IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/jpamgt/v11y1992i1p88-115.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Using old stuff in new ways: Innovation as a case of evolutionary tinkering

Author

Listed:
  • Mary Bryna Sanger
  • Martin A. Levin

Abstract

We analyze more than 25 successful innovations and innovators and draw three principle lessons. First, innovation does not spring from systematic policy analysis nor is it generally a revolutionary breakthrough. Innovation more often depends upon evolutionary tinkering with existing practices. It results, therefore, from a process of trial and error and experimential learning in the field. Its novelty arises from the assemblage of familiar stuff in new ways. Second, analysis is more useful in shaping effective policy by evaluating it as it develops rather than in choosing between competing policies ahead of time. Third, innovative public managers are entrepreneurial; they take risks with this old stuff, with an opportunistic bias toward action and a conscious underestimating of the bureaucratic and political obstacles their innovations face. We conclude with prescriptions for how public managers ought to be trained and how they ought to behave.

Suggested Citation

  • Mary Bryna Sanger & Martin A. Levin, 1992. "Using old stuff in new ways: Innovation as a case of evolutionary tinkering," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(1), pages 88-115.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:11:y:1992:i:1:p:88-115
    DOI: 10.2307/3325134
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.2307/3325134
    File Function: Link to full text; subscription required
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2307/3325134?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard F. Elmore, 1986. "Graduate education in public management: Working the seams of government," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 6(1), pages 69-83.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Djellal, Faridah & Gallouj, Faïz & Miles, Ian, 2013. "Two decades of research on innovation in services: Which place for public services?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 98-117.
    2. Cinar, Emre & Demircioglu, Mehmet Akif & Acik, Ahmet Coskun & Simms, Chris, 2024. "Public sector innovation in a city state: exploring innovation types and national context in Singapore," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(2).
    3. Faïz Gallouj, 2012. "Service: innovation, performance and public policy," Working Papers hal-01111765, HAL.
    4. Sarah Michaels & Owen J. Furuseth, 1997. "Innovation in environmental policy: the National Environmental Policy Act of the US and the Resource Management Act of New Zealand," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 181-190, September.
    5. Benoît Desmarchelier & Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 2018. "Les réseaux d'innovation de service public (RISP) : un instrument d'innovation collaborative et de co-création de valeur dans le(s) service(s) public(s)," Working Papers halshs-01934290, HAL.
    6. Benoît Desmarchelier & Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 2018. "Public Service Innovation Networks (PSINs): Collaborating for Innovation and Value Creation," Working Papers halshs-01934275, HAL.
    7. Benoît Desmarchelier & Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 2018. "Services in innovation networks and innovation networks in services: from traditional innovation networks (TINs) to public service innovation networks (PSINs)," Post-Print halshs-01934282, HAL.
    8. Benoît Desmarchelier & Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 2018. "Public service innovation networks (PSINs): an instrument for collaborative innovation and value co-creation in public service(s)," Working Papers halshs-01934284, HAL.
    9. Benoy Jacob & Eric Welch & Terence Simms, 2009. "Emergent Management Strategies in a Public Agency: A Case Study of Alternative Fuel Vehicles," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 213-234, September.
    10. Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 2009. "Les réseaux d’innovation public-privé dans les services (RIPPS) ne sont pas des réseaux d’innovation (RI) comme les autres : quels enseignements pour les politiques publiques ?," Post-Print halshs-01113944, HAL.
    11. Venera Këndusi, 2017. "Teachers’ Professional Training for the Implementation of Learning Technologies," European Journal of Social Sciences Education and Research Articles, Revistia Research and Publishing, vol. 4, January -.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Heidi Jane Smith & Gabriel Purón Cid & Irving Rosales, 2019. "The Teaching of Public Finance and Budgeting as an Indicator of the Quality of Public Service Education in Mexico," Working Paper Series Sobre México 2019003, Sobre México. Temas en economía.
    2. Jonathan Brock, 2004. "Public management: Where do we go from here? Or, what do we know and when did we know it?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(3), pages 617-631.
    3. Jeffrey D. Straussman, 2008. "Public management, politics, and the policy process in the public affairs curriculum," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 624-635.
    4. Alejandro E. Camacho & Robert L. Glicksman, 2021. "Designing Regulation Across Organizations: Assessing the Functions and Dimensions of Governance," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(S1), pages 102-122, November.
    5. Richard F. Elmore & Jon Brock, 1991. "Learning from experience: Programs for executives and some implications for policy schools," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 10(4), pages 719-733.
    6. Laurence E. Lynn, 1994. "Public management research: The triumph of art over science," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(2), pages 231-259.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:11:y:1992:i:1:p:88-115. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/34787/home .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.