Suchergebnisse

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to report on how public service professionals cope with co-production as a way to produce and develop public services.


Design/methodology/approach
– The paper draws on the literature of co-production and collaborative public service innovation. The research approach was an explorative case study, presenting a pilot neighbourhood co-production project.


Findings
– Conflicting approaches to co-production with various implications are used simultaneously, causing uncertainly among the professional co-producers. When moving from rhetoric to practice there seems to be a lack of tools and methods for applying and utilising the possibilities of co-production. The processes of co-production and their implications should be thoroughly understood and managed throughout public service organisations, from politicians to frontline workers.


Practical implications
– The paper demonstrates that co-production calls for renewed organisational structures and managerial tools, especially concerning the evaluation of co-production. Focal managerial, organisational, cultural and processual notions for supporting professional co-production are provided.


Originality/value
– This paper makes an important contribution to the discussion of co-production, examining an important, yet understudied, perspective on public service professionals as co-producers.

AbstractCitizens' involvement in public service delivery challenges the principles of professionalism as such citizens are amateurs. However, there is little evidence of the (non)integration of these principles by citizen coproducers and how this affects professionalism in public service delivery. This article focuses on two principles of professionalism: expertise and accountability. The theoretical framework further reviews the coproduction literature on what can be expected of citizens with regard to these principles and elaborates on the concept of amateurism. The concepts of professionalism and amateurism form the framework for the analysis of citizen coproducers' identity. Empirically, this paper presents two case studies of social services in the European context. The results show that these citizen coproducers to a certain extent create a professional identity, tend to stay away from integrating accountability, and introduce elements of amateurism. The presence and guidance of public servants in coproduction can ensure accountability and streamline amateurism.

Tarkastelemme artikkelissa tiedon yhteistuottamista asuinalueiden kehittämisessä. Asuinalueiden kehittämishankkeet tuovat yhteen erilaisia toimintakulttuureita, toimijoita ja tiedon muotoja, mikä synnyttää tarpeen tarkastella, millaisen tiedon tai kenen asiantuntijuuden pohjalta asuinalueita kehitetään ja millaisia menetelmiä ja valmiuksia tämä edellyttää. Tarkastelemme kahdessa tamperelaisessa lähiökehittämishankkeessa, miten tietoa asuinaluekehityksessä yhteistuotetaan. Tesoman osallistuvan budjetoinnin ja Annala-Kaukajärven yhteiskehittämishankkeen aineisto on kerätty toimintatutkimuksella ja havainnoimalla. Jäsennämme tiedon yhteistuottamisprosessia teema-areenan käsitteellä teeman luonnetta ja kontekstia, toimijoita, vuorovaikutuksen paikkoja ja keskustelun kulkua analysoimalla. Tiedon yhteistuottaminen edellyttää organisaatiolta epävarmuuden sietoa ja yhteistuottamisen ymmärtämistä kahdensuuntaisena vuorovaikutusprosessina. Se vaatii resursseja, vastuiden määrittelyä ja strategista suunnittelua. Organisaatioiden sisäiset vuorovaikutus- ja viestintäprosessit ja tiedon yhteistuotannosta vastaavien ammattilaisten vuorovaikutustaidot vaikuttavat prosessin onnistumiseen.

In this paper, we study third sector organizations as representatives of citizens in the contextof public sector reform. Our research focuses onthird sector organizations as part of public service systems. Our aim is to examine how theseorganizations are able to filter citizen interestsinto public policy-making processes? The theoretical framework of this research is based onthe concepts of participation, legitimacy and thedevelopments of civil society in the era of participatory governance in Finland. We have interviewed representatives of third sector organizations operating in the field of social and healthservices. This set of interviews also forms the data of our study. Our key findings suggest that thesocial and health focused third sector organizations form a heterogenous group and they differin their resources to represent citizens and theirrespective interest groups. Working together asallied groups in the public policy processes can,however, increase third sector organizations'possibilities to influence public sector reforms.

Le mélange des fonctions entre professionnels, bénévoles et utilisateurs des services crée un environnement nouveau et complexe dans le cadre de la production et de la prestation des services publics. Dans ce type d'environnement, les questions d'imputabilité deviennent encore plus importantes. Dans le présent article, nous présentons une étude de cas qualitative axée sur la coproduction faisant intervenir des bénévoles et des professionnels dans les services de justice réparatrice juridiquement réglementés en Finlande. Au niveau théorique, nous avons réuni la notion de coproduction citoyenne et la littérature sur la bureaucratie de proximité et l'imputabilité. Sur la base de cette étude, on peut dire que la coproduction entre les bénévoles et les professionnels renforce les liens d'imputabilité. Plus particulièrement, l'imputabilité centrée sur le processus prend tout son sens dans les relations d'imputabilité horizontales. Par conséquent, la coproduction en tant que système de gouvernance modifie la culture de travail des professionnels de la fonction publique. Dans les nouveaux partenariats, même s'ils ne sont pas entièrement horizontaux, on observe le germe d'un changement culturel pour les organisations de service public professionnalisées. Remarques à l'intention des praticiens Dans le présent article, nous nous intéressons à la coproduction entre professionnels et bénévoles au sein d'un service public juridiquement réglementé (la conciliation), en analysant la manière dont l'imputabilité est perçue dans les pratiques de première ligne. Les résultats indiquent que la nature centrée sur le processus des services coproduits réduit la marge de manœuvre des travailleurs de première ligne et leurs possibilités d'appliquer les règles. Par ailleurs, étant donné que les utilisateurs des services ne considèrent pas les bénévoles comme des agents investis d'une autorité, la coproduction est plus fluide. Ce phénomène est important, en particulier dans les services sociaux, où les clients ne sont en soi pas forcément motivés pour coproduire, mais où la coproduction serait essentielle pour atteindre les objectifs du service.

Mixing of roles between professionals, volunteers and service users creates a new, complex environment in which to produce and deliver public services. In this kind of environment, the issues of accountability become ever more important. This article presents a qualitative case study of co-production between volunteers and professionals in the legally regulated restorative justice services in Finland. Theoretically, we draw together the concept of citizen co-production with the literature on street-level bureaucracy and accountability. As a result of the study, we can say that co-production between volunteers and professionals increases accountability ties. In particular, the meaning of process-centred accountability is salient in horizontal accountability relations. Thus, co-production as a governance arrangement changes the working culture of public service professionals. In the new partnerships, although not entirely horizontal, we can recognize a seed for cultural change for professionalized public service organizations. Points for practitioners In this article we have researched co-production between professionals and volunteers in a legally regulated public service, the conciliation service, examining the perceptions of accountability in the frontline practices. The results show that the process-centred nature of the co-produced services leaves less room for discretion and the application of rules by individual street-level workers. Furthermore, as the service users do not consider volunteers to be part of the authority, co-production might be smoother. This is significant especially in the social services, where the clients per se are not necessarily motivated to co-produce, but where co-production would be essential for achieving effective service outcomes.

This study observes the roles of the different actors involved in the processes of innovation. The theoretical framework on which this study is based deals mainly with the idea of collaborative innovation. This is a case study of eight Finnish municipalities (Hattula, Hollola, Hämeenlinna, Kuusamo, Pudasjärvi, Raahe, Rovaniemi and Salo) and their innovation processes. The research question is: how did collaboration occur between the diverse actors during the observed development processes? The main data of this article emanates from the workshops held in these eight municipalities. Four groups of actors emerge in the empirical analysis: key actors, actors within the municipal organization, actors within the municipality and actors outside the municipality. The roles of promoters, coordinators and leaders of innovation processes and municipal management were highlighted. These key actors have the opportunities to promote and organize collaboration in the innovation processes. Collaborative practices in innovation processes are seen, as an important aim and the importance of including different stakeholders is quite widely understood. However, it seems that a systematic approach towards collaboration in these processes is lacking and in some cases the instruments for collaboration might be lacking.

Purpose
This paper approaches collaborative governance reform as an empirical phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to gain insights about the systemic and grassroots level conditions for collaboration, observed from the viewpoint of organisational culture. In this paper, the authors ask what constitutes collaborative development culture in local government organisations?


Design/methodology/approach
The research design is founded on secondary use of quantitative data; a survey targeted to Finnish local government organisations (n=172). The authors analyse what factors the different groups, managers, professionals and politicians consider important for collaborative development culture and how they assess their local government organisations in this regard.


Findings
According to the results, enabling and supporting management, local government personnel's input and ability to seek external partners are essential for creating a collaborative development culture. Interestingly, despite the recognition of deterring factors by the respondents the results highlight that the supporting and driving factors are more important for creation of collaborative culture, giving an optimistic message to actors trying to enhance collaborative development culture in local government organisations.


Originality/value
The authors examine the collaborative governance reform in a critical way, from the viewpoint of organisational culture. Through the study, it is possible to better understand the reality and readiness for collaboration of local governments in this respect. This is a valuable aspect for increasing both theoretical and practical understanding of the so-called collaborative governance.