Innovation In Public Administration Research Articles

What Shall We Expect from Big Data in Public Administration? An Investigation in a Community of Public Service Innovators in Italy

During the last years, Big Data attracted considerable attention as a potential source of innovation in public administration. What role Big Data can play in the redefinition of public services, however, has not been clarified yet. This study aims to investigate the views on the use of Big Data in public administration held within a particular policy community of innovators in public administration in Italy. Using Q methodology, the analysis shows three distinctive views on this topic, that can be understood as bearing a “pragmatist”, “sceptical”, and “cautious” stance, respectively. The results of this study suggest that the emergence of Big Data triggers reactionary positions within the policy community of innovators, but it also stimulates some ways to consider how to introduce and experiment with the new source of technological change.

The Open Government Data Policy as a Strategic Use of Information to Entrench Neoliberalism? The Case of Italy

The philosophy of Open Government provides a new paradigm of innovation in public admin-istration built around three key words: transparency, participation and collaboration. Greater transparency of information about the PA and its way of working should help to regain public confidence in the institu-tions, motivating people to take a more active part in decision making processes. It should also encourage them to support the institutions by inputting their own knowledge and abilities, consequently engendering a widespread spirit of collaboration between different public authorities and between them and the pub-lic, businesses and non profit organisations, in order to relaunching the economic value of the Public Sec-tor Information (Huijboom, Van den Broek, 2011). The hypothesis behind this contribution, starting from an approach based on an interpretation of significant elements in public action (Moini 2013) and of their conceptual framework (Fischer 2003), is that through which open government, open data, social media, collective intelligence, and connectivity are key words in a new rhetoric of administrative innovation - summed up in the label ‘’government 2.0’’ - which refers to a form of public action easily seen to be drawn from the neoliberal paradigm (Jessop, 2002), even though subject to some variegated form at na-tional level

Public-Private Partnership and Infrastructural Development in Nigeria: The Rail Transportation Sector in Focus

The global movement for the transformation of governance has brought about sundry innovations in public administration. One o f such innovations is the Public - Private Partnership (PPP), which is fast becoming an attractive menu in the list of global best practices. The initiative recognises the

The Ambivalent Relations Between Bureaucracy and Public Innovation: The Case of the Successful Failure of Dial Police

Building on a growing body of literature on public innovation and the rediscovery of bureaucracy, this article explores the relations between innovation and bureaucracy. A framework for studying innovation in a bureaucratic context is developed and its relevance assessed through a case study of the successful implementation but failed diffusion of an innovation project. The case study demonstrates how a bureaucratic context represents not only barriers to innovation but also a number of complex drivers. The outline of these ambivalent relations is used to tease out the Janus face of the new spirit of innovation in public administration.

Новации в государственном управлении

The paper analyzes public administration innovations based on foreign and domestic experiences in creating regulatory impact assessment systems. Imperfections in legislative drafting activities on the federal level of the state power are emphasized. Deficiencies, found in the relevant legal acts of the Government of the Russian Federation, are consistently discussed at the meetings of the Government Commission on legislative drafting activities. It is shown that the regulatory impact assessment system can be helpful in eliminating these drawbacks, and significantly update the existing mechanisms and procedures of legal due diligence. It is stated, that in several countries introduction of regulatory impact assessment system have helped to substantially enhance quality control of normative acts elaborated; to streamline and implement quality expert examination of normative legal acts elaborated in terms of achieving goals and purposes of adoption and application thereof.

Impact of Public Administration Innovations onEnhancing the Citizens’ Expectations

This article reviews the contribution of public administration (PA) innovations toward sustainable development and its impact on citizens’ expectations on the performance of the government. Today governments aim to modernize the public administration, to strengthen its capacities and to make it more efficient and accountable.Governments today are using different methods and techniques to find out the citizen’s demands in order to reduce the gap between government and the people and to enhance the public trust as an important factor. The aim of this paper is focused on the review of the new developments on the public administration on the frame of the challenges and process of globalization and its impact on citizens‘ expectations. Today citizens are more or less satisfied with innovations in public administration, however, it is necessity to regularly asses the achievements related to further innovations and their ability to effect the citizens life and enhance their expectations.The research methods of this paper refer to the empirical materials, comparative systematic analysis on public administration developments, archival research, policies and bibliographical analysis.

Operationalising place‐based innovation in public administration

PurposePlace‐based innovation has become central to meeting the complex demands on contemporary public administration. Among the difficulties in introducing new practices is the gap between political authorisation and administrative implementation. This paper aims to use the emergence of new forms of place‐based public administration involved in the (re)introduction of community‐based ideas, practices and instruments into public administration to demonstrate how authorising and operationalising innovation can be addressed in practice.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews placed‐based public administration initiatives in Victoria, Australia over a decade.FindingsTo be effective public sector innovations need both a powerful authorising environment and also a framework for operationalisation. As with private sector innovation new ideas in the public sector often need new institutional arrangements and instruments to enable their effective take up and diffusion. These new arrangements often require the “creative destruction” of previous ways of thinking and working.Originality/valueThis paper contains evidence of new place‐based approaches to public management, that could be of interest to other states and countries.

Debate: The future of public administration— Serving beyond the predictable

The past 30 years has been an extraordinary period of experimentation and innovation in public administration. During this period, public sector reforms have swept the globe. The rapid pace of publ...

PUBLIC SECTOR INNOVATION FOR EUROPE: A MULTINATIONAL EIGHT‐COUNTRY EXPLORATION OF CITIZENS’ PERSPECTIVES

This study presents a three‐year effort to study public sector innovation in Europe from the viewpoint of the citizen. It examines a model of public sector innovation across a multinational sample of eight countries and 626 participants. The paper develops a theory of antecedents to and consequences of innovation in public administration as perceived by knowledgeable citizens and end‐users. Participants were senior and mid‐level managers of third sector organizations that work closely with citizens both as individuals and groups, and with public sector agencies in various domains. Structural Equation Modeling technique was used to examine two theoretical and five alternative models. Major findings that transcend national borders were found to be: (1) responsiveness, together with leadership and vision are important antecedents of innovation in the public sector; (2) public sector innovation affects trust in and satisfaction with public administration; and (3) the effect of public sector innovation on trust and satisfaction is both direct and mediated by the image of public organizations. The paper ends with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications for public administration theory, especially for public sector innovation in Europe, and with directions for future studies.

The Birth of the Biotechnology Era: Penicillin in Australia, 1943–80 1

Abstract As Australia and other countries seek to establish biotechnology industries, it is timely to review successes and failures in this field. One of the most notable stories is the development of penicillin, as a wartime project, to which Australians made major contributions. Australians during and immediately after the war contributed much to the scientific identification and purification of penicillin, and to the industrial scaling up in its production at the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories in Melbourne. This was a classic instance of war accelerating innovations in public administration. Yet the nascent antibiotic industry was never allowed to gain international competitiveness, and was allowed to run down and eventually disappeared by the end of the 1970s. This article is concerned to tease out the puzzle posed by this contrast in aspirations, between the highest levels of scientific and technical achievement in bringing penicillin into widespread use (Australia being the first country in the world to provide penicillin to the civilian population in 1944) and shockingly poor performance in sustaining and developing a national antibiotics industry. As the stirrings of a biotechnology industry may be observed in the first decade of the twenty‐first century, it would be unfortunate to ignore the lessons of this earlier experience at the birth of the biotechnology era.

As origens da participação e da qualidade democrática no Rio Grande do Sul

O objetivo do artigo reside na análise dos elementos que possibilitaram a transição de uma sociedade regional militarista para uma das democracias de mais alta qualidade na América Latina. A história da sociedade gaúcha não explica o nascedouro de movimentos sociais e de inovações na gestão pública nos anos 1980 e 1990, necessitando, portanto, de uma análise mais profunda para entender a forte participação popular. Este artigo resume em seis secções os resultados da observação participante entre 1996 e 2002, bem como a revisão bibliográfica realizada entre 2002 e 2005. Na primeira secção é apresentada a necessidade de entender os processos de democratização de forma diferenciada para sistemas políticos de grande dimensão, e na segunda secção, a bibliografia que apóia esta perspectiva. A terceira secção resume o processo formativo da sociedade gaúcha através da análise da criação de redes de núcleos urbanos, fornecendo a base para a quarta secção sobre as origens da sociedade civil. A quinta secção analisa os atores que influíram de modo ativo na promoção da participação popular nos anos 1970 e 1980, concluindo na sexta secção sobre o papel fundamental exercido pela utopia da Igreja Católica.

INNOVATIONS IN THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN THE BALKAN REGION'

Abstract Summary This article offers an overview of the innovation efforts and opportunities in the public administration in the Western Balkans. It focuses particularly on the relation between the public administration reform processes in the countries of this sub-region and the innovations in the public sector. The case by case review on the current situation in public administration and innovations shows that in spite of the similarities, there are significant differences among these countries. The final section of this article indicates that both the reforms and innovations in public administration in the Western Balkans is a difficult task for all governments in this region. Nevertheless, the innovation process has started and it must continue.

Business Improvement Districts and the Management of Innovation

Innovation is a major theme in contemporary American public administration. Innovative structures are assumed to change both service delivery and managerial behavior. This assumption is currently being tested in many policy areas but perhaps nowhere better than in the management of a recent innovation in public administration: the business improvement district (BID). To discover the relationship between the innovative structure of BIDs and the adoption of an entrepreneurial approach to management, a national survey of BID managers was undertaken. As expected, the survey found that almost half of the BID executives emphasized entrepreneurial activities. But, unexpectedly, the other half were less interested in finding new ways of doing things and more focused on either local political problems or day-to-day supervisory tasks. The conclusion is that innovative structures provide managers with the opportunity to adopt an entrepreneurial approach to management but also with the possibility of not following such an approach.

Innovación de la Gestión Pública: análisis y perspectiva

This article listed several points needed to be considered in terms of innovation and change in public organizations. The role of government has undergone a series of transformations worldwide. The main causes were: the triumph of neoliberalism, the fall of the communist regimes, experience in structural adjustment and the rise of democratic movements. The four sides have transformed the design and functionality of public administration. Organizational change in public administration and eventual innovation is multi - causal. The stages of change; origin, channeling, instrumentation and innovation have peculiar characteristics that don’t necessarily lead a rational track. Change and innovation in public administration is still unfinished project. Perhaps it is a reflection of the discussion of modernity - postmodernity.

State Agencies' Experience with Strategic Planning: Findings from a National Survey

Since the early 1980s, strategic planning has been one of the hot innovations in public administration, promising public agencies the benefits of a rational and highly structured, future-oriented management technique borrowed from the best run private sector companies. Despite some critical assessments (e.g., Bryson & Roering, 1987; Halachmi, 1986; Mintzberg, (1994),[1] an outpouring of books and articles advocate strategic planning as an effective tool for improving organizational decision making and program performance in government (Behn, 1980; Bryson, 1988; Eadie, 1983; Nutt & Backoff, 1992; Olsen & Eadie, 1982; Wechsler & Backoff, 1986; Meising & Andersen, 1991). Strategic planning is defined as a systematic process for managing the organization and its future direction in relation to its environment and the demands of external stakeholders, including strategy formulation, analysis of agency strengths and weaknesses, identification of agency stakeholders, implementation of strategic actions, and issue management. Increasing numbers of government agencies are reported as having adopted some form of strategic planning (Wechsler, 1989). Like many public sector management innovations of the past, strategic planning seems to have been greeted by a high level of initial enthusiasm. There has been, however, little research measuring the extent to which strategic planning is actually used by governments, the nature of the methods and processes used in different agencies, the reasons agencies give for initiating strategic planning, their objectives for the planning process, or the outcomes they believe they have achieved. To remedy this lack of data and to provide answers to questions about the use of strategic planning in the public sector, we conducted a national study of strategic planning in state government.[2] We chose to conduct this study at the level of state government for several reasons, including the increasing importance of the states in the delivery of public services, the relative diversity of state agencies and their tractability as units of analysis when compared to the federal and local levels, and the great interest reported in strategic planning among state governments (Wechsler, 1989). Survey Results Extent of Utilization of Strategic Planning by States Most of the survey respondents (60 percent) reported that they currently use strategic planning in their agency, while 9 percent of the agencies planned to start strategic planning soon, but had not yet initiated it. Twenty-six percent of respondents said their agency had never used strategic planning and had no plans to use it, and about 5 percent of the respondents reported their agency had used strategic planning in the past but currently did not. The primary reason even for discontinuing strategic planning was a change in agency leadership. Other reasons included budgetary cutbacks and personnel changes in planning positions. Only two respondents said that planning was discontinued because it was perceived as a failure in the agency. While we are somewhat surprised both by the high utilization rate and by the low discontinuance rate, there are two plausible explanations for these findings. First, agencies not using strategic planning could be underrepresented in the survey. (In fact, where we have responses for an agency-type from every state, the utilization rate is somewhat lower.) Second, because the large majority of agencies have had fewer than five years of experience with strategic planning, the discontinuance rate is likely to increase in the future, as agencies have more experience and some get discouraged or as leadership changes occur. Despite the longevity of strategic planning practice in the private sector (Bracker, 1980), there is little evidence of extensive public sector use of strategic planning or references to strategic planning in the public administration literature before the 1980s (Behn, 1980; Olsen & Eadie, 1982; Walters & Choate, 1984). …

Members' survey on theory, practice and innovation in public administration

Abstract: This paper summarizes the results of a survey of ipac members carried out in the winter of 1987–88. Members' views were sought about the education and training of good senior public servants, administrative change and reform and the sources of innovation in public administration. In spite of great diversity in background and present condition, the members showed a high degree of unity in regarding public administration as a practical activity very much under the control of administrators. It is a world of nuances, where change does occur, but never quite as planned and seldom according to theory.Sommaire: Cet article résume les résultats d'une enquête menée auprès des membres de I'IAPC pendant I'hiver de 1987–1988. On a demandé les opinions des membres sur la formation et le développement des cadres supérieurs du secteur public, sur le changement et la réforme des administrations et sur les sources de I'innovation administrative. Malgré la grande diversité de formation et de carrières, les membres ont affiché un degréélevé d'unité de pensée concernant I'administration publique comme activité pratique dominée par les praticiens. C'est un monde de nuances où le changement se fait, certes, maisjamais exactement comme prévu et rarement sous la gouverne d'une théorie.