Original
Three Configurations of In‐House Government Consulting: Public‐Value Purpose and Organizational Viability
Abstract
ABSTRACT Governments have created in‐house consulting organizations to reduce dependence on external firms and retain public capability and control. Yet organizations grouped under this label pursue different forms of public value that require different designs. This article distinguishes three reasons for a dedicated unit: retaining control over consequential work, capturing returns from problems that recur across government, and mobilizing expertise dispersed across public and adjacent institutions. It develops three corresponding configurations—Strategic Transformation, Scalable Solutions, and Expertise Platform—and shows how choices about work, staffing, knowledge, authority, client relationships, financing, and evaluation must fit together. Documentary comparison of eight units in five countries grounds the analysis. The cases show that viability depends on whether work renews the conditions needed for subsequent work and that evaluation must reflect configuration and stage. Internalization is therefore organization‐building, not the reversal of a procurement decision: a unit creates public value only when work reproduces the conditions on which that value depends.
中文
政府内部咨询的三种配置：公共价值宗旨与组织存续能力
摘要
各国政府已设立内部咨询组织，以减少对外部公司的依赖，并保留公共能力与控制权。然而，被归入这一标签的组织追求不同形式的公共价值，因而需要不同的设计。本文区分设立专门单位的三种理由：对重要工作保持控制、从政府内部反复出现的问题中获取回报，以及动员分散于公共机构及相邻机构中的专业知识。文章提出三种相应配置——战略转型、可扩展解决方案与专业知识平台——并说明关于工作、人员配置、知识、权威、客户关系、融资和评估的选择必须相互匹配。对五个国家八个单位的文献比较为分析提供基础。案例表明，存续能力取决于工作能否再生产后续工作所需的条件，评估必须反映配置和阶段。因此，内部化是组织建设，而非采购决策的逆转：只有当工作再生产该价值所依赖的条件时，单位才创造公共价值。
关键词
政府内部咨询、公共价值、组织存续、组织设计、内部化、比较案例研究、政府能力、咨询组织