PhD ceremony Mr. A.J. Knol: Decision enhancement for sourcing & sharing in the Dutch government

PhD ceremony: Mr. A.J. Knol, 14.30 uur, Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen

Dissertation: Decision enhancement for sourcing & sharing in the Dutch government

Promotor(s): prof. H.G. Sol

Faculty: Economics

“Another T-shirt, again” was the surprised reaction of an employee in the Dutch government who failed to understand the reasons for yet another reorganisation. The employee worked at a centre providing facilitation services to several Ministries which was merged with another centre providing similar services to several other Ministries. Reorganisations in which services are being sourced and shared to attain efficiencies frequently occur, yet unfortunately initiatives often fail to deliver their expected benefits. This research revolves around effective decision-making in the sourcing and sharing domain. Decision-making challenges concerning 1) the arrangement of sourcing and sharing initiatives to attain efficiencies, 2) resistance and power struggles among diverse stakeholders and 3) the learning from past sourcing and sharing experiences to avoid reinventing the wheel are recognised as key aspects. In this research a decision enhancement studio for sourcing & sharing is created which proposes a fusion between people, processes and technology. The studio incites collaboration among participants and enables analysis of sourcing and sharing scenarios based on financial, stakeholder and best & worst practices perspectives. Consequently, the studio avoids decisions solely being made on financial business cases by managers and invites all stakeholders to share their considerations and experiences, including the employees who receive the new T-shirts.