Designing and implementing a new appraisal system for the Ministry of Defence Police.

When I started the project. I was Chief Inspector and the Head of Training for the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Police Training Centre (PTC) at Wethersfield in Essex. As the PTC was considered to be at the centre of the organisation, my role was seen to be that of a change agent. Therefore, I was an inside researcher. This raised two crucial methodological issues for the study. To ensure that the study was objective, reliable and valid, I had to take different approaches. Firstly, as the Head of Training, my role allowed me to quickly get to the core of the problem and I was able to generate extensive amount of crucial data. This challenged the organisational values and the power base of a hierarchical institute. The effect was complex, it meant that my learning was captured in a "personal way". This study produced Volume I, which explains the design, test, implementation of the new appraisal process and my learning. It also demonstrates my capabilities as an inside researcher who is able to shape major organisational change. Secondly, I had to use extensive collaborative approach to counteract the possibility of subjectivity which I encountered as an inside researcher. The collaborative approach produced Volume II, which is the study's tangible outcome. Volume II makes a professional impact on the whole of the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) with a significant change in the organisations appraisal process. Further, as advocated by Bell (1997), being an inside researcher I had to maintain strict ethical standards at all times.

A project submitted to Middlesex University in partial fiilfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Professional Studies.