Public sector creativity as the origin of public sector innovation: A taxonomy and future research agenda

This systematic literature review analyses how public servants apply workplace creativity to come up with ideas for public sector innovations, defining public sector creativity and analyzing its practices, features, trends, and hiatuses in knowledge for which we provide a future research agenda. Creativity is the origin of innovation. Public sector creativity, however, is theoretically undefined and underexamined, resulting in unclarity on what constitutes public sector creativity. We define public sector creativity as “public servants coming up with novel and useful ideas through various practices.” Our findings indicate that public servants apply at least six taxonomically distinctive creative practices, and although they are involved to different extent in generating the initial idea and thus do not always generate ideas autonomously, they are creative in finding alternative ways to come up with ideas. However, our review indicates hiatuses in knowledge on public sector creativity, for which we provide a future research agenda.     

Public management: first approximations

Public Management as a synthesis of business management and public administration confronts some severe conceptual problems that are rooted in the dissimilarities between business and government. In the two books reviewed, the authors attempt to build concep- tual frameworks for studying public management which minimize the importance of many of these differences. As a result, both books come closer to meeting the expanding market for texts which present management tools and techniques than most of the other texts written in the past few years using a “Public A.dministration as Political Science” approach. Nevertheless, both books still fall considerably short of providing a coherent and comprehensive solution to the problem of defining the scope and substance of the field of Public Management. Therefore, Public Management, as presented in these books, remains largely a truncated field of study limited to issuestof internal management control and ,cost effectiveness. For the field to flourish, it must find a way to bridge and dissolve the dichotomies between politics and administration, policy and management, and political and technical rationality.     

The environmental determinants of diversity management: Competition,collaboration and clients

Diversity management has received considerable attention in public management research. Most existing research, however, analyses the effects rather than the determinants of diversity management. Using panel data on American hospitals from 2008 to 2011, we probe how market competition, inter‐organizational collaboration and clientele diversity affect diversity management adoption. We find that all three environmental factors increase diversity management adoption. Hospitals in competitive markets are more likely to adopt diversity management strategies when they engage in extensive service collaboration and serve a diverse population. Monopolies in less collaborative environments lag behind in adopting diversity management, especially when they serve ethnically homogenous populations. Our findings broaden understandings about what drives diversity management practices and add to the literature on the external contingency of managerial practice.     

Applying strategic management to economic development: benefits and challenges

Strategic management has become one of the popular managerial techniques emphasized by policy makers and public managers in recent years. Many local government officials are especially interested in applying this technique to improve the effectiveness of their economic development policies and programs. This paper examines issues associated with the application of strategic management concepts to local economic development. The paper first provides an overview of basic concepts of strategic management and special issues of public strategic management. It then focuses on the background of local economic development and the linkage between strategic management and economic development. The paper finally addresses the benefits and challenges associated with the development of strategic economic development.     

Community engagement in Australian local governments: a closer look and strategic implications

Public input into decision-making through participatory and deliberative democratic practices has become a widely accepted and legislated responsibility of Australian local governments. At any one time, councils are leading submission processes, workshops and online surveys on a multitude of projects, ranging from long-term community strategic plans to public art projects. The increase in these practices has been exponential, leaving little time for critical reflection. The lack of empirical data to illustrate how community engagement is understood and practised in different councils has hindered sector-wide reflection. This paper presents the findings of the ‘Local Government Community Engagement Census’, a survey of 175 councils – approximately half – from 4 of Australia’s eastern states. This sectoral snapshot provides a picture of how councils understand, prioritise and practise community engagement, allowing critical reflection, an interpretation of implications and suggesting areas for future research.     

International perspectives on public sector management and productivity: an introductory synthesis

The last ten years have seen the adoption of many significant public sector productivity initiatives globally. This special edition grew out of the first World Congress of the International Productivity Network, held in Canberra, Australia, in July 1992. Four themes are explored.     

Critical reactions to the japanese management model: A public sector perspective

Because there has been considerable interest in the Japanese management model, this study explores its limitations for the American setting and particularly the American public sector. These limitations include (1) cultural barriers, (2) the incompleteness of the model, and (3) undesirable elements in the model. This analysis concludes that there is little new in humanistic or participative terms to be found in the Japanese approach. Despite several objectionable elements in the model, some of its devices are instructive and may be carefully adapted to public sector use, but adoption of the whole model is unlikely and undesirable.     

Differences in burnout,by sector: Public vs. business estimates using phases

Much attention has been directed at testing for differences between public and business sectors. This article continues that tradition, with a focus on burnout. A phase model is utilized, which permits estimates of both severity as well as incidence. Business organizations tend to be more heterogeneous than public organizations in their incidences and severities of the burnout phases but, beyond this point, no simple and consistent differences seem to apply.     

Motivations behind citizen aid: Norwegian initiatives in The Gambia

Abstract

Little is known about citizen aid initiatives originating in Norway, and they are not recognised as part of the official Norwegian development aid. Citizen aid initiatives are personal and small, and by themselves they do not raise large sums of money, nor do they individually have a large-scale development impact. But collectively, their influence on sponsors in Norway and on aid beneficiaries in the Global South might be substantial. Through qualitative interviews, this study explores the motivations of Norwegian founders of citizen aid initiatives, who run small development projects in The Gambia. The study finds that they are motivated by the very characteristics of these citizen aid initiatives which set them apart from formal development organisations. These include the initiatives’ small size, which allows for a personal closeness to and control over the projects. These features are often interconnected with motivations stemming from the founders’ personal experiences. The study finds that, inasmuch as the founders see the need for beneficiaries to be supported, they also experience a need to help themselves. The founders’ identities, as helpers and givers, are both formed and continually reinforced by their personal involvement in this specific type of aid work.     

The financial management initiative in the u.k. public sector: the symbolic role of performance reporting

The emerging principles of performance reporting are explored in the context of urban policy and inner city regeneration programmes in the UK, upon which a great deal of evaluative research has been carried out in the last decade. The paper questions the extent that performance management principles as embodied by the FMI are necessary for public accountability. It illustrates that implementation of performance reporting in the urban regeneration programme has had a symbolic role in generating myths and images about practice which imply that the “rational model” of decision making is in operation. The imposition of performance reporting cannot per se guarantee improvements, in the sense of learning, in the organising approaches adopted by public sector organisations.     

Strategic communication by regulatory agencies as a form of reputation management: A strategic agenda

This article develops a strategic agenda concerning regulatory agencies' strategic communication in light of the reputation literature. It highlights the main strands in this literature, presents the fundamental findings discovered so far, responds to the critiques that have recently surfaced, and offers guidance about where scholarship on strategic communication might most profitably head. The critiques discussed here centre on two aspects: (i) the claim that an agency's communication choices are to some extent driven by the distinctive logic of the media rather than by reputational concerns, and (ii) the argument that strategic communication provides only short-term solutions to emerging threats and is therefore overemphasized in the literature. Future agendas include, for example, the selection of audience segmentation strategies, and the management of competing and even contradictory communication for segmented audiences when agencies enjoy exclusive jurisdiction, as opposed to cases in which other agencies share the same stage.     

The role of imprinting on the adoption of diversity management in German universities

This study questions the universal effect of organizational imprinting and argues that the relevance of the imprint differs across organizations' administrative levels. Specifically, this study analyses how institutional founding conditions affect the adoption of diversity management, as a method of responding to increasing institutional pressure to conform to a logic of inclusion and equality in institutions of higher education. Focusing on 112 universities in Germany, results show that the imprint does not affect the adoption of diversity management in general but does so at higher administrative levels. Through a discussion of these findings, this study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of how imprinting affects organizations. Further, it contributes to a better understanding of factors that influence the diffusion of diversity management in universities.     

Public management in South Asia: dimensions and directions of change

Public management in South Asia has been influenced by the colonial past which has resulted in the domination of administrative systems by the bureaucrats. Bureaucracies remained firmly entrenched as powerful groups and performed both administrative and political functions. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka represent cases with similar backgrounds which opted for different political and economic systems after achieving independence. Consequently, a number of issues have emerged in public management in South Asia. These include debureaucratization of the policy process, complex relationship between specialists and generalists, integration of administrative structures, reconciliation of merit and equity, choice between professional and political patronage, revitalization of management, bridging the ever widening gap between the citizens and administrators, and the establishment of a sound ethical base of administration. The success of South Asian governments in dealing with these issues will determine, to a considerable extent, the dimensions and directions of change. While some of the issues will have to be addressed in the natural course of development, others will require a substantial degree of commitment from the governments as well as the societies.     

Context matters: A Bayesian analysis of how organizational environments shape the strategic management of sustainable development

Public administration scholars have argued the need for a ‘general theory’ linking strategic management to the context in which public organizations operate. Understanding the interplay between organizational contexts and strategic management responses to urban sprawl and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remains an underexplored avenue for empirical advancement of this goal. Using 2015 survey data, we employ a novel Bayesian item response theory (IRT) approach to test how land use policy comprehensiveness, organizational capacities, leadership turnover, and environmental complexities affect the strategic management of smart growth policy in local governments. We find that public organizations harness political, administrative, and community capacities in varied combinations to better achieve their policy objectives, but these influences may not be complementary. Also, policy comprehensiveness generally relates to more strategic activity, while municipal executive turnover offers opportunities and threats to some smart growth strategies. Implications of this research are discussed.     

Drug testing in the public sector: The role of unions

Not surprisingly, unions have traditionally played an active role in employee drug testing. And, although the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of drug testing in two 1989 decisions, unions have continued to wage challenges to urinalysis under the U.S. Constitution and in the labor arena. As this research shows, federal as well as state and local government unions have had some success in challenging the categories of employees targeted for testing, good faith bargaining over drug testing, and due process and equity violations around testing.     

Public budgeting and financial management curriculum reform: A conceptual framework

Public budgeting and financial management (PBFM) education has been undergoing intense scrutiny which can be seen through many professional conferences, journal symposia, and recently, the creation in 1984 of a Task Force on Budgeting and Financial Management Curriculum Reform by the Section on Budgeting and Financial Management of the American Society for Public Administration. This study analyzes pedagogic deficits in PBFM, suggests a comprehensive scope of PBFM, points to some dilemmas in PBFM curriculum design or reform, proposes some models for a curriculum reform, and raises some implementation constraints in each model.