Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurialism in Public Sector Reform
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.1735 |
| Date | 01 October 2015 |
| Published date | 01 October 2015 |
| Author | Clare Cummings |
FOSTERING INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURIALISM IN PUBLIC
SECTOR REFORM
CLARE CUMMINGS*
Overseas Development Institute, UK
SUMMARY
There is growing recognition within the international development sector that there is a need for a new, more effective approach
to engaging in public sector reform. This article builds on an emerging body of work that advocates more entrepreneurial and
adaptive public sector reform programming. Drawing on knowledge and theory from public sector management, psychology
and entrepreneurialism, this article aims to understand what motivates public sector workers to work entrepreneurially and sug-
gest how these ideas can be applied to the way in which international development agencies engage in public sector reform
work. This requires a shift in thinking from predesigned, large, externally led programmes promoting international best practice
to interventions in which agencies adopt the role of a facilitator, helping to establish the enabling conditions for local partners to
work entrepreneurially, developing their own solutions to the problems that they identify in their work. Copyright © 2015 John
Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
key words—development; public sector reform; innovation; entrepreneur; motivation
INTRODUCTION
There is a growing interest in the international development sector in finding more creative, entrepreneurial ways of
supporting public sector reform. Building on theory and practice in international development and developed coun-
try governments, where there has also been increasing interest in public sector innovation, an emerging body of
literature is recommending a more adaptive and entrepreneurial approach to public sector reform support. A core
concept within this literature is the importance of local actors being able to solve problems in their bureaucracy that
they consider priorities, and with the freedom to do so in entrepreneurial, creative ways (e.g. Andrews et al., 2012;
Booth and Unsworth, 2014). The question for international development organisations is whether this could be a
more effective way of supporting another country’s public sector to reform, and if so, how can this be done. This
article explores why entrepreneurial practices within the public sector are important and how they could be inte-
grated into international support for public sector reform.
This article first discusses the evidence and explanations for why public sector reform (PSR) interventions have
largely failed to be effective and why a new approach to PSR is important. It then describes the growing interest in
innovation and entrepreneurial ways of working within public sectors and what the implications may be for PSR
programmes regarding how to foster entrepreneurial behaviour within a public sector institution. Finally, with ref-
erence to a PSR programme in Nigeria, the article discusses the potential value of encouraging entrepreneurial
practices within public sector reform, as well as the difficulties facing development organisations in doing so.
*Correspondence to: C. Cummings, Overseas Development Institute, 203 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ, UK. E-mail: c.cummings@odi.
org.uk
Article prepared for panel: Beyond Good Governance and NPM: Alternative Frameworks for Public Management in Developing/Transitioning
Nations.
2015 International Research Society for Public Management Conference.
University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, 30 March–2 April 2015.
public administration and development
Public Admin. Dev. 35, 315–328 (2015)
Published online in Wiley Online Library
(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/pad.1735
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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