reorganising the client’s organization or helping them in designing and implementing specific systems • Experience in comparable cases in the past is the main reason for approaching a consultant • Interaction between consultant and organization is strong • Academics, give a more diffused picture: • Some of the topics for which academics were approached confirm the expectations of our theoretical framework • However, also typical consultancy topics are addressed (Examples: development of a strategy for real estate management, design/implementation management training) • However, a closer look reveals that the reasons for calling upon an academic are often the need for impartial advice • Interaction with organization mostly strong Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012

16. Reactions on pre-structured statements Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012

17. Consultant’s profile corroborated • A consultant: • Helps to solve technical and practical problems, for which experience in comparable cases in the past is important • Strongly interacts with people from the client organization in identifying the problem and searching for solutions (knowledge transfer through socialization) Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012

18. Academic’s profile only partly corroborated • An academic is approached: • When a problem relates the values of the organization, but also – comparable to consultants – when practical and technical problems have to be solved (in the latter cases giving an impartial advise is often considered to be important) • Interaction with client organization in the advisory process is mostly strong (so rather than interiorization learning through socialization) Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012

19. Country specific differences? • In general differences between countries are small, although the number of interviews is limited • This regards the types of deficiencies (design, implementation, reflection, etc.), with variations within countries that are larger than variations between countries • This also regards types of problems: economic (more appropriate for consultants) versus democratic (more suitable for academics), although some differences appear between Italy and Sweden Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012

20. Conclusions and discussion (1) • The type of topic for which a public sector manager needs an advise from an external expert, is not always distinctive for consultants and academics • the decision to choose an academic rather than a consultant was often motivated by the type of advice needed rather than by the topic, in the sense that academics were particularly preferred when the organization was faced with ill-defined problems or when ambiguous problems needed an impartial advice. • The need for impartiality makes an academic more attractive, and consultants are primarily asked for experience-based knowledge • Socialization (as expected for consultants) was also the dominant way of transferring knowledge when academics were approached as external experts Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012

21. Conclusions and discussion (2) • Also unexpected differences appear, especially when consultants are asked for behavioural matters and academics for exploration of alternative options • a deeper understanding of the types of topics concerning the values of the client organization that require the advice of either a consultant or an academic. Some of our real-life cases on value-laden topics, like a controversial performance rewarding system or the position of the organization in the value chain, show that public sector managers prefer a consultant when behavioural aspects dominate, and an academic in the case of method problems or when various options need to be explored. • Some real-life cases indicated that a quick advice requires a consultant and more complex issues, for which more time is available, call for an academic expert. • We are further investigating the extent to which the three methods of data collection show coherent results among the interviewees Politecnico Milan, Feb. 2012