How can governance support collaborative innovation in the public sector? A systematic review of the literature
| Date | 01 March 2022 |
| Published date | 01 March 2022 |
| Author | Josivania Silva Farias,André Vaz Lopes |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852319893444 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
How can governance
support collaborative
innovation in the public
sector? A systematic
review of the literature
Andr
e Vaz Lopes
University of Bras
ılia, Brazil
Josivania Silva Farias
University of Bras
ılia, Brazil
Abstract
Collaborative innovation has been increasingly adopted by the public sector to address
complex issues and improve its efficiency. Despite the developments in the literature on
this subject, recent studies still indicate the need to investigate how public governance
could be organized to support collaborative processes of innovation. Through a sys-
tematic review of 36 empirical studies, this article aims to contribute to bridging this
gap by identifying the characteristics that should form governance in order to support
the collaborative innovation process in the public sector. The results show that the
establishment of relationships of trust, supported by technology tools and promoted by
leaders committed to well-established goals, is a characteristic of governance that has a
positive influence on collaborative innovation processes. However, there is still a need
to develop more studies that indicate the characteristics of governance that may con-
tribute to the implementation of innovation and not just to its creation processes.
Points for practitioners
Collaboration has been shown to be a more positive strategy for innovation in the
public sector in comparison with strategies that seek isolation or competition.
Corresponding author:
Andr
e Vaz Lopes, Postgraduate Program in Administration (PPGA) of the Faculty of Economics,
Administration, Accounting and Public Policy Management (FACE) of the University of Bras
ılia (UNB), Bras
ılia
70910-900, Brazil.
Email: andrevazlopes@gmail.com
International Review of Administrative
Sciences
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DOI: 10.1177/0020852319893444
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2022, Vol. 88(1) 114–130
However, it is necessary to establish governance mechanisms that contribute to the
involvement of stakeholders and to the achievement of the intended results so that this
strategy becomes successful. By reviewing the results of prior empirical experiences,
this article identifies that in order for collaborative innovation processes in the public
sector to be successful, governance must predict: the participation of top management
and managers with decision-making power; the setting of clear goals and needs; the
generation of useful innovation that benefits stakeholders; and the establishment of
tools that facilitate communication, interaction, and the sharing of information and
knowledge. This information provides managers and public policymakers with key
indicators, learned from prior mistakes and accomplishments, for the implementation
of this innovation strategy in their organizations.
Keywords
collaborative innovation, governance, open innovation, public sector
Introduction
Innovation and collaboration have been adopted by public organizations as strat-
egies to achieve better results in the management of common crises (Elston et al.,
2018; Nohrstedt et al., 2018), the optimization of available resources (Diamond
and Vangen, 2017; Lewis et al., 2018), and as a response to technological and social
development (Seo et al., 2018). The combination of both strategies, promoting
collaborative innovation, brings advantages over other innovation strategies as
collaboration can benefit all steps of the innovation process and enables the shar-
ing of costs, risks, and benefits (Sørensen and Torfing, 2011; Torfing, 2019).
Many studies indicate that the models of leadership, management, and gover-
nance adopted in public administration have obstacles to be overcome for the
adoption of innovative practices (e.g. Andersen and Jakobsen, 2018; Boon and
Verhoest, 2018; O’Neil et al., 2016), and some researches on collaborative inno-
vation in the public sector have focused on the internal dynamics of organizations
(Bernier et al., 2015), highlighting the limitations imposed by traditional bureau-
cracy and ways to overcome them (Wegrich, 2019). However, the study of this
form of innovation encompasses both the concepts inherent to the innovation
process itself and the interrelationships among public organizations and between
the public sector and society (Bekkers and Tummers, 2018).
Despite the advances in the literature, these aspects were not fully explored, and
recent studies indicate the need to investigate how different management strategies
influence the innovation and collaboration process and how public governance
could be organized in order to support collaborative processes of innovation
(e.g. Agger and Sørensen, 2018; Torfing, 2019). Therefore, through a systematic
review of the literature, this article aims to contribute to bridging this gap by
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Lopes and Farias
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