In this study, we evaluate the “success” of adopted innovations in public organizations as a function of the relative source of innovation vis-à-vis the organizational environment. We argue that the source of the innovation will be varyingly associated with subsequent perceptions of implementation success depending on locational characteristics of the innovation source and the innovation’s outcome locus. Neither “top-down” nor “bottom-up” arguments of implementation offer a complete picture of perceived implementation success in the realm of public sector innovations. Rather, in addition to the vertical perspective (“top-down vs. bottom-up”) on implementation success, we argue that it is the relative proximity one has to the related process or result that matters, which is also represented by a horizontal perspective (organization’s core vs. organizational environment). Our empirical results offer evidence that this expected configuration of relationships, consisting of both vertical and horizontal perspectives, indeed exists in the public sector.
A Systems Theory Approach to Innovation Implementation: Why Organizational Location Matters
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory
Year: 2016