1st Edition
Innovation in the Public and Nonprofit Sectors A Public Solutions Handbook
In the organizational context, the word "innovation" is often associated with private sector organizations, which are often perceived as more agile, adaptable, and able to withstand change than government agencies and nonprofit organizations. But the reality is that, while they may struggle, public and nonprofit organizations do innovate. These organizations must find ways to use shrinking resources effectively, improve their performance, and achieve desirable societal outcomes. Innovation in the Public Sector provides alternative frameworks for defining, categorizing, and studying innovation in government and in the nonprofit sector.
Through a diverse collection of international case studies, this book broadens the discussion of innovation in public and nonprofit organizations, demonstrating the hurdles organizations face and examining the technological advances and managerial ingenuity innovators use to achieve their goals, both within and beyond the boundaries of the innovating organization. The chapters shed light on key issues including:
- how to conceptualize innovation;
- how organizations decide between competing good ideas;
- how to implement innovation;
- how to contend with challenges to innovation;
- how to judge success in innovation
This book provides current and future public managers with the understanding and skills required to manage change and innovation, and is essential reading for all those studying public management, public administration, and public policy.
Biography
Patria de Lancer Julnes, PhD, is Director of the School of Public Affairs at Penn State-Harrisburg, USA.
Ed Gibson, PhD, is Associate Professor of Public Administration in the College of Public Affairs at the University of Baltimore, USA.
"De Lancer Julnes and Gibson have assembled a collection that provides a much needed antidote to the view that it is only the private sector that innovates. From municipal planning and technological innovations, through coaching in community colleges and measuring culture value in museums, to collaborative governance arrangements, this collection showcases the wealth of innovation occurring in the public and not-for-profit sectors. The contributions address how to conceptualize and study innovation, explore how innovations come to be and how organizations choose, describe how they are implemented in the face of challenges, and finally, discuss how innovation success can be judged. It is a must read for anyone interested in this topic." –Jenny M Lewis, University of Melbourne
"Public managers are expected to be innovative and "do more with less," but actual innovation cannot be reduced to a checklist. Patria de Lancer Julnes and Ed Gibson’s textbook demystifies innovation. Innovation in the Public and Nonprofit Sectors is rich in current, practical demonstrations that inspire and provide lessons in how to be innovative. It is ideal as a text for professionals in training as well as practitioners." –Alan Lyles, University of Baltimore
"An excellent compendium of cases from the nonprofit and public sectors that moves us well beyond traditional approaches to innovation that assume organization-centric perspectives, top-down leadership, centrally-resourced funding, and official channels of communication. These cases and their analyses point us toward the next generation of research and practice—a network-centric perspective on innovation that requires trans-organizational leadership and cross-boundary collaborations among a network of stakeholders. This shift is welcomed and much-needed in today’s dynamic environment. It affords a much more nuanced understanding of innovation in all of its complexity." – Nancy Roberts, Naval Postgraduate School
