This chapter discusses the rationale or “why” of public sector innovation. Understanding the “why” question is vital because, without a purpose, innovations may not be successful or not worth trying. Innovations benefit nations, organizations, and employees differently, so understanding rationales for innovation is vital. This chapter provides information about rationales for innovation while summarizing the historical background and different levels of analysis. For example, innovations at the national level can increase national competitiveness, job creation, social wellbeing, economic development, and growth. Innovations in public organizations can increase the quality of public services and citizen satisfaction with these services. Innovations at the organizational level can increase employee creativity and performance. This chapter provides compelling stories about how and why public organizations must innovate.

This chapter focuses on how governments, public organizations, and public sector employees and managers can be more innovative. In other words, the motivating question is: What are the drivers and conditions for innovations in the public sector? Conditions for innovation are also essential because public sector employees, employees’ work groups, public organizations, countries, and international and supranational organizations must innovate. Thus, an important question becomes how and why individuals, groups, organizations, countries, and international organizations achieve innovations. What are the conditions for innovation? Answering this question is vital because it explains how governments (at national, regional, state, and local levels), organizations, groups, and individuals can innovate when there are the right conditions. In other words, based on the context and actors’ involvement, public organizations may require different conditions to innovate. This chapter discusses drivers and conditions of innovations at the national, organizational, workgroup, and individual levels.

Are there differences between public and private organizations? If so, what are they, and why do these differences matter for innovation? This chapter provides answers to these questions. It discusses the similarities and differences between public and private organizations, along with what makes public organizations “public.” Scholars have been discussing the unique aspects of public organizations for some time based on ownership, funding, control, and the personnel management system. Generally, if an organization is owned and controlled by the government, its funding primarily comes from the government, and its personal system is regulated or controlled by the government, then this organization is a public organization. Understanding sectoral differences matter because these distinctions may have different implications for different outcomes, including innovation. Thus, this chapter also discusses how these differences affect innovative activities in the public sector. For example, the rationale (the “why” question), the mechanism (the “how” question), the criteria for success, the measurement, accountability, the organizational climate, and the transferability of innovations differ based on the sectoral differences that this chapter explains.

This chapter aims to dig deeper into the source of knowledge driving innovation. What are the sources of innovation and how different sources impact innovations are other vital questions for academics, practitioners, and students. After providing historical developments, this chapter discusses sources of innovation by analyzing a typology of top-down vs. bottom-up, external vs. internal sources of innovation, and collaborative sources for innovation. For instance, while ideas emanating from employees are typically bottom-up and internal sources, ideas emanating from the prime minister are top-down and external sources of innovation. This chapter also discusses external innovations beyond the government, such as business and industry, citizens, service users, universities, and research centers, and the implications of these different sources on public sector innovation.

This chapter analyzes the influences of the disparate impact of public sector innovation. It is one thing for a public sector organization to innovate but quite another for that innovation to have an unequivocally positive impact. If we consider innovation as an ecosystem, there are inputs, actors, and processes, and there should also be outputs and outcomes. Innovation for the sake of innovation will not work, so we need to consider and analyze particular effects, such as benefits, outputs, and outcomes, both in the short and long term. We can also connect the outputs and outcomes of innovations and features such as the context, sources, conditions, and barriers to innovation. For example, an innovation may have different outputs and outcomes in different contexts, and one source of innovation (e.g., bottom-up innovations) may bring about more positive benefits to organizations under certain conditions (e.g., more resources). This chapter defines outputs and outcomes and discusses how they can be associated with innovation. Then, it explores and discusses how outputs and outcomes can be linked with sectoral differences, different levels of analysis, and negative outcomes of innovation.

This chapter explains and discusses the definition of public sector innovation. Public sector innovation includes two concepts or terms: (1) public sector and (2) innovation. The first concept, “the public sector,” refers to the general government organizations owned and funded by the government and may include or exclude state-owned enterprises. The second concept, “innovation,” refers to novel ideas or practices implemented organizations. Thus, novelty and implementation are two key terms defining innovation. Therefore, public sector innovation refers to innovative activities in the public sector, and this chapter provides information about it. In addition, this chapter discusses how and in what ways innovation differs from public management reforms, organizational change, invention, creativity, entrepreneurship, and improvement.

Barriers to innovation (e.g., obstacles causing not to innovate) are another critical concept that may affect the implementation of innovation. Innovation in the public sector has traditionally been viewed as something of an oxymoron. Burdened by a slow and stubborn bureaucracy, this traditional view concluded that innovation was essentially anathema to the public sector. More recently, however, careful research has subjected public sector innovation to scrutiny, and concluded that the perception of impervious barriers inhibiting innovative activity in the public sector is a mischaracterization. This chapter explains the differences between the public and private sectors and how this distinction is essential to understand barriers to innovation. Then, it explains the overall barriers to innovation in the public sector. After this explanation, the chapter provides more discussion based on the levels of analysis. Then, it discusses a relatively recent and novel concept: whether barriers to innovations are deterring or revealed. Finally, it provides strategies to policymakers about how to reduce barriers in the public sector.

This book aims to provide a systematic overview, analysis, framework, and strategic directions for studying public sector innovation for academics, practitioners, and those interested in public sector innovation. This book is probably the first comprehensive book analyzing public sector innovation at the individual, organizational, and national levels. Unfortunately, despite the importance and interest of public sector innovation, no such comprehensive book exists. Fortunately, this book can fill these academic, theoretical, and practical gaps.

This chapter explains and discusses different innovation typologies. “Typology” refers to not only types of innovation but also other aspects. This chapter explains and discusses innovation types, including product or service (e.g., using online system by public organizations), process (e.g., one-stop-shops), mission (e.g., get to the Moon), policy (e.g., energy), partner (e.g., collaborating with business and nonprofit organizations to deliver services), citizen (e.g., codesigning parks with citizens), technological (e.g., new online car registration), social (e.g., providing affordable housing), governance (e.g., citizen participation apps), marketing or communication (e.g., promotion of public services), and rhetorical innovations (e.g., a new logo, without changing organizational structure) in the public sector. In addition to these innovation types, this chapter also discusses other typologies and aspects, including the radical (or breakthrough, e.g., Open University), incremental innovations (e.g., non-disruptive innovation), complex (e.g., introducing a toll charge in a road), and open innovations (e.g., civic hackathons) in the public sector. This chapter offers insights into how these distinctions matter for innovative activities.

Innovations do not occur in isolation. There is a system or framework in which different actors are connected to and affect each other. This chapter discusses three interrelated concepts: market failure, government failure, and the National Innovation System (NIS) and the government’s role in innovation. After defining and providing examples of market and government failure, this chapter explores how market and government failures impact innovation as well as the NIS and the government’s role in innovation. Understanding government operations, interpreting the relationship between public and private organizations, and evaluating government innovations are complex tasks. Each policy is subject to limitations and unexpected consequences. In many cases, the market fails. To correct these market failures, the government intervenes, changes, or implements a new policy or uses a tool (e.g., subsidy or tax). However, the government’s involvement in the market may lead to government failure. Therefore, fixing market and government failures is not easy, although innovations can help to fix both failures. In addition, this chapter discusses how innovative activity affects economic growth, employment, and entrepreneurship, as well as how technological innovations can enhance social welfare and living standards.

Although we have discussed the outcomes of innovation in the last chapter, we have not had any discussion so far about how innovative activities in the public sector are associated with ethics. Ethics is perhaps more related to outcomes, for example an innovation may have unethical outcomes. Ethics can also play a role during an innovation process, for example policymakers may use unethical tools while implementing an innovation. However, despite the importance of ethics for different aspects of innovation (e.g., process and outcomes), it is unfortunate that innovation scholarship does not pay much attention to the link between ethics and innovative activities. This chapter highlights some critical reflections on the links between innovations and ethics, including discussing what, how, and why questions, some lessons from public and private organizations, and examples of ethical issues that may affect innovative activities and decisions to make innovations.

This chapter provides an introduction to what the book is about, the rationale of the book, and why public sector innovation matters, the target audience, and the organization of the book. This book is one of the pioneer books providing an overview, analysis, frameworks, and practical implications to public sector innovation scholarship. It defines public sector innovation as novel practices that public organizations or employees implement. Contrary to some claims that public organizations and public sector employees are not innovative, this book provides evidence from the globe that public organizations and public sector employees are innovative. This chapter also describes the target audience: academics, policymakers, practitioners, and anyone interested in the topic. Finally, this chapter provides brief information about how the rest of the chapters are organized.