GRK 1744:  Wicked Problems, Contested Administrations: Knowledge, Coordination, Strategy (WIPCAD)

• Subject Area: Social Sciences ; Economics
• Term: from 2012 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 184453748

Public administrations are expected to be able to cope with problems. Increasingly, many of these are seen both by practitioners and by policy and organisational theorists as "wicked problems". Policy issues ranging from food safety to counter-terrorism, climate change or migration have come to be interpreted as inter-connected, multi-dimensional problem constellations rather than easily identifiable single issues with a clear territorial locus or readily identifiable causal origin. In analytical terms, this type of policy issue is characterised by a combination of simultaneously high levels of complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity, with far-reaching repercussions for organisational boundaries, attentiveness and problem-solving capacity. Public administrations today are confronted with unprecedentedly complex tasks across a wide range of issues, requiring sophisticated management skills, complex structures of delegation, discretion, coordination and control, and exceptionally challenging information requirements. As a result, the question of how public administrations can acquire the requisite knowledge, ensure appropriate coordination and devise appropriate strategies has moved to the forefront of debate both for practitioners and in research in the social sciences. The Research Training Group’s goal is to foster empirical research into, and theoretical reflection on the interrelationships between wicked problems and contested organisational change in public administrations along the interconnected dimensions of organisational knowledge, coordination and strategy. We ask how policy complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity are handled organisationally, within and across organisations; what factors shape organisational developmental trajectories; and what patterns emerge in terms of substantive change. The Research Training Group especially encourages work that goes beyond the analysis of formal structures and processes. Our research pays attention to individual, organisational and environmental observations; has a comparative dimension - across time, administrative settings, levels, policy fields or, where appropriate, countries; shows theoretical awareness and ambition; and is innovative in the methods employed for qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis and interpretation.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Universität Potsdam
• Participating Researchers: Professorin Dr. Maja Apelt; Privatdozent Dr. Falk Daviter; Professor Dr. Thomas Edeling; Professor Dr. Steffen Ganghof; Professor Dr. Werner Jann; Professorin Dr. Andrea Liese; Professorin Dr. Isabella Proeller; Professor Dr. Arndt Sorge; Professor Dr. Dieter Wagner; Professorin Dr. Theresa Wobbe
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Harald Fuhr