Intent, Risks and Capability: Some Considerations on Rethinking Organizational Capability

Abstract

The notion of capability -including that of organizational capability -has been studied extensively in the literature. The standard treatment on this subject matter has tended to focus on building the capacity of its human resources since its impact on the ability of the organization to fulfil its mandates has been well recognized. In looking at the broader concept of organizational capability, however, consideration must be given to the assertion that an organization does not work in a vacuum and that its external environment plays a key role in shaping the manner in which it works. Since the environment tends to be complex and turbulent, the introduction of uncertainty and risks in the analysis makes the notion of organizational capability murkier. This article argues that one way of dealing with this constraint is to look at capability as being derived from its sequential relationship with results and strategy, and which affords governments a more holistic picture. It also argues that by preparing organizational statements of intent (sois), public organizations are better able to understand their environments as well as convey purposeful action to Parliaments. Empirical evidence from application of sois in public agencies shows that they are useful tools for governments to consider applying seriously.Gambhir Bhatta is Senior Advisor (Public Management) in the Strategic Development

Testing the Discourse of Declining Policy Capacity: Rail Policy and the Department of Transport

“…The literature has also engaged in complex debates about definitional or conceptual differences between ‘capacity’, ‘capability’ and ‘competence’ (Painter and Pierre 2005; Bakvis 2000; Jurie 2000; Bhatta 2003; Dror 2001). Tiernan, Wanna and Edwards (forthcoming) have examined this literature and argued that due to the overlapping nature of the concepts, and the tendency for practitioners to use the terms interchangeably, there is little to be gained from such fine grained distinctions for those seeking to explain the overall quality of policy advice .…”

“…Building on the work of Waller (1996) and Bhatta (2003), we treat the inputs into policy capacity as composed of five interrelated components, namely:…”