Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Promoting public sector innovation: who does what, when and how?

Fred, Mats LU orcid and Mukhtar-Landgren, Dalia LU (2024) In Public Policy and Administration
Abstract (Swedish)
A strong and prevailing innovation imperative is sweeping across the public sector and despite a growing literature on public sector innovation (PSI), the actors driving these processes tend to end up in the background of analysis. Based in an analytical framework of narrative theory and organization studies, and the efforts to introduce Social Impact Bonds (SIB) in Sweden as empirical case, the aim of this article is to unpack and analyze the neglected initial stages of PSI. Building on a 4-year qualitative study, the analysis shows that actors promoting PSI narrate the public sector as in need to “open up” for (1) new actors; (2) new services and solutions; and (3) new forms of knowledge. Our findings suggests that the initial stages of... (More)
A strong and prevailing innovation imperative is sweeping across the public sector and despite a growing literature on public sector innovation (PSI), the actors driving these processes tend to end up in the background of analysis. Based in an analytical framework of narrative theory and organization studies, and the efforts to introduce Social Impact Bonds (SIB) in Sweden as empirical case, the aim of this article is to unpack and analyze the neglected initial stages of PSI. Building on a 4-year qualitative study, the analysis shows that actors promoting PSI narrate the public sector as in need to “open up” for (1) new actors; (2) new services and solutions; and (3) new forms of knowledge. Our findings suggests that the initial stages of PSI are substantially more formative than previously indicated. We show how the innovation at hand function as a discursive node towards which the actors’ storylines gravitate. Despite differences, the actors involved narrate their world similarly constituting discourse coalitions that connects and aligns their interests and objectives. We argue that the early stages of PSI are to be understood as cognitive and narrative struggles, or negotiations. The potentially good news here is that change continuously takes place in processes of PSI, despite narratives of inertia. The potentially bad news is that the same change is difficult to predict, control and govern.
(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
keywords
discourse coalition, public sector innovation, Social impact bond, storyline, Translation theory
in
Public Policy and Administration
publisher
SAGE Publications
ISSN
1749-4192
DOI
10.1177/09520767241271848
project
Mot en offentlig utvallskultur?
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4f152118-f5d8-4916-8ccc-397c1954bfc1
date added to LUP
2024-08-28 15:33:47
date last changed
2024-08-29 10:42:40
@article{4f152118-f5d8-4916-8ccc-397c1954bfc1,
  abstract     = {{A strong and prevailing innovation imperative is sweeping across the public sector and despite a growing literature on public sector innovation (PSI), the actors driving these processes tend to end up in the background of analysis. Based in an analytical framework of narrative theory and organization studies, and the efforts to introduce Social Impact Bonds (SIB) in Sweden as empirical case, the aim of this article is to unpack and analyze the neglected initial stages of PSI. Building on a 4-year qualitative study, the analysis shows that actors promoting PSI narrate the public sector as in need to “open up” for (1) new actors; (2) new services and solutions; and (3) new forms of knowledge. Our findings suggests that the initial stages of PSI are substantially more formative than previously indicated. We show how the innovation at hand function as a discursive node towards which the actors’ storylines gravitate. Despite differences, the actors involved narrate their world similarly constituting discourse coalitions that connects and aligns their interests and objectives. We argue that the early stages of PSI are to be understood as cognitive and narrative struggles, or negotiations. The potentially good news here is that change continuously takes place in processes of PSI, despite narratives of inertia. The potentially bad news is that the same change is difficult to predict, control and govern.<br/>}},
  author       = {{Fred, Mats and Mukhtar-Landgren, Dalia}},
  issn         = {{1749-4192}},
  keywords     = {{discourse coalition; public sector innovation; Social impact bond; storyline; Translation theory}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Public Policy and Administration}},
  title        = {{Promoting public sector innovation: who does what, when and how?}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/09520767241271848}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/09520767241271848}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}