Resumen de Innovation in public sector services
- español
Estudios previos han abordado algunas de las características distintivas de la innovación pública, tales como los factores que influyen en la generación de innovaciones, los factores que habilitan el proceso de innovación y también las barreras que dificultan dicho proceso. Así pues, la innovación pública es un tema ha ganado atención en los últimos años. La presente tesis doctoral se aproxima al tema en cuestión a través de un enfoque empírico-cuantitativo, lo cual ha sido poco frecuente en la literatura que hasta ahora se ha desarrollado. En particular, tres objetivos orientan el análisis y las preguntas de investigación: 1) Proponer nuevas ideas y dar evidencia empírica acerca de los principales factores que conducen y habilitan la innovación pública, 2) Identificar algunas de las características distintivas de la dinámica de la innovación del sector público, y 3) Evaluar los resultados de la implementación de innovaciones. En el Capítulo 1 se identifica algunos de los factores que conducen y habilitan la innovación de servicios públicos, a la vez que se evalúan sus efectos sobre el desempeño innovador de las organizaciones públicas. Para el análisis se han empleado datos de los 27 países de la Unión Europea, recabados en la Innobaroter 2010 Survey. El Capítulo 2 provee de un marco conceptual útil para comparar cuán significativo es el uso de fuentes de información externas y externas para la implementación de innovaciones en servicios. Al mismo tiempo, se mide la significatividad estadística del uso de ambos tipos de fuentes de información, sobre la implementación de innovaciones en servicios. Esto último, como en Capítulo 1, a partir de evidencias obtenidas de la Innobarometer 2010 Survey. Nuevamente usando los datos del Innobarometer, el Capítulo 3 presenta evidencia empírica que apoya suposiciones acerca del potencial de las innovaciones de las organizaciones públicas para obtener efectos positivos tras haber sido implementadas, y acerca también del riesgo de sufrir efectos negativos. El Capítulo 4 presenta una visión alternativa en el análisis de la innovación pública y sus resultados. Una gran cantidad de estudios se basan en la observación de organizaciones públicas en países desarrollados. De modo que, ¿son sus hallazgos igualmente válidos en el contexto del sector público de países en vías de desarrollo? Este capítulo se propone aproximarse a la respuesta. Para tal propósito, la metodología consiste en el análisis de iniciativas participantes en el Premio Gobierno y Gestión Local, siguiendo un enfoque de estudio de casos. La hipótesis principal en la presente tesis doctoral sugiere ver la innovación pública bajo un enfoque teórico multi-agente, de modo que se entiende que las organizaciones públicas mantienen un alto nivel de interacción con otras organizaciones e individuos. Esta visión ha de considerar también varias vías para la generación de procesos innovadores, además de aquellas que son conducidas bajo estructuras jerárquicas rígidas. Las conclusiones obtenidas del análisis en los cuatro capítulos descritos son de ayuda para apoyar la validez de la visión sugerida.
- English
Studies already acknowledge some distinctive features of public innovation, such as factors having an influence in innovation generation, factors enabling the innovation process and also barriers counteracting the innovation process. Public sector innovation is an issue increasingly demanding for attention. The present dissertation is aiming on the issue through an empiricalquantitative approach. What has been stated in theory has only in a few cases been properly compared to corresponding empirical data. The present study is one more step ahead in that direction. A main objective of this dissertation is to challenge conventional thinking about public sector being a barren ground for innovative activities. There is an emerging tradition of public innovation studies where it can be observed a tendency to contradict the view of a public sector where sustainable improvement processes are neglected. The conclusions that may be obtained after the applied empirical methods are meant to be part of it. Three particular objectives lead the research questions and analysis presented along dissertation: 1) making some propositions and giving empirical evidence on the main factors driving and enabling public innovation to its successful implementation, 2) identifying some features of the innovation dynamics that can be seen as specific of the public sector and 3) making an assessment of results of innovation implementation. Innovation in the public sector is the result of a complex process in which many factors play a role. Factors are of different kinds and they can be identified under different theoretical views on public innovation. Lack of the right incentives – market incentives in particular – has been thought for a while to be at the root of the public sector’s innovation gap. However, despite lack of market incentives, it is possible to find a set of factors that are useful to innovation development in public organizations. Chapter 1 is addressed to identify some factors driving and enabling public sector innovation and to assess their effects on the innovation performance of public sector organizations. The analysis is based on data at EU level provided by the Innobarometer 2010 Survey. Results of empirical analysis suggest that factors related to some degree of use of external sources of information, active involvement of managers and implicating staff and users in the innovation process have a positive effect on implementation of service innovations; furthermore, they have a particularly significant effect on the implementation of services that are new to the whole public sector. In turn, political and legislative factors seem to be useful for implementing service innovations but their effect on new service implementation could not be properly assessed.
The use of external sources for innovation has an increasing role in organizations of all kinds; they can be essential for creating and developing innovation. With a particular theoretical approach, Chapter 2 provides with a framework to compare how significant it is for public service innovation the use of internal and external sources of information in innovation development. At the same time, statistical significance on innovation implementation from the use of both kinds of sources is assessed basing on evidence from the Innobarometer 2010 Survey. Results indicate a positive and significant relation between both the use of internal and external sources of information and the implementation of service innovations. They also give evidence to believe that using external sources of knowledge and information for innovation development is especially important for the implementation of services that are new to the whole public sector. High risk aversion is argued to be one of the main causes for the innovation gap between public organizations and private firms. At the same time, risk aversion is a consequence of public policy leaded by public accountability instead of market profit. Then, one could reasonably ask what is worth for public organizations to take the risks of innovation. For approaching to the answer, the followed method consists in estimating probabilities of positive and negative effects experienced after implementation of service innovations by public organizations represented in the Innobarometer 2010 Survey. Chapter 3 presents empirical evidence for helping to support assumptions about the potential of public innovations for achieving positive effects after implementation, and also about the risk of suffering some negative effects. Analysis is based on statistical significance of the effect of being an organization that has implemented service innovations on the probability of experiencing certain positive and negative effects from innovation implementation, this compared to the effect of being an organization that has implemented services that are new to the whole public sector. Results suggest there is only a slight significant impact from new service implementation on the probability of having positive effects. In turn, the impact of new service implementation on the probability of having negative effects is significant and of an important magnitude. Chapter 4 presents an alternative view for the analysis of public innovation implementation and its results. A big portion of public innovation studies are based in the observation of public organizations in developed countries. Therefore, are their findings equally valid in the context of developing countries’ public sector? This chapter has as a purpose to approach to the answer. For doing so, methodology consists in the analysis of initiatives participating in the Local Governing and Management Award, following a cases-study approach. Results from observations support the idea that poorly developed institutions often fail in improving from innovation, since innovations requires an appropriate institutional set-up. Nonetheless, an important and useful conclusion from this analysis is that innovation may be especially helpful for developing institutions and, later on, implementing higher leveled innovations. The central idea in this thesis dissertation suggests a view of public innovation under a multiagent framework, in such a way that public organizations keep a high degree of interaction with other organizations and individuals and also consider various ways for generating innovative processes, on top of those processes leaded under a rigid hierarchical structure. Results and conclusions obtained from empirical analysis in previous four chapters are helpful for supporting validity of the suggested view. The distinct ways for public innovation are reflected in the importance for new service implementation found in factors such as ideas and participation from staff, users and suppliers, and also in support from authorities and middlelevel managers. At the same time, results on the importance of using external sources of information towards implementing new services support an approach for public innovation which concedes a significant role to collaboration and participation from external agents, especially users and suppliers.
