Organisations and change a comparative analysis of seven Australian water authorities

Abstract

1. Introduction: 1.1 Purpose of the thesis. During the mid to late 70s, there was growing public criticism of the failure of statutory authorities to respond to changing community needs. Wilenski, in the Report on the Review of New South Wales Government Administration noted that “statutory authorities continue to carry on meeting their original objectives, and (often) lack the breadth of vision to perceive change in community needs. There are institutional pressures for them to continue to do what they have (always) been doing.“(1) Notwithstanding their general ‘lack of responsiveness to changing community needs’, some organisations have exhibited significant adaptation in specific areas over time. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to explore the factors which facilitate or impede adaptation in policy outputs in response to changes in the organisation’s operating environment. The question is of vital concern to Australian water resource authorities, in view of the situation of full exploitation of available water resources which has been reached in many river basins, and the change in community aspirations from a primary focus on improved water supplies to a focus on a range of diverse needs…

Date of Award	1986
Original language	English