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seven - Competition, adaptation and resistance: (re)forming health organisations in New Zealand’s third sector

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2022

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Summary

Introduction

Recent changes in the health policy environment have profoundly affected ‘third sector’ health-related organisations in New Zealand, prompting a competitive ethic, various forms of organisational adaptation and, among some, a vehement resistance to a contractual culture. In this chapter, we trace the emergence of organisational adaptation and resistance as two responses to changes in the policy environment among third sector health providers. In particular we consider the role that key agents play in shaping the direction of these organisations. Our survey reaches into the origins of third sector activities in New Zealand. We pay particular attention to the effects of health sector restructuring during the 1980s and 1990s and the ensuing split between purchasers and providers.

Our thinking on these issues was prompted by comments made by Nowland-Foreman (1998, p 108), who depicts the forces of change that descended on third sector organisations in New Zealand during the 1980s and 1990s as being ‘gentle winds of change (that) turned into a hurricane that blew through an unsuspecting voluntary sector…’. The consequences of this change were apparent in comments made by the Community and Voluntary Sector Working Group (CVSWP) in 2001. This body was established in response to requests from the third sector that the New Zealand government review its relationship with these organisations. According to the CVSWG:

The Working Party heard a clear message that the social and economic reforms of the past two decades, particularly in the state sector, had a profound effect on the relationship between government and the community sector, leaving a residue of mistrust and tension…. (CVSWP, 2001, p 61)

In response to this observation, our chapter explores the relationship between the New Zealand government and the third sector during the 1990s, seeking to further understanding of the implications of this ‘hurricane’ for third sector health organisations. We contend that organisational characteristics alter with the life cycle of the organisation and the involvement of key individuals, both internally and externally. They are also influenced by social, economic and political change. The devolution of funding regimes that accompanied a neoliberally informed purchaser–provider split resulted in heterogeneous geographical experiences.

Type
Chapter
Information
Landscapes of Voluntarism
New Spaces of Health, Welfare and Governance
, pp. 115 - 134
Publisher: Bristol University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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