1 Impact of culture on the results of a tender for faculty for a post-graduate education program: the role of sense making, expectations and networks of potential teachers Paper presented at IASIA annual conference Improving Public Administration Worldwide in Paris, on 08 July 2015 Dr Katalin Pallai, associate professor National University for Public Service, Hungary former director of the Center for Excellence in Integrity e-mail: katalin@pallai.hu ABSTRACT In the post-communist region many public tenders are initiated solely because of external normative constraints. Experience shows that regulatory instruments alone are not enough when material and cultural factors drive stakeholders towards avoiding the competitive process. Abuses are widely documented. The question is what can be done for making tenders an effective means by which the best candidates are selected? The paper presents the case of a tender for faculty recruitment and the results of the research examining the results, and the opinions of potential and selected faculty. The ƌeseaƌĐh pƌoǀes that eǀeŶ ǁheŶ all ĐouŶteƌǀailiŶg foƌĐes to a deĐeŶt teŶdeƌiŶg pƌoĐess ĐouldŶt ďe eliminated, a prior argumentative process targeting stakeholdeƌs ǀalues, iŶteƌpƌetatioŶs aŶd expectations could impact aĐtoƌs stƌategies. I pƌopose that ǁheƌe pushiŶg ƌules that ŵake Ŷo seŶse foƌ stakeholdeƌs iŵpƌisoŶed iŶ a ǁeď of Ŷeeds aŶd ƌoutiŶes do Ŷot ǁoƌk, the seŶse ŵakiŶg of stakeholders should be changed. These stakeholders then will be the drivers for further change. This seemingly simple solution is unfortunately rarely applied in the public administration in the region. Key words: integrity, argumentative method, changing culture, tender, change management,