HP INNOVATION RESEARCH SEMINAR
Professor Patrick Dunleavy, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, Department of Government, LSE
Professor Helen Margetts, Director of Research & Professor of Society and the Internet, Oxford Internet Institute
Wednesday 29th November 2006
6.00pm - 7.45 pm
Abstract
Innovation within government has been much less studied than in the private sector. Yet it has a powerful influence on the 25% of UK final consumption undertaken by public agencies. This paper introduces the available theory of government innovation and then presents the data from a systematic survey of 125 organizational innovations nominated by UK central departments and agencies. We examine how innovations originate and what factors sustain their implementation, what the main barriers to innovation are and where impacts are achieved or missed. The innovations in our data set cost less than £1 million on average, but with a large range in costs, and they took 31 months on average to deliver. Most innovation processes are top-down and there is little input from customers/clients or front-line staff. Supporting research using interviews and focus groups suggest that government organizations continue to offer relatively weak incentives for managers or staff to originate innovations and that a generalized reluctance to embrace new ways of working remains widespread in central agencies. We outline a set of strategy recommendations produced for the National Audit Office that taken together could have useful effects in improving innovation processes within government.
In this seminar, Professor Dunleavy will look at will focus on the following issues related to achieving innovation in Central Government Organisations:
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If the primary benefit of applied innovations is in enhancing productivity, how can government organisations increase their innovation and productivity growth?
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What incentives can be put in place to convince public sector managers to develop or promote innovations?
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How can civil service culture be persuaded to be more innovative?
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How can organisations tap into bottom-up innovative thinking?
Download full paper 
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The Seminar takes place at the Centre for Economics Performance, Room, R405, 4th Floor, LSE Research Laboratory, 10 Portugal Street, London WC2A 2HD.
Map and Directions|
Programme
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6.00 pm
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Drinks and Registration
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6.15 pm
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Professor Patrick Dunleavy, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, Department of Government, LSE and Professor Helen Margetts, Director of Research & Professor of Society and the Internet, Oxford Internet Institute will discuss:
"Why is it so hard to achieve organisational innovation in government?"
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6.35 pm
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Breakout Sessions
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7.10 pm
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Plenary Discussion
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7.45 pm
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Drinks reception
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8.45 pm
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Close
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To reserve a place at this event, please contact Jo Cantlay at irpevent@lse.ac.uk|,
tel: +44 (0)207 955 7285.