UK SBS FWRECR16007 Review of Best Practice in Organisational Governance and Research Funding Systems

Central to the success of this new funding body will be the design of its structures, objectives and governance. This project will help inform organisational design considerations. There is already a significant body of literature on best practice in the design of organisations and their governance. BIS would like to commission a comprehensive review of this evidence. There are also numerous examples, in the public and private sectors, nationally and internationally, of complex organisations and this work should include an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of these models. The focus will be on understanding best practice in organisational design and governance. This research will contribute to the evidence base that will inform the establishment of the new research body and ensure that it is structured in such a way as to be credible, accountable and effective. This project will not design the new body, rather it will synthesise existing research and collect and analyse international and national examples to identify and report on the strengths and weaknesses of different organisational and governance models. The project has three core aims. 1. To bring together and synthesise the existing literature and evidence supporting best practice in establishing strong and accountable organisations and governance structures. The focus will be on public sector organisations, particularly funding bodies, and will look at both national and international evidence. 2. To explore and review the strengths and weaknesses of different organisational models for distributing research funding internationally. As part of the project you will assess and recommend a core of countries/organisations where this work will focus. 3. To learn from and anchor the analysis in the UK context by using corporate private sector experience and regulatory framework to inform the assessment of strengths, weaknesses and best practice.