Ilpo Laitinen

Street-level bureaucrats as strategy shapers in social and health service delivery: Empirical evidence from six countries

In this research article, we discuss the social construction of public services within the conceptual and theoretical framework provided by Lipsky. We are interested in what it means if/when street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) have an active role in the construction of a service system. We argue that there are multiple realities in terms of the construction of public services and we approach the question by deploying Lipsky’s notion on SLBs by empirically analysing middle managers’ views on how SLBs act and their role in this construction process. This paper is based on empirical interviews (N=100) collated in 2012 from Barcelona, Den Bosch, Glasgow, Melbourne, Toronto, Vancouver, the Greater London area, and the US state of Vermont. The research collation strategy was to include reform-oriented cities and countries in terms of developing and delivering public services. We found that SLBs have three different kinds of strategies in the construction process: policy-making, working practices, and professionalism. We found that there are no conflicts arising from SLBs’ beliefs, organisational demands, and rules and regulations. Instead, SLBs try to solve conflicts or bridge gaps between policy-making and practical work in the boundaries between SLBs and service users. Based on this research, the role of SLBs and the built-in flexibility and agility of public service leadership and organisations must be addressed and developed further. The role of organisational learning and changing organisational cultures must also be scrutinized in the context of public service systems. The analysis of professional resilience in the context of public services planning needs more theoretical and empirical attention. The resilience of organisations and the capacities of SLBs need to be researched more. Finally, there is the need for better cultivation of the role of the SLBs and service users with regard to accountability aspects (horizontal and vertical).

Street-level new public governances in integrated services-as-a-system

ABSTRACT The paper explores the emergence of street-level public service integration in eight cities, in five countries using a new framework: services-as-a-system to explore new public governances in health and social care integration. Data is analysed from eight cities in six countries (Australia, Canada, The Netherlands, Spain, UK, and USA) gathered in over 100 semi-structured interviews with key agents. We show that whilst culture and context shape the form and processes of governances there are underlying processual drivers of new public governances, in particular where users are involved in the co-design and co-production of integrated services.

Adaptive learning in smart cities – The cases of Catania and Helsinki:

Our research is a comparative qualitative study. The material has been gathered from the cities of Helsinki and Catania. The target cities showcase varied successes and models of smart cities. In the cities, key people involved in the smart city concept – with different kinds of professional backgrounds – were interviewed, both individually and in teams. All interviewees had at least a basic knowledge of information technology and of organizational learning processes. On the basis of these interviews it has been possible to create an overall picture of learning processes occurring in the organizations involved (universities and local government) and within the smart city programmes produced or still to be developed. We explore how the expertise has been challenged: how the key players of the smart city uphold the concept and promote it.

Adult and Lifelong Learning as Tools for Organisational Adaptation and Change Management

Significant structural reforms of public administration are commencing in Finland from 2017. Firstly, municipalities and cities are being combined into larger entities. Secondly, five social-welfare and healthcare regions are to be created, with that level being responsible for arranging services in this field. Thirdly, the City of Helsinki is outsourcing service provision. This study shows that in current thinking on services, the foundations of reform rest with customers and new service models. Little consideration has been given to the needs of clients or the potential that technology offers for the rationalisation of service practices. I consider the key change to involve a transition from closed systems to open ones. Open systems are core elements in the theory of complex adaptive systems, as discussed below. Public organisations are becoming less hierarchical and status-centred; they can be seen as relationships that lead to networks, interaction and understanding. The way public organisations are developing shows they are moving away from hierarchical bureaucracy towards more open, network-based and self-directed practices. Information, its accessibility and interpretation and the organisations ability to use it have been internal drivers for change within organisations, and these are linked to continuous learning. The lower the predictability of organisational activities and the greater the uncertainty about everything continuing unchanged, the more important it becomes to enhance continuous learning, i.e. lifelong learning as an adaptation.

Co-design and action learning in local public services:

The paper argues that from a new public governance and service management perspective, local public services are best conceptualised as service systems in which users co-produce and co-design; this differentiates public from private services, which have lower of trust and shared values resulting in a goods-dominant logic and are an alternative to the new public management viewpoint. Referencing new case studies from Finland and Scotland, we further argue that for local public servicesʼn co-production as an action- learning environment supports and encourages co-design: this makes local public services a special case of codesign. Analysing the two cases of co-design, we argue that since public services are subject to public scrutiny, and since design is a social activity, there exists a wider democratic footprint. Finally, we argue that co-design of local public services is best analysed from the perspective of action learning, for which we suggest an analytical framework.

Entering the Era of Third Generation Services: A Comparative Study of Reforms in Social and Health Care Services.

This article discusses what kinds of organisational and change processes take place when shifting to customer-oriented service concept, here called ‘third generation services’. Our interest lies in the learning process that produces the development of services in cities and regions in new ways and how to develop services in practice so that the customer is at the centre. Our article is a comparative study with special focus on reforms implemented in social and health care services. The material consists of case studies from cities and regions in several different countries, including Barcelona, Glasgow and Melbourne. The material has been gathered from service development projects in which the aim has been a shift over to services with the customer in the centre.