Organisational status change and performance: The case of Ireland's national telecommunications operator

Ireland's national telecommunications operator, Telecom Éireann, was privatised in 1999 after over a decade of commercialisation within the public sector. This article provides an in-depth economic analysis of the impact of commercialisation and privatisation on Telecom Éireann's productivity over the period 1985-2001. Disentangling the effects of privatisation from other factors that impact on productivity is problematic. Accordingly, a three-dimensional organisational status change framework incorporating ownership, product market competition and internal organisational structure is adopted. We find no clear evidence that ownership change had a significant impact on productivity. Improvements were associated with competition and the impending deregulation of the market as well as considerable changes in the internal organisational structure of the firm.