The Gold in the Heads of Scientists

"There is a fundamental difference between running somthing as a business and running it in a businesslike manner." This statement acknowledges one of the underlying problems of a public sector reform process that drew heavily on business models and languages of business. The reform of the New Zealand state-funded science system included the creation of nine limited liability companies that were charged with doing science for the benefit of New Zealand. Using concepts drawn from a range of disciplines, this study examines the use of the metaphor "The Crown Research Institutes are businesses" and some analogues during two key phases of their establisment, the passage of the enabling legislation through Parliament, and the first 3 years of Chairman''s reports. Ambivalence about the limits of metaphor and about which metaphors might be appropriate are strong indicators of the very complex institutional environment into which the new organizations were launched. The analysis offers a very different perspective on what has been a very well studied reform process. It will be of interest to students of public policy, public management and organizational sociology.