Networks & Innovation: The innovative capacity of governments

1. Networks & Innovation:The innovative capacity of governments ANZSOG Annual Conference 6-8 August 2013 Professor Jenny M Lewis jmlewis@unimelb.edu.au

2. Innovation • "All innovation begins with creative ideas. [...] We define innovation as the successful implementation of creative ideas within an organization. In this view, creativity by individuals and teams is a starting point for innovation; the first is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the second". (Amabile, T. M., et al. "Assessing the Work Environment for Creativity." Academy of Management Journal 39(5) October 1996. Ideas + supportive environments = innovation

3. Innovation relates to: • Political/organizational level support for individuals to innovate • Culture that permits staff to engage in risk taking – orientations towards innovation • Space to work across formal, structural silos, include users, outward looking focus • Informal as well as formal relationships between individuals – networks • Innovation is socially constructed

4. Study of public sector innovation • 11 municipal governments in Victoria • Mix of inner/outer metro & rural, wealthy/poor, left/right politically • From 24,000 to 130,000 population • Surveyed politicians & top 4 levels of administration • 765 responses (from 935 people identified) - response rate of 81% See: Mark Considine, Jenny M Lewis & Damon Alexander (2009) Networks, innovation and public policy. Palgrave Macmillan.

5. What is innovation? • Orientations to innovation within an organization construct a culture - more/less supportive of innovation & of particular views of ‘innovation’ • No definition provided in study • Agree/disagree statements (exploratory, empirical question) • ‘Innovation’ is what those in the study think it is

6. 5 views of innovation

7. Innovation means large external changes

8. What helps/hinders innovation?

9. Elections & politicians help/hinder innovation

10. Innovation orientations • Views of what innovation is & what helps/hinders it vary significantly between the 11 governments • Views of what innovation is & what helps/hinders also vary significantly between positions (more senior, more positive) • It matters where you work (which city) • It matters where you sit (what role) From orientations to structures

11. Innovation capacity relates to: Formal structures: • Political & administrative triggers - crises, competition (+) • Decentralized, corporatist governance traditions, strong civil society (+) V. Centralized, rule-bound, silo-bound legal culture (-) Networks (informal structures): • Organizational slack • Network diversity • External/customer focus • Recognition of dependency, distributed costs & benefits • Higher trust & openness

12. Level of external contact

13. Networks of CEOs & Mayors Integrated leadership Disconnected leadership

14. Supporting an innovation culture Orientations: • receptive internal culture – positive view of innovation • acceptance that innovation is risky - permission to fail • sympathetic culture – swimming with the tide • supportive procedures – smoothing the path to change Networks: • good external connections – to gather information & learn from others • solid links between politicians & bureaucrats – for public policy change • ‘go to’ people - central in networks, brokers with cross organizational reach • access to embedded resources (including trust)

15. Learning from Innovation in Public Sector Environments – EU funded research project: • Map, analyseand compare the innovation capacity of 4 cities - Barcelona, Copenhagen, Edinburgh & Rotterdam • Identify the formal arrangements & informal network structures of these cities & link these to their innovation capacities • Provide policy recommendations & guidelines on how structures can be created that exploit the embedded resources of networks, & the type of leadership that is needed to stimulate innovation • Disseminate the research results & policy recommendations • For more information see: http://www.lipse.org/home