Innovation in the public sector:

The importance of leadership

Prof Jenny M Lewis Director of The Policy Lab

(jmlewis@unimelb.edu.au)

The public sector innovation puzzle

• Complex problems, higher demands on governments, fewer resources

• Increased focus on innovation in public sector organizations to improve policy and services

• If innovation is “creative destruction”, does it contradict bureaucracy and accountability?

• Can we expect government organizations to be risk takers? Do we want them to be?

• What supports innovation in public sector organizations?

Innovation – what is it?

• A disruptive creative force - evolutionary economics (Schumpeter)

• User-driven – organizational studies (von Hippel)

• Knowledge exchange & networks – systems (Lundvall)

• Dynamic capabilities & learning – management (Teece)

• Public sector: user involvement, dynamic environments, governance & leadership

3 important factors • Structure: governance structures, societal

traditions, political & economic context

• Networks: informal relationships between actors, inside and outside of the organization

• Leadership: qualities and capabilities of individuals in the organization

• REF: Lewis, JM, Ricard, LM, Klijn, EH and Ysa, T (2017) Innovation in City

Governments: Structures, Networks and Leadership

Structure

The three cities Barcelona Copenhagen Rotterdam

City type Capital of Catalan (2nd largest city in Spain)

Capital of Denmark

Industrial port (2nd largest city in the Netherlands)

Population (million)

1.6 0.6 0.6

Ethnicity 17% non-Spanish

23% non- Danish (15% non-Western)

49% non-Dutch (38% non-Western)

Unemployment rate

18.2% 5.2% 12%

Structure and context • Stronger local government in Spain than Denmark, the

Netherlands • Copenhagen 7 separate administrations, Barcelona and

Rotterdam more integrated • Barcelona - high unemployment, Rotterdam - ethnic

diversity, high unemployment (document based)

• Common socioeconomic challenges – unemployment, education, pressure on welfare, financial constraint, environment

• Inclusion & integration (Copenhagen, Rotterdam) • Internal organizational challenges (Barcelona,

Copenhagen) (survey based – 175 Copenhagen, 171 Rotterdam, 73 Barcelona)

Innovation drivers – what helps/hinders? The annual budget process

The municipality’s corporate plan

The municipality’s statutory committee meetings

The municipality’s advisory committee meetings

The municipality’s public meetings

Pay and promotion system

Values and culture of executive management (not politicians)

Organizational structure of the municipal government

Quality of proposals coming from officers (not politicians)

Municipal election campaigns

Values and culture of elected politicians (including mayors)

Quality of proposals coming from local politicians (including

mayors)

National government pressure on municipalities

Directives from the EU

The current economic crisis

The business elite of the city

Media attention

Contact with and involvement of citizens and community groups

Hinders

Mostly hinders

Neither helps nor hinders

Mostly helps

Helps

Innovation drivers

• Structures, procedures, contextual factors differ by city

• Innovation drivers/barriers differ by city

- economic crisis helpful in Rotterdam

- elections helpful in Barcelona, Copenhagen

• Copenhagen most positive about innovation drivers overall

Networks

Networks & networking

Networks: Looking back over the last 6 months, who did you

• work with the most on projects in the municipality? (overall structure)

• go to the most when you wanted to get strategic information about something in the municipality? (individual brokers)

Networking: Frequency of communication with actors outside the municipality

Copenhagen: ‘Work with’ network

Divisions = Different colours, Grey = External, Shapes = levels

Rotterdam: ’Work with’ network

Brokers: efficiency or redundancy?

Central ego (star)

Low redundancy of information:

Connected alters

High redundancy (closeness):

Ron Burt: Structural holes - brokerage between disconnected alters = success

James Coleman: Density – High redundancy and more knowledge channels = success

Networks & networking

• Overall - fragmented in Copenhagen, reflects governance structure (separate administrations)

• Brokers - higher up in the hierarchy in Rotterdam

• Brokers ego-networks - Copenhagen more efficiency, Barcelona more redundancy, Rotterdam most balanced

• Significantly more external communication in Barcelona than Copenhagen and Rotterdam

Leadership

Key aspects of leadership for innovation

• The nature of leadership: What is the role of leaders and from where do they gain their legitimacy?

• Main activities: What kinds of activities are the most important for leaders to perform?

• Strategic direction: How is direction achieved in leadership – e.g. by setting goals or by creating joint learning activities?

• How are innovations viewed?

Leadership qualities & behaviours displayed

1. Transformational – visionary, inspirational, long term

2. Entrepreneurial – open to new ideas, initiative, tolerates mistakes

3. Network governance – collaborative, involves others

4. Altruistic – committed to colleagues, sacrifice self-interest, learns from mistakes

5. Transactional – short term, follows procedures

and some overlap …

Leadership types & innovation Type of leadership View of innovation

Transactional Directive leaders who decide on changes and steer subordinates towards them

Transformational Charismatic leaders who initiate the changes needed

Altruistic Authentic leaders who use stewardship and altruistic behaviour

Entrepreneurial Adaptable leaders who take risks and adjust routines

Network governance

Collaborative leaders who connect actors and ideas

Leadership findings

• Transformational, entrepreneurial, network - most strongly related to innovation capacity (altruistic also, transactional not)

• Barcelona - altruistic & transformational

• Copenhagen – transformational

• Rotterdam – altruistic

• Combinations of leadership styles together supports innovation – people with combinations of styles or combinations of people with different styles

The innovation leader

Leadership is crucial! • Transformational, entrepreneurial and network

governance all important types of leadership for innovation

• More positive innovation context, more external networking, also related to innovativeness (self-rated)

• Leadership most important – has biggest impact on innovativeness (self-rated)

• Combination of network brokerage and leadership skills likely even more important to innovation

• Need to identify & support brokers to act as change makers, use leadership to connect, generate enthusiasm, & secure resources

The Policy Lab website: http://arts.unimelb.edu.au/the-policy-lab

The Policy Lab blog: https://medium.com/the-policy-lab