Garrett Upstill

Adjusting to Changing Times: CSIRO Since the 1970s

Summary CSIRO, Australia’s largest public research agency, has changed appreciably over the past three decades as the social, economic, political and technological environment has changed. In this paper, we address five areas of change, namely the nature of the Organisation’s research, its research funding allocation, its patterns of collaboration, the way it transfers technology and its role in the national innovation scene. We look at some of the pressures leading to change and at the implications of our analysis for the future. CSIRO is no longer the dominant player in Australian science and innovation as other players, notably in the higher education sector, have grown and, despite its undoubted importance as a reservoir of scientific talent and its major scientific and commercial achievements, much uncertainty about its national role remains.

New Structures, New Strategies: CSIRO’s Changing Role in Australian Innovation

Abstract CSIRO’s role in Australian innovation has evolved over the years in response to changes in the external environment and within Australia’s national innovation system. The process of organisational change has been characterised by a series of restructurings—in 1978, 1988, 1996 and 2001—and accompanying shifts in the organisation’s strategic directions. In this paper we look at the process of organisational change in an historical context, looking at the evolving external environment, the legislative and management background, and the shifts in the organisation’s strategic directions. The change process is interpreted from a punctuated equilibrium perspective. We propose that discontinuous, rather than continuous change, is the way that a complex and diversified organisation like CSIRO adjusts to a changing external environment and, moreover, that independent public reviews have an important role in this process. In the light of major changes in the Australian and scientific landscapes over the past two decades we suggest it is time to look again at CSIRO’s role and the sustainability of its internal management arrangements.