Disruptive public policy

Abstract

More often public sector innovation refers to a limited change in Government processes and technologies that happens over some time almost imperceptibly There are many barriers to a bureaucratic organisation adopting innovations However of late there is an increased pressure on public sector organisations to become more innovative even embracing disruptive innovations to overcome the shortage of resources and expand the reach of quality public services Eggers et al 2015 There are no standard models for adopting disruptive innovation in Government and the learnings from the private sector may not always be adequate Christensen et al 2006 Sahni Wessel and Christensen 2013 Disruptive innovation is a new technology process procedure or idea that has specific features Functional limitations constrain the usage of disruptive innovation It is often demanded only in a small segment of consumers appeals to lower end customers who need an inexpensive simple quick solution to their problems When the innovation is new there may not be any existing market due to its novelty soon the innovation transforms itself into the mainstream over time Successful mainstream organisations do not promote a disruptive innovation due to many factors but most importantly due to a lack of requisite organisational capabilities The existing organisational capabilities namely its resources processes and values collectively called RPV are not compatible with the innovation A fully autonomous unit or start up is likely to pilot a disruptive innovation successfully Christensen et al 2006 Christensen and Overdorf 2000 Christensen Raynor and McDonald 2015 Our study examines the challenges a public sector organisation has to overcome while adopting a 8216 Disruptive Public Policy 8217 a public policy that includes a mix of disruptive or radical innovations and sustaining or incremental innovations newline newline