Annex B. Innovation Capacity Framework – Factors and variables
Table A B.1. Factors and variables connected to the Innovation Capacity Framework | |||
---|---|---|---|
Individual | Organisational | Public sector system | |
Purpose What is driving the intent to innovate? | Intrinsic motivation: factors including individual aspirations (e.g. career goals, self-efficacy, prosocial behaviour), job significance, individual satisfaction and engagement Extrinsic motivation: factors including compensation and rewards (financial and non-financial), external recognition (e.g. awards), career incentives | Institutional drivers: Organisational mandate and accountability; missions; strategy, innovation needs assessment Leadership and organisational culture: leadership traits and mindset (e.g. vision and appetite for innovation); attitude towards uncertainty and ambiguity; general appetite for innovation, ethical standards Change drivers: external-to-the-organisation events prompting the need to change (economic cycles, legislative shifts, change in citizens and business demands, audits, media/press); tipping points or organizational barriers (e.g. silos and turfs; service delivery challenges) | Government agenda: political direction and priorities, austerity Global challenges and missions: urgency to action to respond to shared global goals and targets (e.g. SDGs); International standards: desire to adhere to common principles and standards (e.g. Recommendation on Digital Government Strategies, Indicators, Declaration of Public Sector Innovation) Domestic dynamics and pressures: public sentiment / trust, expectations, lobbying pressure, electorate mood, polling Public sector reform agendas: reform efforts indicate the need for new approaches/change theory Public value, democratic principles and ethics: action dictated by responsiveness to democratic and public values (e.g. human rights, freedom of speech, rule of law) |
Potential What determines whether innovation efforts are attempted? | Individual job design: factors include thelevel and degree of individual autonomy, discretion and ownership of tasks; room allowed to exercise creativity Work environment: quality of team interactions (psychological and intragroup safety, consideration for biases and diversity), trust, opportunity for risk and failure Perception of context: Perceived openness and legitimacy for experimentation, incentives for innovation, awareness of strategy, perceived and actual rules and parameters | Leadership practice and style: clarity of permission to innovate, mechanisms for collaboration, approach to stewardship Institutional settings: position of the organisation (independence, identity, reputation, funding, stability, trust); shared norms and values that underpins collaboration (social capital) degree of insulation from political cycle Strategy design approaches: innovation explicit in strategy design (e.g balancing current and future); inclusion of user and staff perspectives and environmental signals Decision making within the organisation: approach to uncertainty and risk appetite and management; approval processes and delegations | Political signalling: mandates for innovation (Innovation Manifesto, Declaration), parliamentary/cabinet decisions, political climate; political-administrative interface Contextual factors and governance dynamics: type and quality of accountability (e.g. centralised vs decentralised models, direct or indirect accountability); decision making, vested interests Existing public governance frameworks: features of regulatory, human resource, audit, budgetary, digital frameworks; possibility to challenge rules/default settings |
Capacity What is needed to carry out innovative efforts? | Mindset: entrepreneurial, curiosity, confidence, multidisciplinary, resilience Practical ability: Knowledge and capability, skills (e.g. data literacy, iteration, user-centricity, story-telling, insurgency), tools (methods, techniques, models) and resources (financial and non-financial) Continuous learning and iteration: Priority for experimentation, learning and failure, reflective practices, making individual plans to use learning for action (including training) | Institutional conditions and supports: funding, procurement policies and direct investment; data and knowledge management; IT/technology; partnerships and external engagement, innovation management supports, organisation demographics Portfolio, program and project management approaches: portfolio (facets) and project management, funding flexibility, change management strategy Workforce strategy, practices and culture: combinations of knowledge, expertise across workforce; HR policy, HR systems including for talent management, incentives for innovation, mobility, diversity, recruitment, learning & development, performance management; organisational and workforce culture | Flexibility of rules and agile processes: agile approaches to policy making, regulation and procurement, open to input from citizens, civil society and industry Institutionalization of innovation: Institutional embedding of innovation, formal bodies and roles (e.g. CIO), integration of innovation approaches (e.g. through internal directives, circulars), intermediation/advisory/support roles Openness and connectedness: networks (national and x-border), partnerships across sectors; open innovation; interoperability and data sharing |
Impact How is the impact of innovative efforts understood and informing future practice? | Individual experience: perception of barriers to innovate, recognition and validation, previous experience to innovate Individual performance: informal and formal evaluations during performance assessment cycles, including innovation Knowledge of results and impact: feedback on output and behaviour, quality performance data, including of innovative efforts or activities, personal perception of making a difference. | Organisation performance monitoring, audit and evaluation: internal controls, practices and organisational perceptions and sentiment Perceived impact: external (user) feedback of innovation activities, efforts and practices in the organisation, media scrutiny | Performance and evaluation: Performance evaluation frameworks across departments and agencies (integrity, accountability, system outcomes and performance reporting approaches), scrutiny, evaluation and audit Legitimacy mechanisms: effectiveness of outputs, quality of governance and internal processes Continuity of efforts: innovation practices embeddedness in long-term reforms |
Source: Kaur, M. et al. (2022), “Innovative capacity of governments: A systemic framework”, OECD Working Papers on Public Governance, No. 51, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/52389006-en. |
This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. Extracts from publications may be subject to additional disclaimers, which are set out in the complete version of the publication, available at the link provided.
© OECD 2022
The use of this work, whether digital or print, is governed by the Terms and Conditions to be found at https://www.oecd.org/termsandconditions.