Developing creative leadership in a public sector organisation

The public sector is under pressure to provide new public services with increasingly scarce resources. In response, practitioners and academics have called for more innovation in the public sector. Our understanding of sources of innovation within public sector organizations, however, is inadequate. Motivated by this gap, we develop a conceptual model of how push and pull sources enable innovation within public sector organizations. Key to our theory is that push and pull sources of innovation are enabled by innovation capabilities. Five hypotheses are tested using cross‐country survey data from European public sector organizations. Empirical analysis offers strong support for the central role played by innovation capability in enabling push and pull sources of innovation within public sector organizations. This article advances knowledge of the sources of innovation in the public sector and extends theorizing on push and pull mechanisms by examining their relevance to innovation in a public sector context.

PurposePerformance management in public sector organizations is a growing phenomenon worldwide. Increasingly, questions are being raised as to its effectiveness in achieving the objective of improving the performance of public sector organizations. Research has shown that there seems to be questionable benefits and many barriers, challenges and problems with implementing performance management and measurement in the public sector environment. The purpose of this paper is to argue that this is due to the lack of focus on the process of managing the implementation of performance measurement. The author aims to review the relevant extant literature to support these assertions and to provide a conceptual framework that integrates these ideas.Design/methodology/approachThis paper reviews the extant literature on public sector performance management and measurement and develops a conceptual framework to explain how public sector performance measurement systems can be made more effective in light of the research evidence.FindingsThis paper suggests that three important factors need to be considered in the effective implementation of a performance measurement system in the public sector. They are managerial discretion, a learning and evaluative organizational culture and stakeholder involvement. These three factors are discussed and its impact on performance measurement is explored.Research limitations/implicationsA proposed integrative framework is presented that supports the assertion of the importance of these three factors in influencing how performance measurement can lead to improved performance in public sector organizations. Some potential environmental and institutional constraints are also discussed in implementing some of the suggestions proposed.Practical implicationsThe paper provides a model that explains three important facors that need to be considered in implementing an effective performance measurement system in public sector organizations and suggestions for how it can be implemented effectively.Originality/valueThe paper integrates and synthesizes the literature on public sector performance measurement into a comprehensive conceptual framework that explains more explicitly the factors that can influence the effectiveness of a performance measurement system in the public sector.

The relationship between the innovative capabilities of public sector organisations and the underlying learning processes has only recently been explored in the research in public sector innovation. This paper presents a preliminary literature review of empirical studies published in the last two decades focused on organisational learning and innovative capabilities within the area of public sector innovation. This review shows the advances in the study of organisational learning efforts improving existed innovative capabilities and organisational performance, mostly in the context of advanced economies. However, the process through which organisations engage in efforts to build innovative capabilities has hardly been explored. Allegedly, public sector organisations in developing countries will greatly benefit by exploring the process of innovative capability building, the underlying role of learning, and its outcomes. This review contributes to our understanding of innovation in public sector organisations and the process of innovative capability building, providing suggestions for future research.

Purpose – The public sector worldwide is under pressure to downsize, which has led to mergers of public sector organisations. This paper seeks to bridge the unstudied gap of what happens to organisational reputation after a merger. The paper discusses change and reputation in the public sector, and reports findings of a longitudinal study on stakeholder assessments of four public sector organisations undergoing mergers recently. Design/methodology/approach – Following a theory-driven content analysis, this longitudinal study compares stakeholder assessments of four public sector organisations' reputations a year before an organisational merger with assessments of the two resulting organisations' reputations two years after the merger. Findings – The paper finds that the mergers did not really re-shape reputation, but the once established reputation persevered. Although the organisations faced greater expectations after the merger, only minor changes in reputation were detected post-merger: the reputation for expertise, heavy bureaucracy and trustworthiness remained strong after the merger, but certain traits, such as being international and esteemed, were lost. In both cases, one organisation's prior reputation slightly dominated the new reputation. Research limitations/implications – The findings may be limited to Finland and other Nordic countries, as well as those countries where trust in the public sector is high. Practical implications – Mergers may not change once-established reputations, and hence the improvements desired by mergers may go unnoticed by the different stakeholders. Organisations merging must prepare for increased stakeholder expectations, as the new organisations arise questions. Previous organisational traits may remain in stakeholders' assessments despite any achieved improvements. Originality/value – This paper addresses the gap in studying organisational reputation after public sector mergers, and contributes to both theory and practice by providing insight into the stability of once-established reputations.

Public sector purchasing of health services: A comparison with private sector purchasing

The study seeks to examine the influence of environmental-related factors among middle managers in Malaysian government organization. Specifically, this study seeks to determine the influence of subjective norms and social influence in public organizations on acceptance of change. Present study employed cross-sectional survey involving a sample of 400 Administrative and Diplomatic Officers (ADO) in Malaysian Public Service organizations. The findings highlighted that middle managers’ subjective norms in this study were significant in influencing acceptance of change but are not affected by their social pressure when changes are implemented. Practically, this investigation proffers essential effort in understanding the acceptance of change of middle managers in public service organizations. This study suggests ADO as change agents should be well informed and consulted to create social pressure among them to act in supportive ways of implementing planned change Theoretically, the results of this study append to the literature and to a certain extent provide better explanation of Theory of Reasoned Action and Social Cognitive Theory in the context of acceptance of change. The population of this study involved ADO as middle managers in Malaysian Public Service organizations thus the results cannot be generalized to other level of employees in public sector as well as private service organizations. A comparative study involving both public and private service organizations would be worth studying in future.

PurposeThis paper aims to test the impact of public service motivation (PSM) and love of money (LOM) on innovative work behavior (IWB) and the moderating role of love of money on the relationship between PSM IWB in the public-sector environment.Design/methodology/approachA total of 400 sets of questionnaires were distributed to camat (district heads) and lurah (sub-district heads), civil servants in Yogyakarta municipality, Indonesia. The final sample selected for analysis was comprised of 241 paired data responses. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the study's hypotheses.FindingsThis study found that PSM does not positively influence IWB, whereas LOM does. This study also confirmed the moderating role of LOM in the relationship between PSM and IWB.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, the sample size is limited to civil servants working at districts (kecamatan) and sub-districts (kelurahan) in Yogyakarta municipality. Such a limited amount of sample may have an impact on the findings. Second, causal inferences are difficult to achieve as this study employed cross-sectional data. Longitudinal studies should, thus, be considered for future studies. Third, most respondents are 46–50 years old.Practical implicationsLeaders in public organizations should consider the living conditions of their civil servants when drafting policies to encourage innovative behavior. Theoretically, intrinsic motivation is the dominant factor that encourages people to behave innovatively. This theory, however, may not be viable when applied in a condition where civil servants face a difficult life as a result of their relatively low level of salary. Under such conditions, monetary reward policy can subsequently be an alternative to encourage them to behave innovatively.Social implicationsLeaders should carefully pay attention to this policy and follow what Tang and Ciu (2003) and Frey and Jegen (2001) suggest. As an LOM attitude can lead to improper behaviors (Tang and Ciu, 2003), monetary rewards should be used as a support rather than as a control in reference to the civil servants. Moreover, leaders should consistently maintain the sustainability of their monetary policy to improve IWB. This is because they have changed their focus to monetary rewards rather than intrinsic motivation. When this policy is terminated, it may impact the diminishing IWB.Originality/valueScholars and practitioners agree that IWB can help public-sector organizations improve performance. While most existing research has been conducted in the context of the private sector, this study investigates IWB in the context of public sector organizations. Previous studies have also indicated that the battle between two approaches, utilitarianism and romanticism, continues. Therefore, this study is designed to enrich the debate about this struggle between the two approaches in order to uncover ideas that help explain IWB in a developing country.

The paper provides a conceptual argument for examining the challenge of IT outsourcing in the public sector through the lens of knowledge management. While IS researchers have recently begun to focus attention on the particular challenges of outsourcing in the public sector (P.N. Finlay and R.M. King, 1999; M. Hancox and R. Hackney, 1999), we believe that the shift to more market based solutions is occurring without much consideration for the knowledge resources that exist in the public sector's IT organizations. Hence, we believe that knowledge management, an emerging area that has generated significant enthusiasm in the management literature, has particular relevance for understanding this challenge. The authors identify differences between public and private sector IT outsourcing (S. Bretschneider, 1990), then define and employ key knowledge management constructs to identify potential difficulties that public sector organizations may experience in leveraging their knowledge assets when relying on third party IT service providers.

PurposeLean Six Sigma (LSS) as a process excellence has been widely adopted in both manufacturing and service organizations; however, its application in the public sector has not been widely explored. Is LSS still a myth or reality in our public sector organizations? The purpose of this paper is to make an attempt to debate about the use of LSS and its potential applications in the public sector context.Design/methodology/approachThe initial approach is to critically evaluate the role of LSS in various public sector contexts, followed by showcasing four case studies from four different public sector settings: higher education, police service, public hospital and local government.FindingsLSS methodology can be embraced by all public sector organizations to create efficient and effective processes to provide enhanced customer experience and value at reduced operational costs.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper seeks to contribute to and broaden the limited body of evidence of the applicability of LSS to public sector organizations and identifies areas for further research and review.Practical implicationsLSS will continue to grow across many public sector organizations in Europe and other parts of the world over the forthcoming years. However, what will eventually determine if LSS is viewed by public sector organizations as just a passing management fad or not largely depends on the leadership and success of its execution. If LSS is deployed in its true sense across the public sector organizations at a global level, the hard cash savings generated can reach several billions.Originality/valueThe paper yields an immense value to both research scholars and practitioners who are engaged in the introduction of LSS as a business process improvement strategy to achieve and sustain competitive advantage. Moreover, this paper makes an attempt to dispel the myth of LSS which have been quite prevalent in many public sector organizations around us today.

Knowledge can add value to organizations through intangible assets, defined as Inte llectual Capital. Em ployees' health and well-being is a very valuable asset, since it is possibly the most influential precondition for Intellectual Capital. The general aim of the research is to compare organizational health between nonprofit and public organizations, formulating the following hypothesis: Employees in public sector organizations show a lower level of organizational health than those of nonprofit organizations. The Multidimensional Organizational Health Questionnaire (MOHQ) was administered to 787 participants; 312 (39.65%) worked in public sector organizations and 475 (60.35%) in nonprofit organizations. The MOHQ measures organizational health through twelve independent dimensions. The results show that nonprofit employees have significant higher levels of organizational health compared to employees from the public sector organizations. In particular, higher mean scores are in favor of nonprofit employees in nine out of the twelve dimensions: objectives, valorization, active listening, conflict, personal relationships, operativity, organizational justice, innovation, and positive indicators. The paper identifies areas with a strong need of intervention in order to improve the organizational health of the employees of public sector organizations and to promote the development of Intellectual Capital.

Background This research views policy as a matter of design and seeks to present a range of concrete examples of how design is practiced within public service organizations, thus providing an empirically-based overview of how design is being utilized and where opportunities for innovation can be made. Methods First we reviewed the theory of policy design and reframed it as designing. Second, case analysis was carried out to identify how design approaches are currently applied in public sector organizations in industrialized countries and South Korea, in order to identify the patterns in utilizing design in the public sector. Results First, according to the levels of involvement, the type of public service innovation was divided into “gov-led” and “agency-led”. The former requires stronger government support and participation. Second, the willingness of policymakers was important to operationalize “humancentered design” from the beginning of the policy design cycle. Third, there is a very heterogeneous picture of the types of design approaches sought for a public sector setting: from high-level “policy design” to the more tangible “service design” and “participation” or “co-design.” Finally, the existence of physical “creativity” spaces offers a catalyst to drive innovation while improving the accessibility of design skills and resources. Conclusions We need to shift beyond the problem-solving mode of policymaking toward policymaking as an integrative approach to designing. There is need for further discussions on how HCD value can be integrated into normal processes of policymaking, thereby creating a new way of working and innovating organizational culture.

This study was designed to compare organizational commitment of the employees in public and private sector organizations in food processing industry, to make out the association between subscales of organizational commitment, to compare these dimensions of organizational commitment vis-a-vis different psycho-demographic factors of the employees and to investigate the relationship between organizational commitment and organizational effectiveness. The scope of the study was public and private sector organizations belonging to Punjab and Haryana in food processing industry. The sample comprised 196 respondents drawn from three public Sector organizations, and six private sector organizations. Comparisons made on the basis of hierarchical levels and other psycho-demographic factors make the study comprehensive. The results revealed a very significant and positive correlation between three subscales of organizational commitment and clearly support the idea that aggregated organizational commitment is related to organizational effectiveness indicators.

As the global economy gathers pace, more public sector organizations are realizing that their main assets are their people and that remaining or becoming competitive depends increasingly on the development of a highly skilled workforce. This requires trained and committed leaders but they, in turn, need the leadership of highly effective managers and the support of other senior and middle level leaders and managers. No single leadership is effective in all situations. Many different theories of leadership have been developed through years of research with groups and organizations. It explains that the style a leader chooses depends mostly upon the group's level of readiness. That is, how willing and able the members are to take responsibility as a group. The present research article aims at analyzing the effectiveness of leadership in the public sector. The period of the study was from 2010-2011. The effectiveness of leadership in a public sector insurance giant was analyzed by working out the weighted mean and factor analysis.

As the global economy gathers pace, more public sector organizations are realizing that their main assets are their people and that remaining or becoming competitive depends increasingly on the development of a highly skilled workforce. This requires trained and committed leaders but they, in turn, need the leadership of highly effective managers and the support of other senior and middle level leaders and managers. No single leadership is effective in all situations. Many different theories of leadership have been developed through years of research with groups and organizations. It explains that the style a leader chooses depends mostly upon the group's level of readiness. That is, how willing and able the members are to take responsibility as a group. The present research article aims at analyzing the effectiveness of leadership in the public sector. The period of the study was from 2010-2011. The effectiveness of leadership in a public sector insurance giant was analyzed by working out the weighted mean and factor analysis.

Purpose– The purpose of the paper is to reveal how identities are constructed when electronic identification (eIDs) cards are introduced through information systems in public organisations.Design/methodology/approach– Through two case studies, the authors generate rich data on the construction of identities through use of eID within public organisations. The author’s analysis, based on actor network theory, focusses on the translation of eIDs in these two settings.Findings– ID can be viewed as an artefact where the public and private spheres meet. The authors found at least three mixed roles in employees’ use of eID: as a purely private person; as a private person in the work place; and as a professional in the work place.Research limitations/implications– There is a need for further research on how eID is translated into organisational contexts and how institutional settings define the openings for local translation processes. However, the results are based on two small cases, meaning that broad generalisations are difficult to make.Practical implications– EID is so much more than technology. The technical framing of the identification system appears to be subordinated to organisational arrangements and cultures, making it important to apply a socio-technical perspective when working with eID.Originality/value– The empirical cases have offered a unique chance to study implementation and use of eID in two very different public service organisations. The findings illustrate how eID translated into organisational contexts, and how identity management within an organisational setting is linked to the employees’ private and professional roles.