Public Services

WHY IS IT ARGUED THAT PUBLIC SERVICES NEED TO BE MORE INNOVATIVE? GIVE EXAMPLES OF THE INNOVATIVE PRACTICES AND DISCUSS THE ISSUES, WHICH ARE RAISED.

→ In public sector innovation there are different drivers:

1. Policy-driven: (central government, policy-makers) – ‘top-down’
2. Organisation-driven: (meeting needs, expectations and aspirations of staff, users, citizens) – ‘bottom-up’
3. Professional-driven: (comparison with other organisations and sharing good practice) – ‘sideways-in’
4. Citizen/User-driven: (demands for change from citizens/service-users)

5. Open Source innovation- user and ‘mass’ innovation (see Eric Van Hippel and Charles Leadbeater)

→ BARRIERS TO INNOVATION IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

• Bureaucratic constraints – lack of freedom to be creative; doing things ‘by the book’
• Lack of organisational flexibility – difficulty in effecting a radical change in direction
• Risk-averse culture – risk-taking is discouraged rather than rewarded
• Too great a focus on processes and too little on outcomes (means rather than ‘ends’)
• Digital divide and social exclusion
• Lack of support (and the necessary skills) for innovation from leaders and managers
• Insufficient learning from effective models
• No resources devoted to innovation (it’s no-one’s job as compared to the armies of people responsible for performance management, inspection, audit etc.)
• Complexity – changes in one part of the organisation can have implications for other parts
• RISK and public accountability
• How do we change the behaviour of the public?

WHY IS IT ARGUED THAT PUBLIC SERVICES NEED TO BE MORE INNOVATIVE? GIVE EXAMPLES OF THE INNOVATIVE PRACTICES AND DISCUSS THE ISSUES, WHICH ARE RAISED.

Introduction

        The reform of public administration is now a worldwide phenomenon, as governments continue to tackle rapid technological, social and economic change as well as the effects of globalization. The public sector is the part of the economy of any nation that is concerned with offering basic government services. The public sector provides certain goods and services, such as healthcare, water management and security services among others.  Moreover, governments usually tend to hire private organizations to provide goods and services for the public sector; which is the process of outsourcing. Some of these goods and services include electronic and communications equipment, roads, freeways and construction. It is thus fundamental for organizations to be innovative in order to stay in the market of the goods and services with which they produce. Innovation is one of the key drivers of productivity. To put into context, an innovation is thus defined as “ the implementation of a new or significantly improved product (good or service) or process, a new marketing method, or a new organizational method in business practices, workplace organization or external relations”; that creates value for which customers will gain utility. For the good or service to be innovative it must satisfy a particular need and have the ability to be reproduced at an economical cost.
        Since the conceptualization of the term ‘new public management’ by Hood in the 1980’s it is argued that public services need to be more innovative, because the rising expectations of citizens need to be met. In addition to this, changes in information and communication technologies provide new opportunities for advances in both effectiveness and efficiency. Ultimately, it is a central stimulus for growing economic productivity and creating new products and markets. It is regarded as the major source of income and competitive advantage, in a world of increasingly competitive global economy and within the public sector especially it is essential in efficiency savings and facilitating create conditions conducive for economic success.  This has resulted in significant redesign of public sector organizations and institutes and modes of policy delivery. The main design objectives have been to ensure that the public sector would be reformed in order to make it more efficient, effective and economic in order to give value to the customer.

        A fundamental element in driving the public innovation scheme in the past few years has been due to efficiency, with cost savings and key policy objectives.  To keep up with public needs and expectations.

“Innovation in public services will be essential to the UK’s ability to meet the economic and social challenges of the 21st century….demand is growing amongst public services that are personalized to their needs.” 2008 INNOVATION NATION WHITE PAPER

        There are fundamental elements and arguments in driving innovation within the public sector: