About Us

Overview

What we do is firmly grounded in our capabilities combining strategy, governance and public policy. We have a very real interest in organisational design and in governance – with a firm belief in "form follows function". We like to think of it as making sure that the organisational tools people use can play a very real enabling role in what they are trying to achieve. In taking this approach we have ranged across the structuring of government departments, Crown entities, local authorities, council controlled organisations, community and energy trusts, cooperatives and various forms of partnership. It's an approach which gives us a very strong capability in comparing and contrasting organisational forms.

It's also one which aligns closely with our strong interest in public policy and public management - again it's about getting the right tools for the job - sounds simple (and we try and make it so for our clients) but it can be very complex and requires very real in-depth experience to get it right. It's a particularly exciting time to be working in this area as governments, local governments and other sectors adjust to the global financial crisis, and the huge shift in the fiscal position of the governments of many developed countries including New Zealand.

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Our Work     

Our work is primarily public policy, strategy and governance. We are at our best with projects that need expertise across the public, private and voluntary/community sectors. In a typical project we apply a mix of theoretical knowledge and practical understanding of how things work. We are known for our empathy for our clients’ objectives and for our skills in identifying and developing key stakeholder relationships.

Most of our projects are with organisations undergoing major organisational change themselves, or in the environments in which they operate. The Our Work section of this website provides a more comprehensive coverage.

Who we work with: our connections and networks

MDL is closely connected into an extensive international network of expert people and organisations with an interest in government and local governance. Amongst our most important connections are the network of researchers associated with the philanthropication through privatisation project,  the Commonwealth Local Government Forum and especially its Research Advisory Group in which Peter McKinlay plays a key role, and a number of peak local government organisations in Australia.

For more detail ...