Showing papers in "Public Management Review in 2022"
TL;DR: In this article , a comparative case study of eight Swiss public organizations was conducted to understand the specificities of AI adoption in public organizations throughout the different adoption stages, showing that the importance of technological and organizational factors varies depending on the organization's stage in the adoption process.
Abstract: Despite the enormous potential of artificial intelligence (AI), many public organizations struggle to adopt this technology. Simultaneously, empirical research on what determines successful AI adoption in public settings remains scarce. Using the technology organization environment (TOE) framework, we address this gap with a comparative case study of eight Swiss public organizations. Our findings suggest that the importance of technological and organizational factors varies depending on the organization’s stage in the adoption process, whereas environmental factors are generally less critical. Accordingly, this study advances our theoretical understanding of the specificities of AI adoption in public organizations throughout the different adoption stages.
24 citations
TL;DR: In this article , the authors examined public service resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and studies the switch to telework due to social distancing measures, arguing that resilience only arises in the presence of resources for buffering these demands.
Abstract: ABSTRACT This article examines public service resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and studies the switch to telework due to social distancing measures. We argue that the pandemic and related policies led to increasing demands on public organisations and their employees. Following the job demands-resources model, we argue that resilience only can arise in the presence of resources for buffering these demands. Survey data were collected from 1,189 German public employees, 380 participants were included for analysis. The results suggest that the public service was resilient against the crisis and that the shift to telework was not as demanding as expected.
22 citations
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper investigated how government-sponsored digital platforms facilitated the transition from recovery resilience during COVID-19 to transformative resilience of city-level service provision post-coverage.
Abstract: ABSTRACT This paper investigates how government-sponsored digital platforms facilitated the transition from recovery resilience during COVID-19 to transformative resilience of city-level service provision post COVID-19. Using an in-depth case study of the Weijiayuan platform implemented in the Jiaxing City of China, we found that digital platforms played critical roles in both stages of COVID-19 and helped facilitate the transition from recovery resilience to transformative resilience. This transition was made possible by four conditions: adopting and experimenting digital platforms with public entrepreneurship, achieving a critical mass of usership, incentivizing the coproduction of public services, and generating accountability mechanisms for government responsiveness.
15 citations
11 citations
TL;DR: In this article , the authors explored the impact of public sector innovation laboratory on innovation barriers of public health care and found that by altering the PSO's approaches on interaction, commercialization, mutual learning and independence, the PSI laboratory proves especially influential in tackling innovation barriers related to complexity and organizational competences.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Acknowledging the public sector’s remarkable innovation potential and several challenges hindering its innovation capability, this case study explores the impact of public sector innovation laboratory on innovation barriers of public health care. Findings are based on a Finnish hospital district’s innovation laboratory specialized as an authentic environment to develop novel technology and service solutions with various private sector partners. By altering the PSO’s approaches on interaction, commercialization, mutual learning and independence, the PSI laboratory proves especially influential in tackling innovation barriers related to complexity and organizational competences. Conversely, the lab’s impact on the barriers of risk-aversion and bureaucracy is lesser.
9 citations
TL;DR: In this article , the authors explored the impact of inter-municipal collaboration on the provision of Housing Benefit, a locally administered social security entitlement, and found that collaboration partly limited the decline in service accuracy but gave no protection to service speed.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Resilient organizations maintain functioning during times of unexpected adversity. Collaboration may enhance resilience by enabling scarce information, resources and capabilities to be leveraged across organizations, although it may also impede rapid and flexible decision-making. We explore this dilemma using the case of ‘inter-municipal’ collaboration in England, analysing how the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 affected the provision of Housing Benefit – a locally administered social-security entitlement. Using OLS, probit, random-effects GLS and Hausman-Taylor estimations on time-series data from 187 lower-tier councils, we find that collaboration partly limited the decline in service accuracy but gave no protection to service speed.
9 citations
TL;DR: In this article , the authors derive hypotheses on the role of perceived usefulness and privacy risks of artificial intelligence (AI) in public services based on privacy calculus theory, and find that despite general concerns about privacy, citizens are not susceptible to the amount of personal information they must share, nor to a more anthropomorphic interface.
Abstract: Based on privacy calculus theory, we derive hypotheses on the role of perceived usefulness and privacy risks of artificial intelligence (AI) in public services. In a representative vignette experiment (n = 1,048), we asked citizens whether they would download a mobile app to interact in an AI-driven public service. Despite general concerns about privacy, we find that citizens are not susceptible to the amount of personal information they must share, nor to a more anthropomorphic interface. Our results confirm the privacy paradox, which we frame in the literature on the government’s role to safeguard ethical principles, including citizens’ privacy.
8 citations
TL;DR: In this article , the role of national context in public sector innovation is analyzed and the first stage of empirical evidence uncovers a divergent configuration of innovation types in Italy, Japan and Turkey.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to analyse the role of national context in public sector innovation. Whilst there is a growing literature on innovation types in the public sector, prior studies have analysed data from a single country. Consequently, there is an incomplete understanding of the national context. Our comparative study examines 108 innovations from Italy, Japan and Turkey. The first stage of our empirical evidence uncovers a divergent configuration of innovation types. Further analysis of how national context was constructed by the innovators allows us to provide evidence for a national-context framework for public sector innovation.
8 citations
TL;DR: In this article , the authors explore the contribution of a community empowerment policy to co-production processes and show that changes in working practices and shifts in power can create friction between co-producing actors.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Although frequently perceived as a ‘woolly’ policy concept and a means to reduce public service delivery costs, co-production can lead to increased quality and efficiency of services. In this paper, we explore the contribution of a community empowerment policy to co-production processes. Analysing empirical findings from a mixed-method, longitudinal study through the lens of Myers et al.’s (2017) Theory of Change, the paper develops a model of a successful co-production process. We show that changes in working practices and shifts in power can create friction between co-producing actors. By critiquing specific policies, we inform future co-production research, policy, and practice.
6 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors investigate how and to what extent collaborative governance of utility conservation programs in the U.S. states affects industrial, commercial, and residential ratepayers' program benefits.
Abstract: Collaborative governance can positively affect desired policy outcomes, but questions remain about who benefits. This article asks how and to what extent collaborative governance of utility conservation programmes in the U.S. states affects industrial, commercial, and residential ratepayers’ programme benefits. Panel data analysis shows that collaborative processes improve the equitable distribution of energy savings, but inequities persist, particularly for residential ratepayers. Additional qualitative analysis suggests representation in the collaborative process is not a major driver of equitable distribution of benefits, but that over time, collaboration can help participants to look beyond their individual interests and advocate for other stakeholders’ interests.
6 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors investigate if the presence of effective organizational rules, or green tape, can help keep employees from leaving the organization, using cross-sectional survey and administrative data collected from three local government organizations.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Employee turnover intention is a serious concern for public organizations. In this study, we investigate if the presence of effective organizational rules, or green tape, can help keep employees from leaving the organization. Using cross-sectional survey and administrative data collected from three local government organizations, we find that effective organizational rules, defined by valid means-ends relationships, consistent application, optimal control, and understood purposes, are all associated with lower turnover intention. While our survey research design does not allow us to test causality, these findings suggest important theoretical and practical implications for understanding effective organizational rules and turnover intention.
TL;DR: In this article , the authors examine the theoretical roots of public service ethos and challenges by newer theories of public management before illustrating its contemporary manifestations through three case studies of local government responses to Covid-19 in England, showing how PSE has been adapted in current contexts and continues to inform public management practice.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Covid-19 has led to renewed public support for public services. Frontline workers symbolize a renewed ideal of public service ethos (PSE), though little attention has been paid to how the public managers delivering vital services interpret and mobilize PSE. We show how PSE is implemented by public managers reflecting their local contexts. We examine the theoretical roots of PSE and challenges by newer theories of public management before illustrating its contemporary manifestations through three case studies of local government responses to Covid-19 in England, showing how PSE has been adapted in current contexts and continues to inform public management practice.
TL;DR: In this article , the authors propose a scenario planning model that tests resilience by applying possible-worlds thinking to public services. But the model is based on empirical evidence showing how service design incorporated assumptions that became inaccurate in the COVID-19 pandemic, and how these inaccurate assumptions created pressures for change in the service design and production.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and reverting to normal life and services requires resilience. This qualitative case study aims to help public sector managers understand service resilience and its accompanying breaking points by proposing a scenario planning model that tests resilience by applying possible-worlds thinking to public services. The proposed scenario planning model is based on empirical evidence showing how service design incorporated assumptions that became inaccurate in the pandemic, and how these inaccurate assumptions created pressures for change in the service design and production. The model we propose can help public managers apply such stress tests in practice.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors study how mayors engage with citizens, public managers and politicians across the policy cycle and specifically in four local governance processes: agenda setting, decision-making, public services design and delivery.
Abstract: This paper studies how mayors engage with citizens, public managers and politicians across the policy cycle and specifically in four local governance processes: agenda setting, decision-making, public services design and delivery. Drawing from a survey of 1,067 Italian mayors, we identify four clusters of engagement: Centralized Leadership, Semi-Inclusive Leadership, Conventional Leadership and Multi-Actor Leadership. We find that some mayors prefer to engage with politicians for issues related to public service design and delivery, rather than with public managers, and that if mayors engage citizens in local governance, this is generally done across all the stages of the policy cycle.
TL;DR: This paper explored how other-oriented motivations: sense of community responsibility (SOC-R) and public service motivation (PSM) relate to voluntary support during the Covid-19 crisis.
Abstract: ABSTRACT This paper explores how other-oriented motivations: Sense of Community Responsibility (SOC-R) and Public Service Motivation (PSM) relate to voluntary support during the Covid-19 crisis. Drawing on original panel survey data, collected spring 2020, it compares SOC-R and PSM for civic participation. The study reveals that while both forms of motivations relate to voluntary support, PSM remains stable over time while SOC-R varies. Furthermore, SOC-R develops differently over time for those who engage in voluntary support and those who do not. Such heterogeneity is not observed for PSM. Based on these findings, the paper discusses SOC-R’s contribution to public service resilience.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors investigated how death anxiety depletes the energy of SLBs, resulting in negative consequences for their work drive and public service performance, and examined the importance of trait mindfulness as a boundary condition for determining whether the psychological and work-related outcomes of death anxiety are more or less severe for some SLBs.
Abstract: Drawing on the depletion model of self-regulation, this study investigates how death anxiety depletes the energy of SLBs, resulting in negative consequences for their work drive and public service performance. The study also examines the importance of trait mindfulness as a boundary condition for determining whether the psychological and work-related outcomes of death anxiety are more or less severe for some SLBs. Using time-lagged and supervisor-matched data from 417 respondents, our findings provide new insights into SLBs' psychological response and job performance in the face of a life-threatening global pandemic.
TL;DR: In this article , the authors find that the best predictor of stewardship to society in MOCs is their strategic managerial autonomy, and that increasing autonomy after corporatization can shield service delivery from political rent-seeking.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Corporatization is a trend in local public service delivery. However, research into how public values can be preserved after corporatization has lacked. This study analyses what factors underlie the presence of ‘public values’ in municipally owned corporations (MOCs). I find that the best predictor of stewardship to society in MOCs is their strategic managerial autonomy. This finding challenges the literature on public value failure, which argues that government by proxy should lead to lesser public values. Instead, it is plausible that increasing autonomy after corporatization can shield service delivery from political rent-seeking, which can protect public values.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used a higher-order construct comprising psychological capacities and behavioural capabilities, HERO-INE, to test whether it is an antecedent of Public Service Motivation and Public Value (PV) using data from 259 SLBs working in Australian healthcare.
Abstract: Street Level Bureaucrat (SLB) and Conservation of Resources theories are used to develop measures for Public Value (PV) and a higher-order construct comprising psychological capacities and behavioural capabilities - HERO-INE, and to test whether it is an antecedent of Public Service Motivation (PSM) and Public Value (PV) using data from 259 SLBs working in Australian healthcare collected at two points in time and analysed using Structural Equation Modelling. HERO-INE, PSM, and in-role behaviour explained approximately 40% of the SLBs' PV. The implication is that organizations must ensure that SLBs have the psychological and behavioural capabilities to deliver PV.
TL;DR: This article conducted a domain-based literature review on smart working in the public sector and found that smart working arrangements fall short in augmenting individual control over job and impair interpersonal relationships at work, paving the way for dumb work.
Abstract: Debate on smart working in the public sector is rich, yet poorly systematized. The article fills this gap through a domain-based literature review. A bibliometric investigation enabled us to cluster 72 relevant papers in 5 research streams based on bibliographic coupling. An interpretive approach was undertaken to analyse key themes addressed within and across the clusters. A blurred account of smart working emerged. Despite the triggers fostering the transition towards smart working, its contents are ambiguous. Smart work arrangements fall short in augmenting the individual control over job and impair interpersonal relationships at work, paving the way for dumb work.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that it is not enough to look at local government characteristics such as a municipality's population size, or its economic situation in order to understand inter-municipal cooperation.
Abstract: In this paper we demonstrate how policy-specific characteristics affect inter-municipal cooperation. We argue that it is not enough to look at local government characteristics such as a municipality’s population size, or its economic situation in order to understand inter-municipal cooperation. Instead, we illustrate that these characteristics whether a policy is considered relevant or politicized by local officials are linked to why a municipality cooperates in a certain policy area or not. We combine two surveys of Swiss local administrators and officials conducted in 2017 that include detailed questions on specific policies and their way of provision. We, first, show that there is strong variation in the cooperation intensity across different policies – in addition to cross-municipal variation. Second, we find that the perceived relevance of a policy for a municipality is associated with more inter-municipal cooperation whereas the perceived politicization goes along with less inter-municipal cooperation. These results suggest that policy-specific characteristics play a crucial role in explaining inter-municipal cooperation.
TL;DR: The authors applied boundary theory to public manager efforts to overcome AI capacity gaps through a public sector collaborative learning forum and found that unstructured learning fora are better suited to the transfer of tacit procedural knowledge than declarative knowledge about AI, emphasizing the importance of social trust and network structure to overcome knowledge gaps through peer learning.
Abstract: This analysis applies boundary theory to public manager efforts to overcome AI capacity gaps through a public sector collaborative learning forum. Administrative and interview data identify the types of knowledge managers are able to access, the types of organizational differences that influence learning, and the strategies public managers use to overcome them. Analysis suggests that unstructured learning fora are better suited to the transfer of tacit procedural knowledge than declarative knowledge about AI, and emphasizes the importance of social trust and network structure to overcome knowledge gaps through peer learning.
TL;DR: In this article , the authors examine the government's institutional and financial tools for leveraging private capital in infrastructure public-private partnerships (PPPs). But the specific instruments of government support and their configurations remain unclear.
Abstract: The ability to leverage private investment is a key selling point of infrastructure public-private partnerships (PPPs). Research has shown that to attract private capital to infrastructure projects government support is needed. However, the specific instruments of government support and their configurations remain unclear. Drawing insights from institutional theories and the public finance literature, this paper examines the government’s institutional and financial tools for leveraging private capital. Based on a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis of 34 road projects in the U.S. we reveal the multiple configurations of government support strategies that are consistent with high private investment.
TL;DR: In this article , the authors synthesize the cross-disciplinary literature on city competitiveness published in the past three decades to bring attention to competitiveness as a key topic for public administration and local government performance.
Abstract: ABSTRACT This article synthesizes the cross-disciplinary literature on city competitiveness published in the past three decades to bring attention to competitiveness as a key topic for public administration and local government performance. We systematically reviewed research regarding city competitiveness, its measurement, and its antecendents. Subsequently, to explore the link between local governments and competitiveness, we articulated multiple perspectives to investigate this connection, concluding that while the relationship between government and city competitiveness is still not entirely settled and results are far from consistent, the progress made to date charts a course for future research that centres on public administration contributions.
TL;DR: The authors argue that research has suffered from the lack of a multi-level, process-focused theoretical framework through which goal formation can be understood and studied, and they develop such a framework, which provides conceptual order to a field that is rather messy in theory and in practice.
Abstract: Organizational goals lie at the heart of strategic public management. While research has centred on the performance impact of organizational goals and goal clarity, the field remains unclear on where organizational goals come from and how they form over time. We argue that research has suffered from the lack of a multi-level, process-focused theoretical framework through which goal formation can be understood and studied. Drawing on a problematizing review of the goals-related literature and strategic management-related theory, we develop such a framework, which provides conceptual order to a field that is rather messy in theory and in practice.
TL;DR: The authors explored how public service ecosystems developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on relationships between community-led mutual aid groups and the state, highlighting ways that mutual aid may be brought into existing public services ecosystems.
Abstract: This research explores ways public service ecosystems developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on relationships between community-led mutual aid groups and the state. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, focus groups, and mobile ethnographic methods with 30 participants from the public sector and three mutual aid groups across Scotland. We show how relationships between mutual aid groups and the state – whether complementary, supplementary, or adversarial – shifted over the course of the pandemic. Our findings add nuance to understandings that presuppose mutual aid as antagonistic, highlighting ways that mutual aid groups may be brought into existing public service ecosystems.
TL;DR: In this article , the authors examine three relationships between a pharmaceutical company and public healthcare organizations and reveal that contracts can function as a common reference point, individual boundary objects differ both in their information processing and exchange capacities.
Abstract: The management of public-private relationships to deliver vital public products and services is crucial to ensure high performance. While extant public management studies have started to position contracts as vital in managing information exchange, these studies paid limited attention to unpack the elements within a contract, and their role and capacity, to support (or hinder) information sharing. Drawing on primary and secondary datasets, we examine three relationships between a pharmaceutical company and public healthcare organizations. While findings reveal that contracts can function as a common reference point, individual boundary objects differ both in their information processing and exchange capacities.
TL;DR: In this paper , the consequences of introducing strategic measures in public organizations, for both intra-and interorganizational relationships, interviews in eight - and shadowing in two - public facilities management organizations were performed.
Abstract: To increase knowledge about the consequences of introducing strategic measures in public organizations, for both intra- and interorganizational relationships, interviews in eight - and shadowing in two - public facilities management organizations were performed. Using a frame for data analysis based on institutional work, findings show that, when introducing strategic measures, public officials worked to place their organizations in a new position within the institutional field. During this process, officials engaged in both external and internal institutional work. The findings highlight how tensions between working externally and internally, influences public officials' day-to-day practices.
TL;DR: In this paper , the effects of AI implementation on public sector innovation is explored by asking how AI-driven technologies in public decision-making in different organizational contexts impacts innovation in the role definition of bureaucrats.
Abstract: The paper highlights the effects of AI implementation on public sector innovation. This is explored by asking how AI-driven technologies in public decision-making in different organizational contexts impacts innovation in the role definition of bureaucrats. We focus on organizational as well as agency- and individual-level factors in two cases: The Dutch Childcare Allowance case and the US Integrated Data Automated System. We observe administrative process innovation in both cases where organizational structures and tasks of bureaucrats are transformed, and in the US case we also find conceptual innovation in that welfare fraud is addressed by replacing bureaucrats all together.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors discuss the dynamic interactions throughout networks evolution (lifecycle) and propose several propositions to improve the meta-governance of networks for innovation of public services.
Abstract: Public administrations, to innovate public services, seek strategies beyond market-like mechanisms and claim for clear paths such as lifecycles. This research bridges service management theory and theory of public management to further how networks for public service innovation mediate public value creation; the study, by integrating both theories and the public service logic approach, discusses the dynamic interactions throughout networks evolution (lifecycle). A theory is elaborated, advancing the relevant role of networks lifecycles in public service innovation lifecycles. The research, lastly, offers several propositions to improve (meta)governance of networks for innovation of public services.
TL;DR: This article identified the mediators underlying the strategic planning in public service performance relationship and found that strategic planning has an indirect, positive association with managers' and citizens' perceptions of performance via its impact on external relations.
Abstract: Although strategic planning is ubiquitous within public organizations and despite meta-analytical research showing that it impacts performance, important questions about why it does so remain unanswered. This article addresses this gap by identifying the mediators underlying the strategic planning – public service performance relationship. Multi-informant survey data from managers and citizens in 101 Flemish municipalities are analysed using PLS-SEM. The results show that strategic planning has an indirect, positive association with managers’ and citizens’ perceptions of performance via its impact on external relations. An agenda on other mediators and the potential of PLS-SEM for public management research are presented in conclusion.