Bureaucracies as Innovative Organizations

33 Pages Posted: 4 Jun 2021

See all articles by Steven Kelman

Steven Kelman

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)

Date Written: June 3, 2021

Abstract

Bureaucracies create rules and routines that are an important source of organizational capabilities. But these rules and routines also, for a number of reasons, become difficult to change and inhibit organizational innovation. We discuss how an organization in Denver local government, Peak Academy, encourages frontline civil servants to develop innovations. We present the background and content of innovations that have been developed and present an account of how bureaucracies can be innovative, and of what distinguishes innovations by bureaucracies. Many of the innovations we observed are mundane process innovations rather than more dramatic changes in features of programs. We call these “microinnovations.” We urge scholars interested in government innovation to give more attention to such innovations, which have hitherto been ignored in the literature.

Suggested Citation

Kelman, Steven, Bureaucracies as Innovative Organizations (June 3, 2021). HKS Working Paper No. RWP21-017, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3859719 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3859719

Steven Kelman (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) ( email )

79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States
617-496-6302 (Phone)
617-496-5747 (Fax)

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