Raymond Struyk: Improving Think Tank Management. Practical Guidance for Think Tanks, Research Advocacy NGOs, and Their F
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Raymond Struyk: Improving Think Tank Management. Practical Guidance for Think Tanks, Research Advocacy NGOs, and Their Funders Results for Development Institute, Washington, 2015, 464 pp., Bibliography, Index, Appendix, $20.73 Marybel Perez1
Ó International Society for Third-Sector Research and The Johns Hopkins University 2016
This book has become an important contribution to the field of think tank practice and research since its first edition in 2002. While most research has focused on studying think tanks’ political relevance, Struyk has drawn attention to the impact of management practices on think tanks’ sustainability. With every edition, Struyk has restructured and expanded the number of subjects addressed, adapting the book to current trends in nonprofit management, and his third edition has augmented this insight with empirical analysis carried out on recently collected data. Srtuyk contends that think tanks’ success not only depends on research excellence and engagement in the policy community—two key objectives of think tanks—but on effective management practices that underpin think tanks’ maturation and long-term sustainability. Throughout the book he persuasively explains how a wide range of management practices can have a positive impact on an organization’s operation, the efficiency of the research (e.g. practices on quality control) and engagement in the policy community (e.g. strategic planning). Think tank staff, and particularly the research staff, are the key asset of these organizations and he emphasizes this point by devoting the four first chapters to different aspects of staff productivity, such as development and leadership. Struyk also offers guidance on sensitive issues for think tanks, with dedicated chapters on the relation between the executive and the board of trustees, the implications of government funding and performance monitoring. The main strength of the book lies in Struyk’s wide experience creating, researching and advising think tanks which has allowed him to discern several useful lessons. Struyk carefully illustrates his propositions with examples, models and templates throughout the book, including its 60 pages of annexes. He has made an extraordinary effort to collect much-needed data on the subject to illustrate his & Marybel Perez [email protected] 1
Center for Philanthropy Studies, Universita¨t Basel, Basel, Switzerland
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propositions. For example, his empirical analysis relies on two surveys conducted in 63 think tanks in developing and transition countries during the period 2008–2013, six in-depth interviews conducted in 2000, nine case studies and several secondary sources. Additionally, with his intention to make the book relevant for professionals, Struyk frequently links his arguments to current debates on management such as are reported and conducted in the Harvard Business Review and the websites On Think Tanks and Politics & Ideas. Nevertheless, a simplified comparative empirical analysis may have provided stronger evidence. To be sure
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