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.