Innovation in Local Government and Fiscal Austerity

Wolman, Harold

doi:10.1017/s0143814x00006474

Cited by 18 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…adaptfUion. This systemic reaction fits well-documented pattems of innovation and conservatism in local govemment resulting from fiscal stress (Levine, Rubin, & Wolohojian,1981;McGowan & Stevens, 1983;Wolman, 1986).…”

Section: New Management Orientationssupporting

confidence: 74%

Policymaking and Management in Israeli Local Government

Ben-Elia¹

1993

Policy Studies Journal

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Section: New Management Orientationssupporting

confidence: 74%

Policymaking and Management in Israeli Local Government

Ben-Elia¹

1993

Policy Studies Journal

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“…More recent studies have highlighted the fact that governments need to address 'softer' management issues (such as organisational culture), instead of relying solely on 'harder' budgetary or planning approaches. Some of these are based on concerns that political rhetoric about 'innovation' or 'transformation' have only rarely been implemented in practice (Overmans and Noordegraaf, 2014), and echo Levine (1978) and Wolman (1986) in arguing that public managers tend to adopt short-term budgetary positions in times of austerity, rather than experimenting with solutions that might deliver more sustainable benefits. In particular, Caperchione et al (2014) argue that governments need to understand the multifaceted causes of crises in order to address them effectively, especially any endogenous factors that may have exacerbated their impact.…”

Section: Simons' 'Levers Of Control' As a More Holistic Framework Formentioning

confidence: 99%

Budgetary Stewardship, Innovation and Working Culture: Identifying the Missing Ingredient in English and Welsh Local Authorities’ Recipes for Austerity Management

Ferry¹,

Coombs²,

Eckersley

2017

Financ Acc Manag

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Drawing on fieldwork with 70 local authorities in England and Wales, this article builds on previous studies of austerity management by highlighting the importance of organisational cultures to achieving strategic objectives. It finds that, in line with their prevailing "belief system" of budgetary stewardship, local authorities in both countries are holding down input costs to deal with austerity. However, the scale of funding cuts means this strategy is unlikely to be successful over the longer term. Instead, they need greater freedom to generate revenue, in order to facilitate innovation and develop more sustainable business practices and service models. Democrats) began an austerity programme to significantly cut the UK's budget deficit through major public spending reductions, including for local government Eckersley, 2011, 2012; Ferry et al, in press).There is a large and growing public management literature examining how governments across the developed world are seeking to cope with austerity (see for example van Helden, 2000;Pollitt 2010;or Grossi and Cepiku, 2014 for an overview). Many of these studies seek to examine the potential link between a drop in government revenues and the application of private sector techniques that come under the loose heading of New Public Management (see Hood, 1995 for an explanation of this hypothesis), link strategies to the wider literature on responding to crises (Peters, 2011), or identify factors that influence the success of austerity programmes (Eckersley and Timm-Arnold, 2014). However, although these studies have provided a rich analysis of how public bodies are trying to cope with financial pressures, the theoretical tools they employ do not allow for a full appreciation of the contexts in which organisations operate, and therefore cannot give us a complete understanding of why some 3 strategies may (or may not) succeed. In particular, they do not sufficiently address how issues of organisational culture and scope can influence strategic direction.In order to provide a more rounded perspective on responses to austerity, as well as a better understanding of the potential shortcomings of existing approaches, this article employs Simons' (1995) levers of control framework. Simons' framework is particularly relevant because it takes an holistic approach to analysing corporate strategy, emphasising the importance of "belief" and "boundary" systems (in other words, the role of traditions and cultures in shaping organisational strategy, and the scope of the organisation's activity), alongside more traditional "diagnostic" and "interactive" methods (budgets and performance management systems, and corporate or community meetings). In this way, belief and boundary systems establish the organisation's strategic domain (Davila, 2005) by mapping out its activities and clarifying its working culture and reputation. By analysing these wider variables we build upon the rich public management literature by attempting to further identify why some responses to austerit...

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“…The third hypothesis is two government characteristics will be positively associated with innovation adoption. First, higher per capita government spending may be a proxy for fiscal health, and local governments that are in poor fiscal health may be more conservative than innovative, particularly in terms of innovations that require a commitment of financial resources (Wolman, 1986). Second, policy entrepreneurs, or those who work within government to promote and advocate for policy innovations (e.g., elected officials), may be particularly influential in terms of increasing awareness and consideration of innovations (Mintrom, 1997).…”

Section: Purpose Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%