Mid Sweden University

Purpose

While research on innovation is extensive, less is known about public sector innovations (PSI) as distributed processes based on both internal and external knowledge. Research has shown that the public sector often imitates private firms’ innovation processes, particularly when introducing new solutions such as digital processes. This occurs despite the fact that the public sector’s goal is not profit, but rather the provision of quality services. In this paper, we explore the consequences of such imitation for PSI processes related to digitalization, with a particular focus on how innovation orchestration functions in these settings.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirically, the paper is based on a regional government initiative that used orchestrators to intermediate innovation processes. Interviews and focus groups were the main data source, complemented by internal documents from the initiative.

Findings

The study develops five propositions that highlight the paradoxical nature of PSI orchestration: the need for top management involvement, which can also stifle innovation; the necessity of orchestrator engagement in implementation, which limits their boundary-spanning role; the benefits of organizing innovation away from daily routines, which simultaneously hampers implementation; the tendency for collaborations among diverse stakeholders to emerge as outcomes rather than drivers of the process; and how the public culture orients the process to resources rather than value.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to previous research by addressing PSI. More specifically, it does so by integrating such research with innovation orchestration. The paper highlights how these processes differ substantially from those in the private sector, particularly with regard to the ability to orchestrate relational aspects as an antecedent to innovation.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to identify and develop a framework to clarify facilitating orchestrator hub-team roles; their interactions, linked capabilities and activities; and the hub-team concept. This framework is illustrated by a case study of an orchestrator hub-team facilitating cross-country and network co-creation in Northern Sweden, Norway and Finland. Design/methodology/approach: The following two approaches are used: a conceptual approach that combines various source materials and concepts related to the “bricolage approach”; and an empirical approach that illustrates the conceptual framework using a longitudinal, qualitative, single-case study and the action research method. Findings: By combining research related to three differing yet somewhat overlapping research perspectives, three facilitating orchestrator hub-team roles are identified, linked to orchestrator capabilities and activities relevant to innovative value creation in extensive networks including both private and public actors highlighting the role of people in networks. An orchestrator hub-team framework and five related activity categories are developed and introduced. Research limitations/implications: This study contributes to research on the orchestration of innovative co-creation in extensive networks and network management by clarifying the facilitating orchestrator hub-team roles and their related capabilities and activities, and thereby describing the role of a centrally positioned hub-team. Practical implications: The hub-team framework may bring structure and understanding to hub-teams, thus easing and enabling orchestration and value co-creation. Originality/value: This study offers a further developed, integrated framework for intermediating the facilitating roles of a hub-team orchestrating extensive network and public/private co-creation. 

Denna publikation Hållbarhetens många ansiktenär en del av de resultat som kommer frånprojektet Hållbart Samhällsbyggande (HåSa):Från mellersta Norrland till Europas glesabygder. HåSa-projektet har via Tillväxtverketbeviljats stöd ur den Europeiska regionalautvecklingsfonden och i denna antologi harmånga aktörer som ingår i projektet medverkat.Arbetet med publikationen inleddes vid enworkshop i Sollefteå i slutet av september 2016.Vi drevs då av en strävan efter att hållbarhetsarbetetpå flera sätt behöver gå snabbare och blimer omfattande och att vi behöver samarbetaöver ämnesgränser inom akademin, men äventillsammans med aktörer utanför akademin.Ett drygt år senare finns nu denna antologi,efter både kreativt och intensivt samarbete, ochden utgör ett konkret resultat av de tankar somföddes i Sollefteå.

This paper addresses capability development in a cross-level context by showing how inter-organizational capabilities may be developed for the purpose of intra-organizational strategic actions. It contributes by addressing the micro process through which middle managers develop capabilities to engage in relationships and activate networks, and in how such capabilities can be used for intra-organizational purposes. A longitudinal case study based on participating observations, informal talks and interviews, illustrates how an external network, made up by sub-units of larger organizations, was created and how the resulting network capabilities and shared knowledge could be leveraged into strategic processes of issue-selling in the intra-organizational context.