Bureaucracies’ Extended Arm in Co-creation: A Study of Institutional Complexity in the Context of Public Services

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58235/sjpa.2024.23233

Keywords:

Institutional complexity, Co-creation, NEETs, Public services

Abstract

Co-creation, as a central strategy of the New Public Governance (NPG) paradigm, is deemed essential to address complex societal challenges. A qualitative, in-depth study was conducted to explore collaborative processes between the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) and three external organizations. The aim of co-creation among these actors was to limit/prevent outsiderness by providing more individualized work inclusion services to young adults facing vulnerabilities. Our study examines collaborative processes between NAV and external actors in work inclusion efforts and explores how institutional complexity within NAV influences the potential for co-creation among these actors. We found that the bureaucratic logic of the Traditional Public Administration (TPA) within NAV forces external actors to engage in challenging, time-consuming procedures, turning them into bureaucracies’ extended arms rather than independent contributors of resources. Additionally, core principles of New Public Management (NPM), such as resource control and optimization, overshadow the importance of shared responsibility, equality, and knowledge sharing (NPG). With NAV as an example, the article demonstrates the importance of effectively managing institutional complexity in public organizations to succeed in co-creation. It contributes empirical and contextual examples of co-creation processes in the public sector, as the co-creation literature is still very theoretical, descriptive, and conceptual.

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Author Biographies

Marie Rønshaugen, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

Marie Rønshaugen is a PhD candidate in the doctoral program Service Innovation for Public and Private Sectors (INSEPP) at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences and holds a master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA). Her research centers on the issue of youth outsiderness within the context of service delivery, placing particular emphasis on co-creation as a concept and an innovation strategy.

Mette Sønderskov, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

Mette Sønderskov, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Organisation, Leadership, and Management at the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. Sønderskov has a Ph.D. in public innovation. Her research interests include collaborative governance, co-creation, work inclusion, street-level bureaucracy, and positive deviance.

Siv Fladsrud Magnussen, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)

Siv Fladsrud Magnussen, is an Associate Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Centre for Care Research, Norway/ Associate Professor II, Department of Organisation, Leadership and Management, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (INN), Norway. Magnussen is a sociologist and has a Ph.D. in Innovation in Services in the Public and Private Sectors. Her research interests include public service innovation, healthcare organization, community care services, user involvement, co-creation, and co-destruction of service.

Published

2024-09-18

How to Cite

Rønshaugen, M., Sønderskov, M., & Magnussen, S. F. (2024). Bureaucracies’ Extended Arm in Co-creation: A Study of Institutional Complexity in the Context of Public Services. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration, 28(3), 65–79. https://doi.org/10.58235/sjpa.2024.23233

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Section

Original Articles