Abstract
Innovations in an organisation derive from multiple
sources. In the public sector, users and the policy
sphere provide important but often unconnected impulses
for innovation. These impulses are transmitted to the
organisation by grassroots employees who interact with
users and managers who implement policy requirements. The
paper examines the actors and activities that coordinate
bottom-up and top-down initiatives and promote their
development into innovations. It creates a theoretical
framework that combines the views of employee-driven
innovation and strategic reflexivity and supplements them
with an analysis of coordination in innovation processes.
The functioning of this framework is illustrated in the
context of children's day care services. The results
highlight the central role of middle managers and provide
new knowledge regarding their 'bridging' activities in
innovation. The adjustment of bottom-up and top-down
processes requires the personal involvement of managers,
and the creation of communication arenas, networks and
mediating tools.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 325-344 |
Journal | The Service Industries Journal |
Volume | 35 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2015 |
MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Keywords
- service innovation
- employee-driven innovation
- strategic reflexivity
- public services