The anatomy of management in medical research

Abstract

The management structures of public bodies responsible for supporting and funding research came under scrutiny after the publication of the science White Paper in 1993. The corporate organization of the Medical Research Council is described and discussed. Exploratory research in the MRC's ‘ad personam’ research units, examining centre/locality relations is reported; and the case is made for a decentralizing model, and the separation of the organization's ‘funding’ and ‘performing’ elements. Pressures for change, to deliver accountability, and to reflect the growth of organizational distinction between ‘purchasers’ and ‘providers’ elsewhere in public services—from which this public service area seems currently immune—are considered.