Theorethical considerations about Innovation in the Public Sector - potentials, consequences and

misunderstandings

PhD student Laia Martinez,Institute for Society and Globalisation,

Roskilde Universitylamaap@ruc.dk

Theme and type of the paper

Innovation in the Public Sector with emphasis on collaboration and on innovation management

Theorethical paper

Contributions

Theory development about innovation Descriptive definition of innovation

and not normative Analysis of innovation as a dependent

variable of collaboration and innovation management

Criteria for evaluating innovation

Purpose of the paper To reflect on the concept of innovation in the

public sector and to problematise it To explain potentials of innovation to break up

deadlocks, silos, improve the policies and services, etc.

To explain consequences of innovation: innovation as a process, managed chaos (innovation management), collaborative dimension

To explain misunderstandings of innovation: normative vs. descriptive, as a goal in itself or a process?, understanding innovation in general terms

Context of the paper

The paper is part of my PhD project

Ambition to convert the paper into an article

Findings of the paper I

Innovation needs to be understood as a crossdiscipline

Innovation needs to be defined descriptive and not normative:

Innovation is the complex process of creating and implementing new ideas to a particular context with the intentional purpose of improving the quality of public policies and services

Findings of the paper II

Innovation requires a collective effort due the complexity, the risks and ressources that it takes. It implies a process of socialisation. Innovation need to be negociated and is not achieved through contracts!

Findings of the paper III

Criteria for evaluating outputs and outcomes of innovation:

1. Compare the initial purposes of innovation2. Use criteria based on social capital3. Efficiency terms (labour costs reduced or less

bureocracy)4. Quality terms5. Digital technologies6. Organisatorial terms (shared communication)

Findings of the paper IV

Innovation processes are complex and requires management: innovation management

Innovation management is an open concept with a pluralistic view of the roles