Taking the consequences of international conventions, national policy and our own arguments: developing the way of working at the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, to deliver according to the ecosystem approach.

Abstract

Over the years The Institute of Marine Research, has been developed to become the leading body for monitoring and exploration of marine ecosystems, development of the aquaculture industry, and science based advices on harvesting of living marine resources in Norway. The institute developed with a steadily growing classical hierarchical organization with departments according to scientific disciplines or ecosystem categories. During the nineties the institute operated with scientific centres on aquaculture, living resources, and marine environment, and received a rather favourable evaluation by an international panel in 2001. Instead of continuing on a recognized way of functioning, a process was started to develop the organization of the institute to be better able to deliver science based advices according to the ecosystem approach. A matrix organization with four research and advisory programmes, 19 research groups, a research technical department with eight sub-units, a central administration and a research vessel department was implemented in 2004. Recently, the organizations is adjusted and developed even further so that we now have 10 programs, five of them a research and advisory profile, the others a clear thematic profile. The research and technical groups have been integrated to get a better cooperation and social interaction between the scientific and technical employees. We analyse how these structural changes have influenced the scientific production, the advisory activity, the “working environment” and the well being of the employees of the institute.