Management Innovation and Organizational Performance: The Mediating Effect of Performance Management

[EN] Management innovations (MIs) are widely adopted, but their influences on organizational performance are little researched in public settings. Positing that the MI-performance relationship is complex and is conditional over other characteristics of the organization, we examine the influence of MI on organizational performance both directly and indirectly through performance management (PM). PM is an important organizational process characteristic arising from public management reform and in itself influences performance. We test our hypotheses using structural equation models with data from three sources in English local governments. The findings indicate that the impact of MI on performance is not direct; it is mediated by PM. We also find that PM positively affects organizational performance. In conclusion, we discuss the implications of these findings for research and practice.Economic and Social Research Council (grants 331-24-0006 and 062-23-0039).Walker, RM.; Damanpour, F.; Devece Carañana, CA. (2011). Management Innovation and Organizational Performance: The Mediating Effect of Performance Management. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. 21(2):367-386. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muq04336738621

Product development benchmarking versus customer focus in applications of quality function deployment

The study explores the tradeoff between efforts to benchmark on product-development practices and be customer focused in the implementation of a quality-improvement method. The results of a survey of thirty-three firms' experience with quality function deployment (QFD) reveal that benchmarking on how competitors, peers, or role models develop products facilitates process improvement but hinders customer focus. Smaller firms are also shown to gain more customer focus and process-improvement benefits from QFD than larger firms.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47150/1/11002_2004_Article_BF00994101.pd

The motivations for the adoption of management innovation by local governments and its performance effects

This article analyses the economic, political and institutional antecedents and performance effects of the adoption of shared Senior Management Teams (SMTs) – a management innovation (MI) that occurs when a team of senior managers oversees two or more public organizations. Findings from statistical analysis of 201 English local governments and interviews with organizational leaders reveal that shared SMTs are adopted to develop organisational capacity in resource‐challenged, politically risk‐averse governments, and in response to coercive and mimetic institutional pressures. Importantly, sharing SMTs may reduce rather than enhance efficiency and effectiveness due to redundancy costs and the political transaction costs associated with diverting resources away from a high‐performing partner to support their lower‐performing counterpart

Open innovation in public management: analysis of the Brazilian action plan for Open Government Partnership

Este estudo objetivou analisar o Plano de Ação brasileiro para o Governo Aberto, baseado na teoria da inovação aberta na gestão pública. Utilizou-se de uma pesquisa documental, com vistas a aprofundar o conhecimento do fenômeno em questão. O documento foi escolhido intencionalmente, por ser exemplo basilar das políticas públicas relacionadas à inovação aberta brasileira. Os resultados mostram que os compromissos firmados pelo governo brasileiro estão consoantes com o processo de inovação aberta pública. As ações previstas no Plano estão especificamente relacionadas a transparência, abertura de dados e preparação do corpo estatal para o processo aberto de inovação. _________________________________________________________________________________________ RESUMEN: Este estudio tuvo como objetivo analizar el Plan de Acción de Brasil para el Gobierno Abierto con base en la teoría de la innovación abierta en la gestión pública. Se utilizó una investigación documental, con el fin de profundizar el conocimiento en el fenómeno en cuestión. El documento fue elegido intencionadamente porque es fundamental para las políticas públicas relacionadas con la innovación abierta brasileña. Los resultados muestran que los compromisos asumidos por el gobierno brasileño son compatibles con el proceso de innovación abierta pública. En concreto, las acciones contenidas en el plan están relacionados con la transparencia, los datos abiertos y preparación de la estructura de gobierno para el proceso abierto de innovación. _________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT: This study aims to analyze the Brazilian action plan for Open Government, based on the theory of open innovation in public management. Documentary research was used, in order to deepen of the knowledge the phenomenon being discussed . The document was intentionally chosen because it is essential for public policies related to Brazilian open innovation The results show that the commitments made by the Brazilian government are compatible with the public open innovation process. The actions in the Plan are related specifically to transparency, open data and preparation of the governance body for the open innovation process

TECHNICAL VERSUS ADMINISTRATIVE RATES OF ORGANIZATIONAL INNOVATION: A STUDY OF ORGANIZATIONAL LAG

This study examines the relationship between the rate of adoption of technical and administrative innovations and explores the effects of the rate of adoption on organizational performance. The concept and proposition of organizational lag which postulates a discrepancy between the rate of adoption of technical and administrative innovations is operationalized and tested. It is further hypothesized that organizational lag is inversely related to organizational performance. Using the socio-technical system framework to explain the relationship between administrative and technical innovations, administrative innovations are defined in relation to the social system of an organization, while technical innovations are assumed to affect the technical system. Organizational performance is considered to be a function of the joint operation of both systems. To test the hypotheses, the implementation of innovations in public libraries from 1970 to 1982 was assessed. A questionnaire was mailed to 158 public libraries in six Northeastern states serving a population of 50,000 or more. Information was requested on the kinds of innovations implemented by libraries, and respondents were asked to rate the effectiveness of each of those innovations. Information was also collected on the organizational structure and performance of each library. Eighty-five libraries returned usable questionnaires which were the subject of analysis. The organizational lag hypothesis was supported by the survey data. It was found that libraries, on the average, implement more technical innovations than administrative ones, and that the positive correlation between the rate of adoption of administrative and technical innovations is higher in high performance libraries than in low performance ones. It was further found that organizational lag has a direct relationship to organizational size, and is greater in low performance libraries than in high performance ones. Organizational innovation, however, did not show a significant impact on an efficiency measure of organizational performance. The analysis showed, contrary to the present managerial perceptions, that changes in the social system might have a greater impact on the total organizational system and would prepare it for the introduction of appropriate technical changes

A study of the efficiency of a quadratic decomposition algorithm

The efficiency and practicability of a quadratic decomposition programming algorithm is compared to a direct nonlinear programming model. It is concluded that the rate of convergence of the decomposition method depends on the total number of variables in the problem, the general structure of the problem and the form of the corporate constraints, the size of the master program, and the number of the subproblems. Also, it is shown that the decomposition model is more efficient than the direct method when the total number of variables in the program exceed twenty.Industrial Engineering, Department o

Organizational Complexity and Innovation: Developing and Testing Multiple Contingency Models

Current research in organizational innovation is extensive, yet, because of limitations in scope, most studies are not adequately encompassing. These studies typically relate organizational variables to innovation and control at most for the effect of one contingency factor. Because innovation depends upon a complex host of factors, such theories have limited predictive application. This study intends to develop and test theories that explain the variation in the organizational complexity-innovation relationship in greater detail. The study considers two major indicators of organizational complexity---structural complexity and organizational size. Hypotheses are proposed on the effects of 14 contingency factors on the relationships between structural complexity and innovation and organizational size and innovation. The contingency factors include environmental uncertainty, organizational size, industrial sectors, types of innovation, and stages of innovation adoption. Using a meta-analytic procedure for multivariate analysis, the hypotheses are then tested with data from published studies in organizational innovation during the last three decades. The effects of four methods variables---operational definitions of innovation, structural complexity and size, and similarity of data sources---are controlled for in testing the hypotheses. This process results in two powerful and encompassing models: (1) the association between structural complexity and innovation depends upon operational definition of complexity, environmental uncertainty, use of manufacturing organizations, use of service organizations, focus on technical innovations, focus on product innovations, and focus on implementation of innovation; and (2) the association between organizational size and innovation depends upon operational definition of size, environmental uncertainty, use of service organizations, use of for-profit organizations, focus on technical innovations, and focus on product innovations. These models suggest avenues for further theory development and research, which we discuss.organizational innovation, structural complexity, organizational size, contingency model, meta-analysis

Combinative Effects of Innovation Types and Organizational Performance: A Longitudinal Study of Service Organizations

Innovation research suggests that innovation types have different attributes, determinants, and effects. This study focuses on consequences of adoption of three types of innovation (service, technological process, and administrative process) in service organizations. Its main thesis is that the impact of innovation on organizational performance depends on compositions of innovation types over time. We examine this proposition by analysing innovative activity in a panel of 428 public service organizations in the UK over four years. Our findings suggest that focus on adopting a specific type of innovation every year is detrimental, consistency in adopting the same composition of innovation types over the years has no effect, and divergence from the industry norm in adopting innovation types could possibly be beneficial to organizational performance. We discuss the implications of these findings for theory and research on innovation types. Copyright (c) Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2009.

Organizational culture and partner interaction in the management of international joint ventures in India

Different from previous research that focused on the formation phase of partnering processes in joint ventures, this study focuses on the post-formation phase and argues that partner interaction processes of communication, cooperation, and conflict resolution play a key role in the implementation and management of joint ventures. We examine how organizational culture differences (OCD) and integration acculturation strategy (IAS) affect international joint venture (IJV) performance through the mediation of partner interaction processes. We develop hypotheses and test them by survey data from 202 executives of IJVs in India. The results suggest that the interaction processes fully mediate the negative effect of OCD but partially mediate the positive effect of IAS on partners’ satisfaction with the joint venture performance. We discuss the implication of these findings for research and practice on post-formation management of IJVs