Structural adjustment as a stakeholder-determined change management process : evidence from Jamaica

• Main Author: Baker, Philip
• Published: University of Manchester 1997
• Subjects: 658.4
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.632638

A new formulation of structural adjustment is presented that stresses the institutionalisation of stakeholders' priorities, policy credibility, equity of impact during implementation, and the continuous renewal of national competitive advantage as major strategic objectives of corporate and national governance. This orientation dispenses with the conventional practice of applying a single orthodoxy to all settings, replacing it with a framework that incorporates the policy priorities of key in-country stakeholders together with other important social, economic, and political idiosyncrasies of a particular setting. A stakeholder-determined, context-dependent framework is used to analyse a case study involving the efficacy of efforts at improving macroeconomic management in Jamaica under a multi-year structural and sectoral adjustment programme. The result is an approach that offers the promise of connecting micro-level economic activity with macro-level performance as part of a wider strategic change management process.