The Secretary Said: Make it So. Can Change Management Theory Explain the Challenge of Achieving Enduring Public Sector Management Reform? A Case Study of the 1980s Management Reform: Evaluation in the Australian Public Service. Peter Graves A Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Business February 2020 Page | i Page | ii Page | iii Page | iv Page | v ABSTRACT Over thirty years, the Australian Public Service (APS) has been subject to many management and performance reforms. It was assumed that APS departmental chief executives – Secretaries - could implement reform changes uniformly and effectively across the large and dispersed APS. However, the central Finance Department recently concluded that a performance focus had not become embedded in the management of the APS. This thesis investigates the practice of implementing APS management reforms between 1984 and 2013 and identifies five factors that might explain the failure to embed the specific performance reform of program evaluation. The first factor involved a failure to bridge the gap between the APS centre and its eighteen constituent Departments, whose individual Secretaries exercise considerable management autonomy. The second was the gap between the Secretary commencing top-down reform from the centre in Canberra and the outcomes following implementation influenced by the APS’s geographic dispersion. A third factor involved the often-short term timeframe of many reforms, highlighting the need to consider implementing reform over an extended timeframe, potentially over decades, for the reform to become embedded. Fourth, was the failure of change management consolidators to maintain the momentum of reform changes over the long-term. Fifth, management reforms were often not designed or implemented effectively, highlighting the lack of evaluation program logic underpinning APS management reform. The thesis highlights the challenge for management reform in the APS if the senior change agent, the Secretary, did not stay in position long enough for the reform to become embedded. This study makes contributions to enhancing public sector management reform effectiveness in the APS by examining the consequences of geographic dispersion, the time frame required to embed reforms, the role of change consolidators, and the role of evaluation design in public sector reform. Page | vi DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to the Australian education system, to the teachers of knowledge within it, to the Australian taxpayers who help fund it and to those who have graduated from it. In particular, this is dedicated to my sister Elaine Langshaw – a life-long teacher in the state schools of New South Wales. And to Associate Professor Simon Barraclough, Adjunct Associate Professor, Public Health, La Trobe University. Professor Barraclough inspired me during my studies culminating in my Master’s of Public Health and repeatedly challenged me to continue with further study. Contributors all to the common wealth of Australia. Page | vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I want to thank my long-suffering and patient supervisor, Professor Deborah Blackman who has, over the past four years, steered me through the perils of academic analysis and writing. This helped me greatly in making the transition from my former membership of the Australian Public Service and a rather different style of writing. Your comments on potential sources of literature were equally valuable. Professor Blackman provided significant commentary and helpful suggestions that steered me through those challenging years. In his supervision, Professor Michael O’Donnell was also able and willing to advise on structure, expression and content, while maintaining his commendable sense of humour. Your comments were always supportive and helped me to focus on the next steps of this thesis. My next thanks go to the late Professor Kerry Jacobs of the School of Business, UNSW Canberra, who initially accepted my candidature. Kerry’s engaging style immediately caught my attention and I enjoyed our preliminary robust discussions. This thesis is my tribute to his belief in my research capacities. I would especially like to thank the thirty-two people who agreed to be interviewed. They represented significant ranges of government, national audit, APS and research experiences in public sector management reform over the past thirty-five years. Their reflective comments enabled me to understand how difficult it can be to achieve permanent management reform in the Australian Public Service. I also want to thank both Adjunct Professor Wendy Jarvie of the School of Business, UNSW Canberra and Dr Tarek Rana, now at RMIT University. Dr Jarvie established my initial interest in this research while I was still employed in the APS, by encouraging me to contact Dr Rana as he was undertaking his PhD research at UNSW Canberra. Finally, I want to thank my wife Jenny, for your support and empathy over the years as I made my way through the many versions of each chapter. Many thanks to you all. Page | viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Number TITLE Page 1 Timelines of APS Management Reform and their Impacts 20 2 Locations of APS Staff Nationally 24 3 A Typical APS Departmental Structure 26 4 Core APS Competencies for APS Middle Managers 33 5 30 Years of Similarities in Management Reform Timelines 35 6 A Model of the Policy Implementation Process 48 7 Program Logic 55 8 Four Criteria of Guba. As Applied in this Thesis 99 9 Backgrounds of Interviewees 107 10 Open Codes and Ranked Order 116 11 Nine Axial Codes 117 12 Research Themes Summarised 118 13 Common Factors in Initiating APS Management Reform: 1983-2013 123 14 Embedding Reform and Evaluations: Times Recorded 125 15 Change Management: Times Recorded 127 16 Change Agents: Times Recorded 134 17 Extended Time in Theory: Times Recorded 146 18 Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet (PM&C) and Head of the Australian Public Service – Tenures and Medians 1912-2019 157 19 Ranked Priorities: Former Secretaries; All Others 160 20 Similarities in Management Reforms 168 21 The Timelines of APS Management Reform: 1983- 2015/18 169 22 Implementing Policy for the Long-Term – with Demonstrable Impact 172 23 The Jigsaw of Effective Implementation 193 Page | ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AES Australian Evaluation Society AGRAGA Advisory Group on Reform of Australian Government Administration ANAO Australian National Audit Office ANZSOG Australia and New Zealand School of Government APS Australian Public Service APSC Australian Public Service Commission CEO Chief Executive Officer CIU Cabinet Implementation Unit CPSA Commonwealth Public Service Act 1902 DoF Department of Finance DSS Department of Social Security FMIP Financial Management Improvement Program Health Department of Health Industry Department of Industry and Science Infrastructure Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development IPAA Institute of Public Administration, Australia JCPAA Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit MAB Management Advisory Board MAC Management Advisory Committee MfR Managing for Results PEP Portfolio Evaluation Plans PGPA Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act, 2013 PM&C Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet PSA Public Service Act 1999 PSC Public Service Commission (state government entities) RCAGA Royal Commission on Australian Government Administration SCFPA Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration, SES Senior Executive Service TFMI Task Force on Management Improvement Page | x TABLE OF CONTENTS THESIS/DISSERTATION SHEET I ORIGINALITY STATEMENT II INCLUSION OF PUBLICATIONS STATEMENT III COPYRIGHT STATEMENT; AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT IV ABSTRACT V DEDICATION VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS VII LIST OF FIGURES VIII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS IX Chapter 1: Implementing Management Reform to Change the Australian Public Service (APS) 1.1 Embedding Public Sector Management Reform 1 1.2 Introduction to APS Management Reform 3 1.3 Managerial Responsibilities of APS Secretaries Have Changed since 2013 5 1.4 Are Current Implementation Frameworks Limited? 7 1.5 Change Over Extended Time 11 1.6 Study Aims and Research Questions 12 1.7 Research Setting: The APS 12 1.8 Thesis Overview 16 1.9 Conclusion 18 Chapter 2: Management Reform and The Australian Public Service 2.1 Introduction to the Australian Public Service (APS) 20 2.2 Timelines of APS Management Reforms and their Impacts 20 2.3 Implementing Managing for Results and Program Evaluation 22 2.4 The APS: Staff, Centre, Management and Departmental Structure 24 2.5 APS Management Reforms and Change Management Theory 26 2.6 Two Alternative Models: Agency Annual Reports; ANAO Audits 29 2.7 Reforming the Skills of APS Staff 32 2.8 Past Management Reforms: Coming Around Again 34 2.9 Implementing Management Reform of the Single APS 38 2.10 Making APS Management Reform Stick 40 Page | xi 2.11 Public Sector Change Management in the APS. 41 2.12 Conclusions 43 Chapter 3: Origins of the Theories: Implementation and Public Sector Reform 3.1 Introduction 46 3.2 Initial Implementation Theory 47 3.3 Change Management Theory and Implementing Management Reform 49 3.4 Organisation Theory and Extended Time 53 3.5 Evaluation Theory 54 3.6 Success in Implementing Management Reform 56 3.7 Making Successful Reform Stick 58 3.8 Current Gaps in Implementation Theory 59 3.9 Relevance of Gaps in Theory to Current APS Practice 63 3.10 Insights from this Review 67 Chapter 4: Re-Framing Implementation Theory 4.1 Introduction 73 4.2 Re-Framing Implementation