Abstract
Public sector organisations are confronted with growing health and social care needs in combination with severe resource constraints, prompting interest in innovative responses to such challenges. Public service innovation is poorly understood, particularly where innovators must navigate between the norms, practices and logics of public, private and civil society sectors. We contribute to the understanding of how innovating hybrid organisations are able to creatively combine co-existing logics. Case study evidence from newly established social enterprise providers of health and wellbeing services in England is utilised to examine how innovations are shaped by (i) an incumbent state or public sector logic, and two ‘challenger’ logics relating to (ii) the market and increasing competition; and (iii) civil society, emphasising social value and democratic engagement with employees and service users. The analysis shows how a more fluid and creative interplay of logics can be observed in relation to specific strategies and practices. Within organisations, these strategies relate to the empowerment of staff to be creative, financial management, and knowledge sharing and protection. The interplay of logics shaping social innovation is also found in relationships with key stakeholders, notably public sector funders, service users and service delivery partners. Implications are drawn for innovation in public services and hybrid organisations more broadly.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Research Policy |
Volume | 46 |
Issue number | 10 |
Pages (from-to) | 1755-1768 |
Number of pages | 14 |
ISSN | 0048-7333 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2017 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research on which this paper draws was jointly funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council , Department for Business Innovation and Skills and Nesta (ESRC grant number ES/J008435/1 ). We thank Dan Gregory for his contribution to the empirical research, and also Tim Freeman, Anne-Wil Harzing, Helen Haugh, Stephen Syrett and three anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Authors
Keywords
- Hybrid organisations
- Institutional logics
- Public service
- Social enterprise
- Social innovation