Quasi‐privatisation and corporate governance: a process perspective

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the usefulness and relevance of a four stage model of privatisation, based in institutional theory, to quasi‐privatised organisations.

The paper studies a UK organisation with changing ownership, governance, and boundaries. Historic Royal Palaces is intrinsically interesting, and resembles many quasi‐privatised organisations placed within charitable frameworks. Application of the process model reveals the governance challenges HRP faces.

The study suggests that the model is holistic and dynamic, and useful as an analytic template. It is inclusive of competitor, behavioural, and resource‐based views of the firm, and recognises that firms and their governance change over time.

The report adds validity to the model developed by case studies from a different national context. The small number of cases is a limitation. Future research could include other types of quasi‐privatised organisation, and organisations in different national settings.

The model provides a helpful template for interpreting and explaining the changes enacted by organisations and their members through privatisation. Further, although largely descriptive, the model also has some predictive power. It can help policy makers and managers predict some of the key limitations of the privatisation process of a particular organisation based on the specific nature of its context and settings.

The detailed discussion of a quasi‐privatised organisation – an increasingly common, but little researched organisational type is significant. The development of a holistic approach for understanding organisational changes is also significant.