Building inherently impactful research programs: the role of organizational context

Abstract

Much impact research focuses on how individual scholars can influence policy outcomes, leading to recommendations about how individual researchers can be more entrepreneurial and engage with policy cycles in innovative ways. This approach is problematic in that it reinforces assumptions about researchers as “heroic” individuals, obscuring consideration of how organizational contexts support or hinder the prospects for research impact. As a result, the importance of organizational context is frequently absent from universities’ impact strategies. This article seeks to address this gap by presenting a case study on the experiences of the Department of Pacific Affairs (DPA) at the Australian National University (ANU) in creating a context that supports research impact. DPA’s research approach has long included a strong policy focus, aided in part by long-term financial support from the Australian government to build a globally preeminent center of excellence for policy-relevant research on the Pacific. Concentrating on DPA’s organizational context as an impact mechanism, the article considers lessons learned that can inform the development of research contexts that serve as an inherently impactful approach to research.

Keywords:

• Impactful research
• research-policy nexus
• organizational design
• organizational context

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Julien Barbara is a Senior Policy Fellow at DPA. Prior to joining DPA he worked in a variety of policy positions at DFAT and AusAID. Nicole Haley heads the DFAT-funded Pacific Research Program and was head of DPA from 2008-2021. Hannah McMahon is DPA's Program Manager and Timothea Turnbull is its Program Manager, Research Communication and Outreach.

2 By collective endeavor, we mean research that is conducted by groups of researchers as part of a research team. Collective research can be conducted by a group of researchers within a single organizational unit such as a research department, and or by a team of researchers from multiple departments and/or organizations. For the purposes of this article, we are primarily interested in collective research conducted by researchers from within a single organizational unit – in this case, a university department – given this article is focused on organizational influences on impact prospects.

3 The Pacific region comprises 22 countries and territories and hundreds of islands spread over a vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. The region’s population of over 10 million people is culturally and linguistically diverse. For example, Papua New Guinea alone, the region’s most populous country, has over 800 indigenous languages. This diversity, a source of distinctiveness and identity for many, also represents a governance challenge where it correlates with a weak sense of national identity. In some states, locally-driven reform processes, including decentralization, continue to drive changes in the nature of the state. Pacific island countries’ remoteness from major markets and relatively small economies present barriers to economic growth and employment prospects for its young people. The region’s population is notably young, with at least half the region's population aged under 23 (Wilson 2020). Many countries in the region are experiencing rapid rates of urbanization, placing additional pressures on land, resources and services in urban centers. Furthermore, the region remains especially vulnerable to natural disasters and the effects of climate change.

4 The newfound development attention afforded the Pacific is demonstrated by the increased proportion of Australian aid program funding allocated to the Pacific region relative to other regions and through key whole of government initiatives developed under Australia’s Pacific Step Up. The latter sets out Australia’s intent to “engage with the Pacific with greater intensity and ambition, deliver more integrated and innovative policy and make further, substantial long-term investments in the region’s development (Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2017, pg. 101).

5 Scholarship focused on Pacific states, societies and governance has long been important to the Australian Government, as demonstrated by the inclusion of a Research School of Pacific Studies in the founding Act of the Australian National University, the Australian National University Act 1946.

6 DPA’s researchers have academic backgrounds in political science, anthropology, geography, human geography, law, gender studies, development studies and international relations. Key areas of enquiry include urbanization, conflict, violence, state-building, service delivery, politics and identity, gender, geopolitics and regional diplomacy.

7 Of the 20 students who have graduated from the program to date, 75 per cent have obtained employment in Australian and Pacific universities – including four with DPA - while the remaining five are employed by the Australian Government, the PNG Government or by development partners within the Pacific.

8 A 2009 external review funded by AusAID, found that SSGM was “making a valuable contribution to strengthening the capacity of Pacific Islands scholars and institutions, engaging in effective research and policy dialogue on contemporary governance issues with Australian and regional academics, whole-of-government, civil society, and government; and supporting informed policy and research engagement on Pacific issues” (Australian Agency for International Development 2009, p.13). A 2015 external evaluation of DFAT’s research investments found that there has “been good uptake of SSGM research into DFAT policy and strategy in regional gender programs…” (Office of Development Effectiveness 2015, p.29). More recently, DPA has demonstrated its capacity to contribute to Pacific Island governments’ policy review and planning processes through its research. For example, speaking at the launch of DPA’s 2019 Solomon Islands National General Elections (NGE) Observation report in February 2020 in Honiara, the speaker of the Solomon Islands National Parliament and Chair of the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission, Hon. Patteson Oti, explained that the findings presented in the report “have provided us with credible, in-depth information that will help us to effectively implement our Electoral Reform Strategic Framework 2019-2023”, adding “[m]any of your recommendations, if not all, will be fed into the development of detailed Implementation Plans for the delivery of the Electoral Reform Strategic Framework during this election cycle.”

9 Factors such as team composition, staff competency, team management structures and team-work processes have been found to impact on the ability of an organization to achieve its goals (Katzenbach and Smith 1993; Kozlowski and Ilgen 2006; Boxall and Macky 2007).

10 In the case of DPA, a number of senior academic staff have had significant careers in the Australian foreign service and/or international development, including working at senior levels within DFAT in the Pacific region. For example, DPA’s Deputy Director is a former senior diplomat who has held senior posts at Australian missions across the south west Pacific, while the PRP Deputy Team Leader is a former diplomat and aid professional who has managed aid programs in the Pacific.

11 Another important innovation has been the location of dedicated professional staff within the department. The location of key professional staff within the department such as the program manager and communications and outreach manager has ensured they have developed an intimate understanding of DPA’s research objectives and approach. It has also made it possible to embed such staff in specific research projects. This has allowed DPA to be more strategic and opportunistic in its impact approach.

12 Organizational governance refers to the ‘rules that shape organizational action’ (Klein, Mahoney, McGahan and Pitelis 2019, p.6). Such rules can be formal (e.g. formal operating procedures) and informal (e.g. organizational norms and values). Governance systems help form an organizational structure that guides organizations in the pursuit of their objectives, both in terms of the allocation of resources to achieve operational objectives and even the determination of their organizational objectives. ‘Collectively, governance rules establish the organization as an entity distinct from the individuals whose activities make up the firm.’ (Klein, Mahoney, McGahan and Pitelis, 2019, p.9).