Policy Press
Seven Reflecting on contexts for consultancy
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Abstract
The approach we have adopted over the past two decades is somewhat opportunistic, in that we have relied on the consultancy business that has come our way at the university and that which we have generated. However, during this period we have gradually been able to accumulate experience and arrive at the categories of the consultancy process that we set out and followed in Chapters Two to Six. We have reached the point where we feel convinced that an empowerment approach or model to consultancy is not only possible, but is practicable and desirable from the citizen’s point of view, given the present trajectory of government policy and the nature of current practice in organisations delivering public services.
The journey through our practice has enabled us to accumulate observations and reflections on our work in progress. We expand on these in this third part of the book, making connections between the very different settings of consultancy practice in the public services. To continue the cartographical analogy a little further, if this is a map, it is not only unfinished but is also changing as we journey, in the sense that public policy is in a state of flux. This is not a temporary situation, but is part and parcel of the context of public services.
The division of material between this chapter and the next is that we attempt to set consultancy in the public services in its broader context in this chapter, and explore some perspectives on it in the following chapter.
Abstract
The approach we have adopted over the past two decades is somewhat opportunistic, in that we have relied on the consultancy business that has come our way at the university and that which we have generated. However, during this period we have gradually been able to accumulate experience and arrive at the categories of the consultancy process that we set out and followed in Chapters Two to Six. We have reached the point where we feel convinced that an empowerment approach or model to consultancy is not only possible, but is practicable and desirable from the citizen’s point of view, given the present trajectory of government policy and the nature of current practice in organisations delivering public services.
The journey through our practice has enabled us to accumulate observations and reflections on our work in progress. We expand on these in this third part of the book, making connections between the very different settings of consultancy practice in the public services. To continue the cartographical analogy a little further, if this is a map, it is not only unfinished but is also changing as we journey, in the sense that public policy is in a state of flux. This is not a temporary situation, but is part and parcel of the context of public services.
The division of material between this chapter and the next is that we attempt to set consultancy in the public services in its broader context in this chapter, and explore some perspectives on it in the following chapter.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Introduction vii
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Setting the Scene
- Introducing consultancy: an empowerment approach 3
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Doing Consultancy
- Negotiating 37
- Contracting 53
- Engaging 73
- Empowering 111
- Disengaging 149
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Reflections
- Reflecting on contexts for consultancy 161
- Reflecting on perspectives on consultancy 173
- Doing consultancy and transforming public services 195
- References 217
- Glossary of terms associated with consultancy 225
- List of abbreviations 229
- Intellectual property rights 231
- Index 233
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Introduction vii
-
Setting the Scene
- Introducing consultancy: an empowerment approach 3
-
Doing Consultancy
- Negotiating 37
- Contracting 53
- Engaging 73
- Empowering 111
- Disengaging 149
-
Reflections
- Reflecting on contexts for consultancy 161
- Reflecting on perspectives on consultancy 173
- Doing consultancy and transforming public services 195
- References 217
- Glossary of terms associated with consultancy 225
- List of abbreviations 229
- Intellectual property rights 231
- Index 233
