Public sector innovation: Sources, benefits, and leadership
基于澳大利亚公共服务调查数据，研究发现员工工作组的自下而上创新对降低成本、改进流程、提升服务质量有正面作用，而领导者的自上而下创新反而有负面影响，但高质量领导力能缓解这种负面效应。
Despite increasing research into public sector innovation, there remains a need for more theory and evidence about the sources (actors) and outcomes (benefits) of innovation. Thus, this study examines the effects of four important sources of innovation (government, organizational leaders, employee workgroup, and members of the public) on the perceived organizational benefits of innovation in the public sector. Using survey data from the Australian Public Service (n = 3,775), the findings suggest that bottom-up innovations, particularly ideas emanating from the employee workgroup, are crucial for bringing about positive effects (as measured by decreasing costs, improving processes, and increasing service quality). In contrast, ideas emanating from organizational leaders are negatively associated with organizational benefits. Nevertheless, high-quality leadership moderates the adverse effects of top-down innovations. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings, as well as future research directions for the study of public sector innovation, are discussed.