All Things to All Governments? Using Cultural Theory to Explain the Shared Services 'Mega-Trend'

International fiscal retrenchment has initiated and accelerated a range of efficiency measures in governments and other public institutions. Among these, the concept of shared corporate services has risen to great prominence as an administrative ‘mega-trend’ that involves the multi-agency pooling of ‘back-office’ activities, such as HR, ICT, finance and procurement. Drawing on the two dimensions of ‘grid’ and ‘group’ from cultural theory, this article explores the seemingly paradoxical convergence upon, and yet great practical diversity within, governmental shared services. Specifically, by focusing on developments in six Anglophone states, it demonstrates the concept’s differentiated appeal to the ‘hierarchist’, ‘egalitarian’ and ‘individualist’ worldviews posited in cultural theory, and, thus, its operational malleability in different contexts. The conclusion then looks beyond cross-national patterns to discern the longitudinal trajectory of international reform efforts, identifying signs of an emergent – and perhaps accidental – shift towards the hierarchist conception of shared services, fuelled by growing imperatives for retrenchment, resource redirection and outsourcing.