This thesis examines the revolution that occurred during the 1980s in the
organisation, resourcing and management of Australian rural research and
development. This revolution was based upon philosophies that advocated
the need for research and development to move from being conducted in
disparate and isolated organisations to being market-driven and industryrelevant.
The implications of this change, the people responsible for its
implementation and the processes used to implement such far-reaching
reforms provide the basis for a case study that is rich in controversy and
debate.
Corporatisation provided the focal point for the reforms experienced in
Australian 路rural research and development. As such, the thesis has as its
central concern four key questions: what is corporatisation?, why did
corporatisation occur? who was involved in the corporatisation process? and,
has corporatisation achieved the goals it was designed to attain? An
examination of the historical, social, political and economic contexts within
which these reforms took place has been undertaken in order to answer these
questions. This work is broadened to consider international trends in the
management of rural research and development, with New Zealand
providing an in-depth comparison. This approach reveals that, contrary to some accounts of the Australian rural
research and development reforms as being a seamless and evolutionary
process of change, the reforms experienced were ad hoc, sporadic and
dependent upon the actions of a few key individuals. This challenges
accounts of the past and analyses the impact of government decisionmaking
upon organisations and individuals, the nature and extent of reform
processes and the problems associated with organisations that must attempt
to reconcile both public good and private sector demands
