ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN AND PRECARIOUS VALUES - THE RISE AND FALL OF ONTARIOS MINISTRY-OF-SKILLS-DEVELOPMENT

In 1985 the Ontario government created the Ministry of Skills Developm ent to coordinate provincial training and labour-market adjustment pol icy. The organization's design and inception were inadequate in severa l respects and failed to acknowledge the fragmented jurisdiction and p recarious values of this policy area. Consequently, the organization f aced turmoil from birth: three ministers in six months; an uncertain m andate, which was never confirmed in statute; multiple clients, which were contested by other ministries; a corporate culture, which caused a dysfunctional schism between the policy and operations groups; and i nappropriate leadership. In 1989, this ministry was severely truncated and then eliminated altogether in 1993. Six lessons emerge from the m inistry's collapse. They recognize the need to alter the policy field rather than merely reshuffling boxes, the importance of allowing a new organization time to coalesce, how the new bureau will be received by existing organizations, the critical role of leadership in addressing deficits in prestige and legitimacy, the need for ongoing support fro m the centre, and the need to understand and heed the examples of hist ory. These lessons are particularly salient as governments increasingl y reorganize and restructure.