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1 – 10 of over 93000Giuliano Magno de Oliveira Condé and Maria de Fátima Bruno-Faria
This study aims to explore the configuration of a public university service innovation: the phenotypic evaluation of self-declared black and brown applicants for access to college…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the configuration of a public university service innovation: the phenotypic evaluation of self-declared black and brown applicants for access to college undergraduate courses through racial quota in a Brazilian federal higher education institution (HEI).
Design/methodology/approach
By using qualitative methods and collecting data through semistructured interviews, this case study raises new explanatory aspects about service innovation in a noncommercial context.
Findings
Diversity in team composition and users’ sense of belonging emerged as unprecedented aspects of service innovation. The present study also coined another concept not verified in the literature: service cross-coproduction.
Research limitations/implications
Regarding the limitations of the study, the technological dimension, despite having been shown to underlie the political–administrative process of innovations in services, given its importance reinforced by the literature and the current temporal context itself, did not emanate from the data collected. In addition, the fact that the service innovation investigated has occurred recently prevented longitudinal research that could detail the effects of phenotypic evaluation on institutional performance indicators.
Practical implications
The ethical–methodological care used in the interaction and preservation of the psychological integrity of the users in the case study proved to be subject to systematization and has great potential to enhance the service experience of the users through the humanization of the service delivery process. The linkage of the user’s perception to the phenotypic diversity of people working in the new service provision highlights the importance of incorporating themes such as the diversity of teams’ composition and representative bureaucracy to the scientific production of service innovation and their role in coproduction. The findings suggest that the resource allocation supply of basic goods and services needed to provide the new service reduces the individual risk of academic community members involved with innovation. Further studies could explore this relation.
Social implications
Among the internal factors that influenced the configuration of service innovation, the idea of diversity in the team’s composition stood out. It based the phenotypic evaluation commission’s diverse constitution on gender, race, occupation and even nationality. It conferred greater legitimacy on service innovation, increasing the representation of groups that may not feel represented in public service delivery processes.
Originality/value
The results of the phenotypic evaluation case point to a new coproduction form emanating from the constitutive diversity of the phenotypic evaluation board members. This new type of coproduction is directly related to the complex, integrated and interdependent nature of the services that complement each other to enable the achievement of the objectives of a public university.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive analysis of Indonesia’s public service innovation drawn from the top 99 nominees of the national competition for public…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive analysis of Indonesia’s public service innovation drawn from the top 99 nominees of the national competition for public service innovation from 2014 to 2016.
Design/methodology/approach
To answer the research question, this study applied archival research as a research strategy. A documentation method was conducted to collect the data. Using content analysis aided by NVivo 11 this study analyzes the following themes: implementing agencies, innovation types, innovation goals, innovation outcomes, policy sector in which innovation implemented and geographical perspective.
Findings
The public service innovation in Indonesia from 2014 to 2016 were dominated by local government and process innovation in which designates to the amalgamation of technological and administrative dimensions of innovation. The most occurrence outcomes were aimed to tackling societal problems in the health and education sector. Whilst in the geographical perspective, big portion of innovation were taking place in Java Island.
Research limitations/implications
The result of this study is mainly based on secondary data drawing from public service innovation competition held by the Indonesian Ministry of Administrative Reform. Consequently, the result is limited to provide a mapping feature and trends of innovation. Future research may use more extensive samples (not only sourced from the nominees but also all submitted initiatives) to obtain more representation of public service innovation in Indonesia.
Practical implications
Given the fact that lack of collaboration between public and private actors, the government needs to consider on designing strategies and policy direction to foster collaboration in public service innovation.
Originality/value
This research offers a comprehensive analysis on Indonesian public service innovation. Methodologically, the research introduces archival research as one of the alternative research strategies on public sector innovation scholarships.
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Ohoud Ali AlShehail, Mehmood Khan and Mian Ajmal
This study aims to critically investigate the structural relationships between total quality management (TQM), service innovation and sustainability performance in the public…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to critically investigate the structural relationships between total quality management (TQM), service innovation and sustainability performance in the public service sector of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed an online survey to collect data from 400 employees working in eight selected UAE public service sector organisations located in Abu Dhabi. The collected data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) to empirically examine whether TQM practices improve service innovation and, subsequently, sustainability performance in the UAE's public service sector.
Findings
The results show that TQM has a significant impact on service innovation and sustainability performance in the UAE's public service sector. Additionally, service innovation partially mediates the relationship between TQM and sustainability performance.
Practical implications
The public service sector's TQM practices and service innovation in the UAE have a much greater impact on social and environmental sustainability than on economic sustainability performance. Adopting five dimensions of TQM (following the Abu Dhabi Award for Excellence in Government Performance [ADAEP] model) across the UAE's public organisations will enable government departments to deliver innovative services to its beneficiaries.
Originality/value
This study provides a substantial contribution by addressing the gaps in the literature. Very few studies have empirically investigated the possible association between TQM, service innovation and sustainability performance in public sector organisations, particularly in developing countries such as the UAE, where the increasing efforts in TQM practices are still in their emerging stages, mainly targeting innovative service offerings and sustainable performance.
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The aim of this work is to provide an initial picture of how some design agencies are contributing toward a paradigm shift and how they are developing in the future to better…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this work is to provide an initial picture of how some design agencies are contributing toward a paradigm shift and how they are developing in the future to better inform design policies and interdisciplinary work. There is a general agreement that the current government and public sector structure and modes of operation need radical transformation. In this scenario, a shift from New Public Management towards New Public Governance paradigm has been auspicated. Design has attracted attention as a potential approach to support this transformation, but research into Service Design, as well as discussions on its future development, for public sector innovation is limited. This paper is an exploratory study into the individual work of seven representative UK design agencies operating for and within the public sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews literature on public sector reform and innovation to inform comparative studies of contemporary design agencies working for public sector reform. Interviews with seven designers from NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, Participle, Innovation Unit, Uscreates, Collaborative Change, Futuregov and Snook are conducted to review their perceived role for public sector reform, their design approaches, exemplar projects and main challenges.
Findings
Emerging design strategies for Public Sector reform are: a collaborative design approach that considers all stakeholders as equal co-creators of public value; operating at different complementary levels to aim at systemic change; designing from the inside out (innovation culture) and outside in (market change). These different strategies imply the development of possible different business models. Existing creative tensions appear between embedding and outsourcing strategies, acting as facilitators vs designers, developing both designing and service delivery roles.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is based on a limited sample of design agencies, and it is not a systematic study into the impact of their design work, which should be the object of a following study.
Practical implications
This paper brings Service Design practice into public sector innovation debate to inform future interdisciplinary research and innovation policies. It positions existing design innovation strategies within the wider picture of public sector reform to support a more informed design practice.
Originality/value
Few studies have looked at the UK design agencies for public sector innovation and discussed their possible future developments. This paper provides an original and holistic description of design for public sector innovation with considerations on how it should be interpreted when developing supporting innovation and design policies.
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Zifan Zhou, Yufeng Duan, Junping Qiu and Li Yang
This article intends to explore how organizational learning affects innovation in public library services, and the role of public librarians in innovation in library services.
Abstract
Purpose
This article intends to explore how organizational learning affects innovation in public library services, and the role of public librarians in innovation in library services.
Design/methodology/approach
This study collected 375 valid questionnaires from 19 public libraries in Shanghai and Zhejiang based on organizational learning, organizational innovation and employee psychological empowerment theory. Additionally, SPSS and HLM are used to analyze the relationship among the three processes of organizational learning: knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing and knowledge application, and public library service innovation.
Findings
Results show that organizational learning has a significant positive effect on the service innovation of public libraries. Knowledge acquisition and knowledge application in the process of organizational learning have a significant positive influence on the service innovation of public libraries, but the impact of knowledge sharing on service innovation is weak. Employee psychological empowerment has a negative regulating influence on knowledge sharing–public library service innovation, but no significant influence on knowledge application–public library service innovation and knowledge acquisition–public library service innovation.
Originality/value
This research explores the effectiveness of the theory of organizational learning in the field of public libraries and also confirms the role of librarians in the work of public libraries. Together, they promote the innovation of public libraries.
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Shaker A. Aladwan and Sajeda I. Alshami
The aim of this paper is the identification of the impacts that innovation and service excellence have upon organisational reputation within public sector organisations in Jordan.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is the identification of the impacts that innovation and service excellence have upon organisational reputation within public sector organisations in Jordan.
Design/methodology/approach
An approach was adopted that was quantitative with a questionnaire designed that was to be self-administrated for the primary data collection. In total, there was distribution of 600 questionnaires from which 556 were retrieved with a high rate of response (92.7%).
Findings
Through analysis of the data, several findings were revealed by the study, including that innovation was the factor with the most influence (beta = 0.81) upon organisational reputation within the public sector in Jordan compared to the factor for service excellence (beta = 0.54).
Practical implications
The research has several potential implications for theory and management for those making decisions and policies within public administration such as in relation to enhancement of innovation strategy application for improving the reputations of organisations within the public sector. Furthermore, the paper fills a gap within the theory of organisational reputation and within the literature generally, especially in the context of public administration.
Originality/value
In regard to value and originality of this paper, it can be considered the first of its type for the public sector in Jordan, and perhaps the Arab region as a whole, that has examined the impacts that innovation and service excellence have upon organisational reputation within the context of public administration.
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Evgenia Vassilakaki and Valentini Moniarou-Papaconstantinou
Innovation is proven to be an essential element of every organisation that wants to achieve survival and sustain its presence. Libraries as information organisations are…
Abstract
Purpose
Innovation is proven to be an essential element of every organisation that wants to achieve survival and sustain its presence. Libraries as information organisations are transformed into innovation incubators because of the fluid information environment, the social and economic influences and their desire to advance the public good. The Greek public libraries of Nafpaktos, Levadia and Veria are known examples of libraries that have successfully embraced change and innovation. This research aims to identify, through a content analysis of these specific public libraries’ websites, the innovative services they offer to the community.
Findings
It was found that the chosen public libraries offer a wide range of innovative services (e.g. Media Lab, Information Centres). No matter the challenges the Greek public libraries are facing, they have developed the necessary internal mechanisms to change the difficulties into opportunities and chance for excellence.
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Rory Shand and Mark Hyde
Is public entrepreneurship an oxymoron? Why and how is enterprise/entrepreneurship important for public service delivery? The growing role of enterprise within the public sector…
Abstract
Purpose
Is public entrepreneurship an oxymoron? Why and how is enterprise/entrepreneurship important for public service delivery? The growing role of enterprise within the public sector has been the subject of much recent debate and policy focus, surrounding issues such as public value, meeting targets, and the need for innovation across public services by policy makers and managers given rapid reduction of budgets in this sector. This chapter reflects on these developments and examines the effects that an enterprise focus in the public services has in terms of vocation. Drawing on the Weberian notion of vocation (1941) in politics and the sciences, what does enterprise mean for the notion of public service? Certainly, historically the public services have enjoyed a strong vocational drive from its workforce, resulting in employee loyalty, and links with communities as well as higher levels of public trust than politicians or bankers, for example. The chapter draws on examples from education, public services and localism, all of which have seen to some degree the parachuting of managers in from the private sector or the aping of these behaviours and cultures in search of more entrepreneurial delivery. Drawing on the Weberian framework of bureaucracy and vocation, the chapter examines the changing role of public service and notions of community and duty, arguably damaged by failures of the Big Society agenda (Shand & Higman, 2014; Smith, 2010) and examines if and how enterprise can maintain the ethos of public service and vocational areas of the public sector in the enduring and pressurised new public management environment of meeting targets and value metrics.
Methodology/approach
The chapter adopts a Weberian approach in terms of vocation, and applies this concept to the notion of enterprise across the public services. The vocation approach in the public services, drawing upon Weber’s discussion of politics and science, underpins our discussion in this chapter as we argue that the role of innovation needs to be more widely applied and appreciated in the public services.
Findings
The chapter finds that examples of innovative behaviour and delivery are evident across the public services, but these need to be understood within the context of culture, values and ethos. These underpinning goals, across several frontline and first respondent public services particularly, are driven by dedication to duty and having to respond to rapid changes in targets, ‘customer’ service, and most recently, austerity. These responses need to be seen as innovative traits, linked to leadership and the Weberian notion of vocation.
Practical implications
The chapter raises several issues driven by failures or mistrust in the practical delivery and underpinning ethos of the public services. The focus on ethos has direct implications for both leadership within the public services and how these leaders’ roles and actions are interpreted by sections of wider society such as the media or the public. Notions of public trust are touched upon in the chapter, which highlight the role of key public services as different from the activities of politicians and bankers, areas which have become central to growing attitudes of mistrust among the public. The notion of vocation in the chapter is applicable to the practical arena as the role of innovation in public service needs to be reconsidered. The chapter suggests that, to date, the idea of innovation in public services has been driven by private sector innovation, and this has led to far too narrow an appreciation of what we term innovation within and across the public services.
Originality/value
This chapter unites debates around trust and innovation in the public and private sectors with the Weberian ideal of vocation, drawing upon key public services and their leadership and delivery to argue that we need to understand the drivers and motivating ethos behind the public services when we consider the role of innovation and indeed how we understand and apply this term within public service delivery.
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Satu Pekkarinen, Lea Hennala, Vesa Harmaakorpi and Tomi Tura
The purpose of this study is to examine the ongoing dynamics of the public service sector reform through an embedding process of a municipal enterprise from the field of basic…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the ongoing dynamics of the public service sector reform through an embedding process of a municipal enterprise from the field of basic social and health care services – a pilot model in Finland.
Design/methodology/approach
The framework of a multi‐level perspective on transitions is used to describe the change process. At the lowest level of this perspective are the experimental niches acting as “seeds of change” represented by the case organisation, a municipal enterprise operating in the basic social and health care sector. The data consist of 16 thematic interviews with the key persons of the operating system, analysed with the principles of content analysis.
Findings
The examination uncovers diverse pressures affecting niche level innovations and manifesting as clashes and controversies between old and new ways of thinking, but these clashes can also act as a platform for innovations when opened up, analysed and facilitated.
Practical implications
Clashes that appear in societal transition processes and regime changes, both in the regimes and also on the organisational level, should not be seen solely as bottlenecks, because they can act as innovation potential when opened up and facilitated. This implies the need for not only new technological, service‐related and organisational innovations in the public sector reform, but also innovative practices, “second level innovations”.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the discussion on the ongoing change processes in the reform of the social and health care sector, emphasising emerging clashes not only as obstacles but opportunities.
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To induce innovation in the public sector, Directive 2014/24/EU encourages internal and external consultation during the procurement process. However, little is known regarding…
Abstract
To induce innovation in the public sector, Directive 2014/24/EU encourages internal and external consultation during the procurement process. However, little is known regarding the prominence of these practices. Determining the extent of knowledge sourcing in innovation procurement across 28 European countries, this paper presents an institutional cluster analysis, examining heterogeneity across knowledge sourcing activities, procurement areas, and tender innovation outcomes for 1,505 public procurers from 2008-2010. Building upon existing taxonomies, three types of procuring agencies are identified: Large collaborative agencies practicing public procurement of innovation (31%); supplier-focused pre-commercial procurers (20%); and direct procurers at the municipal level (49%). Validation supports this heterogeneity, using innovation outcomes and policy drivers. At the country level, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and Poland are most represented in respective clusters. Findings enable predictions regarding impacts on agencies and innovation from the new public procurement directive's translation into national law by Member States.