Managing Think Tanks

Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative MANAGING THINK TANKS Practical Guidance for Maturing Organizations EXPANDED 2ND EDITION R A YMOND J. STRUYK The Urban Institute OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SERVICE REFORM INITIATIVE Address Október 6 utca 12. H-1051 Budapest, Hungary Mailing Address P.O. Box 519 H-1357 Budapest, Hungary Telephone (36-1) 327-3104 Fax (36-1) 327-3105 E-mail [email protected] Web Site http://lgi.osi.hu Expanded Second Edition first published in 2006 by Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative, Open Society Institute–Budapest © OSI/LGI and The Urban Institute, 2006 Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative THE URBAN INSTITUTE TM and Copyright © 2006 Open Society Institute ISBN: 963 9719 00 5 ISBN-13: 978 963 9719 00 2 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photo- copying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Copies of the book can be ordered by e-mail or post from OSI. Printed in Budapest, Hungary, 2006. Contents The Urban Institute v Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative v Foreword to the Second Edition vii Foreword to the First Edition ix Preface xi 1 Why Pay Attention to Management? Building a Productive Staff 2 Motivating Staff for Higher Productivity and Increased Retention 3 Organizing Staff Training Core Operations 4 Ensuring Good Advice: Quality Control 5 Communicating Results 6 Getting the Most from Your Board Setting the Agenda, Finding Funding 7 Renewing the Work Program: Creating Innovation 8 Winning Work from Government Agencies iii iv CONTENTS Financial and Project Management 9 Financial Management: Sustainability and Accountability by Jeffrey P. Telgarsky 10 The Information that Senior Management Needs 11 Teams or Stars? Options for Structuring the Research Staff 12 Creating Team Leaders Appendices References About the Authors The Urban Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research and educational organization established in Wash- ington, D.C., in 1968. Its staff investigates the social, economic, and governance problems confronting the nation and evaluates the public and private means to alleviate them. The Institute disseminates its research findings through publications, its web site, the media, seminars, and forums. Through work that ranges from broad conceptual studies to adminis- trative and technical assistance, Institute researchers contribute to the stock of knowledge available to guide decisionmaking in the public interest. Conclusions or opinions expressed in Institute publications are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of officers or trustees of the Institute, advisory groups, or any organizations that provide financial support to the Institute. Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative (LGI), as a regional program of the Open Society Institute– Budapest (OSI), is an international development and grant-giving organization dedicated to the support of good governance in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Newly Independent States (NIS). LGI seeks to fulfill its mission through the initiation of research and support of development and operational activities in the fields of decentralization, public policy formation, and the reform of public administration. With projects running in countries covering the region between the Czech Republic and Mongolia, LGI seeks to achieve its objectives through various types of activities. LGI supports regional networks of institutions and professionals engaged in policy analysis, reform-oriented training, and advocacy. It is involved in policy research and disseminates compar- ative and regionally applicable policy studies tackling local government issues. LGI delivers technical assistance and provides professional guidance to Soros national foundations. LGI supports policy centers and think tanks in the region, publishes books, studies, and discussion papers dealing with the issues of decentralization public policy and lessons learned from the process of transition. They are used for development of curricula and organization of training programs. v Foreword to the Second Edition hether in poor countries or highly industrialized settings, Wdevelopment of public policy institutions is a gradual, incre- mental process, and improvements can often be reversed quickly if the momentum is not sustained. Better advice on policy options and implementation strategies is needed by governments around the globe. Since the publication of the first edition of Managing Think Tanks by LGI and the Urban Institute in 2002, think tanks have continued to provide policy analysis and recommendations to governments. Much of the advice provided is highly technical, requiring sophisticated databases, analytic capacity, and the ability to understand and apply economic and institutional theories. Think tanks recognize that their advice must be both professionally sound and saleable to a wide range of stakeholders including governments. With increasing evidence of public policy design and implementation failures in Europe and the United States at all levels of government, it is probably an understatement to say that even more practical advice is needed—as well as insights that influence governments to actually listen to and adopt the right advice. Policy think tanks cannot themselves govern, they can only advise. To provide better and more adoptable advice, think tanks themselves need practical advice on how to increase their institutional capacity. In this second edition, Struyk again provides a practical how-to guide on managing, developing, and operating think tanks. He distinguishes three stages of think tank development. When a think tank has fewer than 10 vii viii FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION full-time researchers, it typically has a low level of activity and few sponsors. Moving to the second stage, think tanks increase staff, have more sponsors and clients, and engage in more specialized research and educational activities. The third stage is the most advanced. In OECD countries, there are a host of third stage think tanks, such as the Brookings Institution (U.S.A.) and the Institute for Economic Research (Germany). The book is targeted at staff in the first two stages of development, as well as their supporters, such as bilateral and multilateral donors. Among the practical skills that can be learned from this book are how to motivate staff to be productive, control the quality of products, understand how to compete for government contracts, determine overhead rates that will satisfy auditors, communicate results, and generate information useful for senior management. Despite the passage of four years since the first edition, there is still little practical literature on how to manage think tanks. Though think tanks in the FSU/CEE region have functions that overlap with those of NGOs, consultancy firms, and foundations, they have distinct missions, staff structures, and clientele. Think tanks need their own practical management guides, and this book continues to fill that gap. The entire printing of the first edition of Managing Think Tanks has been distributed, and the list of back orders is growing. LGI is proud to respond to that demand and to publish an expanded second edition in conjunction with the Urban Institute. George M. Guess Research Director, LGI (2004–) Foreword to the First Edition fter a decade of transition in Central and Eastern Europe, the Aclimate surrounding public-sector reforms has become increas- ingly more complex and interconnected. Decisionmakers must balance legislative, organizational, and management changes in their countries with the demand for rational, effective reforms. Public policy design requires a choice of professional alternatives during the policy process that takes into consideration the multiple actors invariably involved as well as the institutional and financial consequences that are critical to its success. In order to meet this outstanding demand, advisory and consulting organizations must improve their professional services. Domestic think tanks and policy institutes are regularly involved in policy formulation. Typically, as the scope of their size and activities has increased, their organization and management has been influenced by this growth, whether a detriment or benefit to the organization in question. Beyond professional development, institutional and leadership issues have become essential to their successful evolution. In a well-run organization, such management responsibilities as motivation, quality control, cooperation with boards, and external com- munication are normal elements of day-to-day operations. This book give a comprehensive review of these and other internal management tasks such as creating team leaders, calculating indirect costs, and launching new consulting initiatives. Numerous examples are provided ix x FOREWORD TO THE FIRST EDITION to prove the credibility of such ideas for readers in Central and Eastern European countries. Policy institutes and think tanks were always in the focus of the Open Society Institute’s Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative (LGI). Grants and institutional support to professional networks and advice and training for policymakers recently was supple-

Load more