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Factors that Determine or Influence Managerial Innovation in Public Contexts: The Case of Local Performance Management

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Abstract

The use of Performance-Based Management (PBM) by French public organizations has sharply accelerated over the last few years. Moreover, very few studies have analyzed this change. The object of this article is thus to conduct an in-depth analysis of the dynamics of managerial innovation in three French local authorities via the study of the factors that foster the adoption and implementation of PBM by this type of organization. We demonstrate a tendency to overestimate the explanatory power of the neo-institutionalist theories. Indeed, our analysis illustrates a balanced vision of the human, technical and contextual factors at the origin of this type of managerial innovation.

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Notes

  1. A number of authors (Bryson 2004; Nutt and Backoff 1992) emphasize the fact that the change is much more difficult to conduct in the public sector, because these organizations have a natural propensity towards inertia and resistance. A variety of brakes (structural, cultural, strategic and behavioral) (Bartoli 2009), barriers (Lancer Julnes 2008) and fragilities can jeopardize change, whether at the initial stage of introduction or during the dissemination and institutionalization stages.

    Which enables one to eliminate

  2. Which enables one to eliminate normative isomorphism as an explanatory factor in the adoption of PBM.

  3. Performance-based management (PBM) is defined as a formal, organized process through which a local authority designs and implements (1) a methodology of reflection and action, (2) a system of intervention and evaluation and (3) methods and principles of action aimed at improving the performance of its public policies and initiatives. PBM is thus a management system that enables public organizations to set objectives and priorities for their development and to manage and organize themselves according to the achievement of results in line with their objectives, and to do so within a context of predefined means and resources.

  4. In France, the General Councils govern the administrative divisions known as “departments”. The 101 departments form one of the three levels of local government, together with the 22 metropolitan and 5 overseas regions above them and more than 36,000 communes beneath them.

  5. Following Michael Huberman and Miles (2002), we believe that research that is largely inductive and exploratory does not exclude some preconstructed ideas and choices to do with (1) the content and orientation of the research (the themes for investigation), and (2) the method of conducting these investigations (choice of technique for gathering and analyzing data).

  6. The Fundamental Law of Finance Laws (loi organique relative aux lois de finances, LOLF) is a primary lever in the reform of the French State. It has set in motion a process of radical transformation of the State’s budgetary and accounting rules. It aims to make public expenditure more democratic and more effective.

  7. In French local finance, the initial budget (budget primitif) is the budget voted by the local assembly at the start of the fiscal year. It sets the sum of money available for expenditure over the year, and estimates the amount of tax receipts expected.

  8. And this irrespective of the category questioned within a given local authority: operational and functional managers, whether from finance or not.

  9. Especially via their communication actions, their efforts aimed at promoting participation, and the time they spent explaining things to the different levels of management and employees. For example, for GC Alpha, this communication/participation took the form of internal opinion surveys (a 70 % response rate), interviews, and meetings to dialogue with and brief employees (a 90 % participation rate).

  10. In French local authorities, the Directeur général des services assures the general coordination of services for the implementation of decisions. He/she contributes his/her administrative, financial and legal expertise to the definition of strategic objectives and the elaboration of local projects.

  11. Our case studies enable us to demonstrate and to distinguish the triggering factors favorable to the initiation and implementation of change, and in particular the elements that intervene positively once the process has been launched. We thus find again Bartoli’s (2009) typology, which identifies the incentives to change within public organizations and the sustainable factors and their associated representations.

  12. Especially other politicians.

  13. This is all the more important in that, given the proclivity of private-sector organizations to get caught up in management fads, the implementation of this type of initiative in the public sector creates defiance among managers and employees.

  14. Especially when change is based on techniques and concepts derived from the private sector.

  15. Of a cultural, behavioral, strategic or structural nature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Pau et des pays de l’Adour, CREG, Présidence - BP 576, Pau, 64012, France

    David Carassus

  2. University of Toulouse – Toulouse Business School, 20 BD Lascrosses, BP 7010, Toulouse, 31068, France

    Christophe Favoreu

  3. Pau Business School, IRMAPE, Pau, France

    Damien Gardey

Authors
  1. David Carassus
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  2. Christophe Favoreu
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  3. Damien Gardey
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christophe Favoreu.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Table 4 Generic categories and sub-categories of the framework for the thematic analysis of content
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Appendix 2

Table 5 Actors interviewed
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Carassus, D., Favoreu, C. & Gardey, D. Factors that Determine or Influence Managerial Innovation in Public Contexts: The Case of Local Performance Management. Public Organiz Rev 14, 245–266 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-013-0217-z

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