ABSTRACT

The growing expectations to public services and the pervasiveness of wicked problems in times characterized by growing fiscal constraints call for the enhancement of public innovation, and new research suggests that multi-actor collaboration in networks and partnerships is superior to hierarchical and market-based strategies when it comes to spurring such innovation. Collaborative innovation seems ideal as it builds on diversity to generate innovative public value outcomes, but there is a catch since diversity may clash with the need for constructing a common ground that allows participating actors to agree on a joint and innovative solution. The challenge for collaborative innovation – taming the snake in paradise – is to nurture the diversity of views, ideas and forms of knowledge while still establishing a common ground for joint learning. While we know a great deal about the dynamics of the mutually supportive processes of collaboration, learning and innovation, we have yet to understand the role of institutional design and leadership in spurring collaborative innovation and dealing with this tension. Building on extant research, the article draws suitable cases from the Collaborative Governance Data Bank and uses Qualitative Comparative Analysis to explore how multiple constellations of institutional design and leadership spur collaborative innovation. The main finding is that, even though certain institutional design features reduce the need for certain leadership roles, the exercise of hands-on leadership is more important for securing collaborative innovation outcomes than hands-off institutional design.

摘要

人们对公共服务的期望越来越高，而在财政紧缩日益加剧的时代，邪恶问题的普遍性要求加强公共创新，而新的研究表明，在网络和伙伴关系中，多主体协作要优于分层和基于市场的战略。激发了这种创新。协作创新似乎是理想的，因为它建立在多样性之上以产生创新的公共价值成果，但是存在一个障碍，因为多样性可能与构建允许参与方就共同的创新解决方案达成共识的共同基础的需求发生冲突。协作创新的挑战-在天堂里驯服蛇-在保持观点，思想和知识形式的多样性的同时，仍要建立共同学习的共同基础。尽管我们对协作，学习和创新的相互支持过程的动态了解很多，但我们还没有理解机构设计和领导在促进协作创新和应对这种紧张关系方面的作用。在现有研究的基础上，本文从“协作治理数据库”中提取了合适的案例，并使用“定性比较分析”来探索制度设计和领导力的多个星座如何促进协作创新。主要发现是，尽管某些机构设计功能减少了对某些领导角色的需求，但动手领导对于确保协作创新成果比动手机构设计更为重要。