Creativity in local government: Definition and determinants

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Kruyen, Peter M.; van Genugten, Marieke
• 署名单位: Radboud University Nijmegen
• 刊物名称: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-3298
• DOI: 10.1111/padm.12332
• 发表日期: 2017
• 页码: 825-841
• 关键词: EMPLOYEE CREATIVITY; CONTEXTUAL FACTORS; WORK-ENVIRONMENT; INNOVATION; metaanalysis; predictors; behaviors

摘要

In current thinking about public service improvement, civil servant creativity plays an important role. Using the results of 43 semi-structured interviews, we assessed the degree to which our theoretical knowledge about creativity-based primarily on business research-matches the insights of managers in local government. Respondents considered employee creativity to be important, but-in contrast to the literature-understood creativity as the act of trying out new things to better deal with specific problems at hand instead of developing new ideas potentially applicable to a wider context. A s such, respondents did not see creativity as the main precondition for innovation. In line with the literature, there is little consistency across respondents about individual- and context-level determinants of creativity. Lastly, respondents put forward several factors that have received little attention in the literature but are particularly relevant in understanding differences in work-related creativity in the context of local government.