Innovation in City Governments: Structures, Networks, and Leadership(Routledge Critical Studies in Public Management)

Innovation has become an important focus for governments around the world over the last decade, with greater pressure on governments to do more with less, and expanding community expectations. Some are now calling this ‘social innovation’ – innovation that is related to creating new services that have value for stakeholders (such as citizens) in terms of the social and political outcomes they produce. Innovation in City Governments: Structures, Networks, and Leadership establishes an analytical framework of innovation capacity based on three dimensions: Structure - national governance and traditions, the local socioeconomic context, and the municipal structure Networks – interpersonal connections inside and outside the organization Leadership – the qualities and capabilities of senior individuals within the organization. Each of these are analysed using data from a comparative EU research project in Copenhagen, Barcelona and Rotterdam. The book provides major new insights on how structures, networks and leadership in city governments shape the social innovation capacity of cities. It provides ground-breaking analyses of how governance structures and local socio-economic challenges, are related to the innovations introduced by these cities. The volume maps and analyses the social networks of the three cities and examines boundary spanning within and outside of the cities. It also examines what leadership qualities are important for innovation. Innovation in City Governments: Structures, Networks, and Leadership combines an original analytical approach with comparative empirical work, to generate a novel perspective on the social innovation capacity of cities and is critical reading for academics, students and policy makers alike in the fields of Public Management, Public Administration, Local Government, Policy, Innovation and Leadership.

Table of Contents:
Part 1: Innovation Capacity: A Framework for Analysis 1. The Public Sector Innovation Puzzle 2. Structures and Innovation 3. Social Networks and Innovation 4. Leadership and Innovation Part 2: A Comparison of Three Cities: Barcelona, Copenhagen and Rotterdam 5. The Innovation Environment: Governance Structures and Economic Challenges 6. Innovation Capacity: Drivers and Supports 7. Innovation Networks: Connections and Brokerage 8. Fostering Innovation: Leadership Part 3: Conclusions: What Supports Innovation in City Governments? 9. Linking Structures, Networks, Leadership and Innovation 10. Supporting Innovation in City Governments

About the Author :
Jenny M. Lewis is Professor of Public Policy at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Lykke Margot Ricard is Senior Adviser on Innovation at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Erik Hans Klijn is Professor at the School of Social Sciences, Erasmus University, Netherlands. Tamyko Ysa Figueras is Associate Professor, Department of Strategy and General Management in ESADE Business School, Spain.

Review :
"If you are interested in how social structure can deeply influence social innovation outcomes, or in jump-starting social innovation in your city, this book will provide clear insights about how the way we lead, organize, and interact affects the way we innovate as a society." –Michael W-P Fortunato, Sam Houston State University, USA