Diversity management and diversity training have been part of the standard management repertoire for several decades, and have recently received fresh impetus in the UK through the Equality Act 2010. The Police Services in England and Wales and in Scotland have further reasons to ensure the fair treatment of their own workforces and equality in their dealings with the public since the Macpherson Inquiry and the subsequent revelations relating to the Stephen Lawrence case. For the Police Service, diversity is particularly crucial as it forms a key element of public legitimacy and therefore impacts upon the very principle of ‘policing by consent’, the foundation of British policing (Jackson et al. 2012). However, diversity policies and diversity training tend to be viewed narrowly and used as a decontextualised medium to reduce racism (and other ‘isms’), seen as fulfilling their purpose regardless of the political and occupational context. This thesis, in contrast, suggests that there is a need to examine diversity management and diversity training, not only within an organisational context, but also within the broader political economy into which it is introduced and in which it is implemented. Tracing the various aspects that make up the political economy of policing, the thesis outlines social, economic, legal and political influences, as well as the occupational culture of the police and its emotional ecology. Given the longitudinal design of the research, and the profound changes that have occurred to the political economy of policing over a relatively short time, the thesis is able to examine the impact of these changes on diversity practices within the Police Service of Scotland. Longitudinal data collected at two points in time, 2008/9 and 2013 – straddling not only the introduction of the Equality Act 2010, but also the creation of a single Police Service in Scotland, amongst other changes – suggests that significant changes have occurred to diversity training and diversity professionals, as well as to the ways in which diversity is managed. Using the notion of emotional spaces, diversity training in particular reveals complex interactions in the context of the changes, exposing the tensions police officers and police staff are currently experiencing. Drawing on the analytical framework of emotional ecology, it is argued that in addition to other changes to the political economy of policing, diversity training courses reflect demands for the police to be more open, sensitive and collaborative, by challenging and ‘opening up’ the emotional ecology of the police during training. Interviews and longitudinal observational data suggest that this process has intensified greatly since the creation of Police Scotland, thereby placing competing demands on officers to consolidate the new with the conventional emotional ecology of the police.

This study investigates the relationship between the three levels of dynamic capabilities and the two most prominent project interdependencies, by comparing the practises of an organisation in a single case study.  An understanding of organisational change capacity in terms of dynamic capabilities (DC) is widely accepted in academic literature. Likewise, project management literature agrees that multiple projects that serve to implement change may interact amongst one another resulting in increased or decreased benefits compared to individual project execution. The study explores the so far neglected gap between these two areas.  This study follows an inductive path of a single case study, as the authors investigate the case of the transformation of service of Police Scotland. This organisation is unique, as it exhibits a far above average use of project (inter-) dependency management, specifically created for this situation of change. Semi-structured interviews of ten organisational members with different perspectives, roles, and experiences was employed to gain a full understanding of this complex situation and answer questions as to the “how” and “why”.  This study revealed that there exists a connection. It has found practises, which the organisation specifically employs to combine interdependency management and dynamic capabilities. The study also found there to be a distinct pattern that links knowledge interdependencies to first and partially to third level DC, and resource interdependencies to second and third level DC. This investigation also contributes to the understanding of the resource and knowledge based view of the organisation, by expanding the criticism of the former and establishing the use of the latter.

Considering police-public consultation forums as a device, or tactic, to ‘civilize’ policing, the possibilities and limitations of ‘civilizing policing’ using this method can be shown. Police-public consultation forums can ‘civilize’ policing – in the sense Loader and Walker (2007) use the term – by contributing to police reform, democratic policing, and police legitimacy. Using the case of Edinburgh, Scotland, the achievements of police-public consultation forums for reform, democratic policing, and legitimacy, are examined and an argument made that consultation forums can make positive contributions in each of these areas. However, the example of consultation forums also reveals significant conceptual and structural limitations to the ideas of reform, democracy, and legitimacy when applied to the police. These limitations are articulated using the social theory of Simmel, Weber, and Lukes: Simmel and Weber reveal the inflexibility and non-negotiable aspects of the police that defies reform and democratic ambitions; Lukes provides an important precautionary perspective on the ‘democraticness’ of democratic devices; and, comparing Lukes with the work of Weber provides a view on legitimacy that reveals advanced complexities to ‘police legitimacy’. In sum, police-public consultation forums contribute to ‘civilizing policing’, but it is also useful to reflect and consider the non-negotiable limits the ‘form’ of the police applies to possible positive change.