CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
4.3 Innovation Policy with Major Findings
Some important policy suggestions have come from the interviewees. There is no national policy for innovation yet currently the ICT policy is supporting this area (Razzaqul, personal communication, 2019). Mr. Ahsan Habib recommended involving the stakeholders in the innovation process and involving academicians and researchers, especially local researchers that have experience with field level innovation processes. He also suggested arranging national and international training, workshops, and seminars in order to enhance divergent thinking skills as well as innovation.
Mr. Sayeed had a strong recommendation about arranging the primary funds (initial money) and all of the other interviewees corroborated this recommendation.
He also added that to speed up the ICT act, SDG programs, and vision 2021, innovation policy is very important now. Mr. Abul Kalam’s recommendation was to add innovation contribution to the promotion and ACR evaluation system so that it can have a long-term significant effect on one’s career. He also emphasized numerical analysis of the progress of innovation activities (visible progress).
Mr. Moniruzzaman highlighted the reward and incentive systems. He stated that the current reward and incentive system is not sufficient to motivate the total innovation system. It should not be a one-shot program. It should not be only a criterion for promotion only; rather, it should have a significant impact on one’s career. Mrs. Rehana on the other hand, stated that local political leaders’ and public representatives’ interest should be with the public service officers. She emphasized arranging more innovation and digital fairs and encouraging adaptation and replication. Mr. Razzaqul indicated that the strategy should be to minimize the generation gap of the public officers so that TL and POC can expedite innovation.
One of the major problems to work innovative and to think innovative for the public officers is that they have a specific duration of posting for two years (not more than three years). In order to solve this frequent transfer problem, most of the interviewees recommend creating permanent posts (not as an additional charge). Mrs.
Yeasmin stated that though there are limited options for encouragement in innovation, there is no reprobation system for not contributing to innovation. The complete policy should include both encouragement to contribute as well as discouragement for not contributing.
The innovation process should not be “caged” only to fill-up the evaluation sheet but to publish progress reports and innovation performance reports annually, as indicated by Mrs. Monira. She also added that a full-phased innovation policy can fill the gap of what will be the organizational culture and organizational support for public service innovation.
Here are the major findings from the qualitative data analysis:
1) There is a lack of synchronization between regular work and innovation work for the innovation team. The priority for the work done on a regular
basis and the urgency of innovating are now well-defined guidelines for the officers working on innovation teams. Perhaps, with the course of time, a culture will develop in the future relating to this dilemma. However, some models can be presented so that the team can understand. It is of course very difficult to draw a fine line between these two kinds of activities.
2) The current period is actually a transition time for creating a culture of innovation. Now, there is no concrete form or ideal model for the people working to bring innovation to the public organizations. Special initiatives at the central level can be taken to handle the issues arising out of this period. The organization should provide enough space both in terms of time and flexibility for adaptation to the culture of innovation in the public organization.
3) There is little recognition for the innovation teams to positively encourage innovation. To mention some of that recognition, only the Public Administration Award and the Digital Fair Award can be listed. However, the capacity to come up with an original and genuine innovation is a big challenge for the civil servants of a developing nation such as Bangladesh. That is why it is also part of the achievement toward innovation to support and encourage good initiative. This can help to create a culture of doing something new in the future.
4) One of the challenges for innovation in public offices is that the organizations and the personnel in charge are already overburdened with the huge volume of work, as the process of carrying out the job is still substantially paper based and of a traditional nature. On the other hand, the offices still face some other administrative challenges in the workplaces. One of the complaints from the officers is that they have to offer more services to the people than they are capable of. The resources are also inadequate for ensuring the desired service.
5) Some members also stated that dissatisfying factors exist in the public offices which are demoralizing for them and do not encourage them to innovate. Many of the members stated that there is a lack of satisfying factors in the public services for which they are not morally obliged to conduct innovative work.
6) Though not completely, the civil service of Bangladesh has substantially come out of its inflexible culture. The current state has shown a strong tendency toward embracing and inculcating innovations.
7) The traditional bureaucratic culture is predominant and hinders the overall performance of the innovation team. Even after innovative ideas are created by the team, the decisions as to whether they will be adopted or not is made by a higher authority. The top-bottom approach in the public organization is still influencing any decision that might affect higher decisions.
8) The politicization of bureaucracy has recently been well-recorded, and this hinders the overall organization culture of the public organization. The decision to make the service delivery process of innovation simplified is sometimes not neutrally taken; many of the innovations are motivated by personal interest. The politicians are eager to do work that convince people to vote for them in elections.
They are not interested with innovative ideas that are not tangible or visible for the general people. Innovation related to social changes or intellectual changes is not positively accepted or supported by the political leaders at the local level.
9) One of the other obstacles to coming up with an innovation for the interest of the people and service seekers is vested interests. Therefore, initiatives should be taken to address this issue. The area where innovation is really required can be selected for better results and free of personal interest.
10) It is also an obstacle that many officers still lack the capacity for creative thinking. The selection processes still lack the inclusion of pre-qualifications for candidates to join the civil service.
11) Priority areas to work for innovation can be fixed by senior officials to narrow down the focus for the sake of more effective and productive innovation.
12) Arrangement of idea sharing related to innovation through workshops and seminars facilitated by a resource person can greatly help to the innovation process.
13) The inclusion of knowledge of ICT and the capacity for innovation in annual performance and promotion are important criteria for making the innovation team fully productive for innovation.
14) Only the team work is evaluated and indirectly awarded for an innovation. However, the initial contribution to innovation can also be recorded and considered for performance appraisal and promotion.
15) There is a problem of mindsets; changes in mindsets for shared vision are necessary.
16) Sometimes the sense of purpose and urgency is not clear and it should be.
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The present chapter is the combination of three core sections of the discussion of major observations of the research on the basis of the results of both the quantitative and qualitative data. This conclusion section summarizes the practical and theoretical implications and lastly the recommendations section demonstrates policy recommendations and offers suggestions for study.
5.1 Results and Discussion
The current study of the direct and also indirect influence of TL and POS and culture on public service innovation outcomes was conducted using ten research questions: 1) Are there any direct influences of tansformational leadership (TL) on public service innovation outcomes? If yes, to what extent do those factors influence public service innovation outcomes? 2) Are there any direct influences of perceived organizational support on public service innovation outcomes? If yes, to what extent do those factors influence public service innovation outcomes? 3) Are there any influences of transformational leadership on creativity? If yes, to what extent do those factors influence creativity? 4) Are there any influences of perceived organizational support on creativity? If yes, to what extent do those factors influence creativity? 5) Are there any influences of transformational leadership on perceived organizational culture? If yes, to what extent do they influence perceived organizational culture? 6) Are there any influences of perceived organizational support (POS) on perceived organizational culture (POC)? If yes, to what extent does this influence perceived organizational culture? 7) Are there any influences of perceived organizational culture on creativity as a moderating factor of transformational leadership? If yes, to what extent do those factors influence creativity? 8) Are there any influences of perceived organizational culture on creativity as a moderating factor of perceived organizational
support? If yes, to what extent do those factors influence creativity? 9) Are there any influences of creativity as the mediating factor of transformational leadership (TL) and perceived organizational support (POS) on public service innovation outcomes?
If yes, to what extent do those factors influence public service innovation outcomes?
10) What are the managerial issues that contribute to overall public service innovation management in the public service innovation of Bangladesh?
These ten research questions were divided into two segments in accordance with the quantitative and qualitative methods. The first nine research questions were stated for the nine hypotheses, which were tested by path analysis and also multiple regression analysis under a conditional theoritical model of public service innovation outcomes. The last research question was explained through qualitative study, which helped to make up the gaps in the quantitative research only and helped to draw some policy recommendations more completely. Transformational leadership, perceived organizational support, perceived organizational culture, and creativity and public service innovation outcomes were the main concepts, and this research was grounded on these concepts. The findings of the research are discussed and summarized in the following section.
5.1.1 The Influences of Transformational Leadership, Perceived Organizational Support and Creativity on Public Service Innovation Outcomes
In the path analysis, transformational leadership, perceived organizational support, and creativity were found to have a positive and significant influence on public service innovation outcomes. In the path analysis, the influence of TL on PSIO, the regression weight was found to be 0.260, with a p-value of 0.000. Thus, the strong influence of TL on PSIO was justified. Similarly, the influence of POS on PSIO has also been justified, as the standard coefficient was found to be 0.146 with a p-value of 0.015. Again, the R2 coefficient of creativity was 0.652, which is greater than 0.26 and thus it had a great influence on the PSIO model.
From the findings for the regression analysis (Appendix D), the iv- transformational leadership (β=.313, t=6.582, P<.001) was pointed and found as one of the strong predictors of public service innovation outcomes, similar to another
independent variable, perceived organizational support (β=.125, t=2.511, P<.001), which was found to be a strong positive predictor of public service innovation outcomes. Creativity (β=.370, t=7.251, P<.001) was also found to be a strong predictor of public service innovation outcomes. Therefore hypotheses 1, 2, and 9 were totally supported and accepted according to the results of the regression analysis.
Thus, the regression analysis summarized the equation for hypotheses 1, 2, and 9.
Public Service Innovation Outcomes = 1.030+.313*TL+.125*POS+.370*CR The qualitative results also validated the quantitative results concerning the predictability of TL, POS, and creativity in PSIO. The participants of the interviews agreed that TL, POS and creativity were domineering for public service innovation outcomes. All of the interviewees agreed about rewards, incentives, and a financial benefits structure for members of the civil service for the extra performance of public service innovation.
5.1.2 The Influences of Transformational Leadership and Perceived Organizational Support on Creativity
From the path analysis, the influences of TL and POS on creativity were seen to be justified. The results showed that a strong positive influence of TL on CR with a standard coefficient of 0.202 where the p-value was 0.000 and thus it was statistically significant. Similarly, the influences of POS on creativity were justified as the regression weight was 0.184, where the p-value was 0.001. Thus it is clear that a strong positive influence of POS on CR was confirmed.
From the coefficient results (Appendix D) it was found that transformational leadership and perceived organizational support had a significant, positive impact on creativity. The independent variable, transformational leadership (β=.333, t= 7.326, P<.001), was established as the potential predictor of creativity, similar to another independent variable, perceived organizational support (β=.435, t= 9.576, P<.001), which was identified as one of the solid predictors of creativity. Thus, hypothesis 3 and 4 were fully accepted and also supported according to the regression results.
Thus, hypothesis 3 and 4 got regressed equation shape as below:
Creativity = .910+.333*TL+.435*POS
The regression results regarding the probability of TL and POS on creativity was also confirmed with validation. The participants of the interviews stated that TL and POS were imperative for creativity. All of the interviewee agreed about the visionary leader leading to think creatively, unlocking creativity and innovative ideas for the members. Most of them agreed about their leader—that he or she encourages the exploration of new ways of doing jobs and helping embrace change initiatives with due respect of other member’s diverse perspectives. Finally, the leader inspires to think out of the box, which leads members toward creativity.
5.1.3 Influence of the relationship of Transformational Leadership and Perceived Organizational Support with Creativity (POC as moderator) ……….
From the path analysis, perceived organizational culture moderated the relation between TL and creativity. The study presented the interaction between POC and TL (TL*POC) with creativity being positive and thus statistically significant (p- value = 0.456 and Beta Coefficient = 0.000) (table 4.7). Hence, the results proposed that POC positively moderated the relation between transformational leadership and creativity (figure 4.2). Thus, this indicates that TL has a strong, significant and positive relation with CR and when using POC as a moderator the relation becomes stronger.
Again, the interaction between POC and POS (POS * POC) with creativity was positive and statistically significant (p-value = 0.321 with a beta coefficient = 0.000) (table 4.7). Thus, this result proposed that POC positively moderated the relation between Perceived Organizational Support and Creativity (figure 4.3). Thus, this shows that perceived organizational support has a strong, significant and positive relation with CR and when using POC as a moderator the relation becomes stronger.
Additionally, regarding the regression analysis (Appendix D), it was shown that POC has a significant positive influence on both the relation of TL and creativity and the relation of perceived organization support and creativity. The moderator variable, perceived organizational culture (β=.456, t= 6.728, P<.001), was also marked as a strong predictor of the relationship of TL and creativity. In the same way, another case variable POS (β=.321, t= 4.737, P<.001) perceived organizational
culture was found to be a strong predictor of the relationship of POS and creativity.
Hence, hypothesis 7 and 8 were also wholly supported with acceptance according to the regression outcomes. Therefore, for hypothesis 7 and 8 the regressed equation has the shape as below:
Creativity = 2.549+.456*M1+.321*M2
The qualitative results correspondingly authenticated the quantitative results.
All of the participants of the interviews stated that the leader clearly focused the target toward the members. They added that the organization takes responsibility for the well-being of the members, looks after problems, and creates a balance between tasks and personal matters. They also mentioned about recreational activities, the dedication to needs-based, hassle-free services and tolerable attitudes of mistakes and errors.
5.2 Conclusion
The drive of this research was finding the influences of TL and POS directly on public service innovation outcomes and also the indirect influence where the perceived organization culture was the moderating and creativity was the mediating factor. This research was conducted in the context of Bangladesh Public service. The study enhances our understanding concerning the public service innovation outcomes from a clear point of view of the Bangladesh context.
The objectives of this study were clustered into three domains: the first group was to assess the direct relations of the transformational leader and perceived organizational support with public service innovation outcomes, and second group for the assessment of the indirect relations of transformational leadership and perceived organization support where perceived organizational culture was the moderator and creativity was the mediating factor. Last was to evaluate the policy issues that contribute to public service innovation management in the public organizations of Bangladesh. For the first two domains, a quantitative survey was done employing multiple regression analysis and path analysis, and for the last domain qualitative study with in-depth interviews and FGD were done. All of the objectives of this study were secured by testing all of the hypotheses, including qualitative data analysis.
Mainly, path analysis was employed. In order to focus and to test the indirect
influences of TL and POS on PSIO the perceived organizational culture’s role as moderator and creativity role as a mediator path analysis were a must. Additionally, in order to be certain of the results, full-phased multiple regression analysis was carried out. The findings from both the quantitative and qualtitative analysis were validated with adequate empirical and experimental evidence from related literature.
It can be summarized that various factors are remarkably significant in undertaking public service innovation in Bangladesh. It might be too early to measure innovation outcomes in the Bangladesh context but to some extent, the current research has shown that public service innovation outcomes are coming to light.
Time, costs, and visitors' visits are reducing. The positive influence of TL, POS, POC, and CR on PSIO is evident enough. Successful innovation stories in public services are telecast in the media. Recently the Access to Information (A2I) program conducted a research on 102 cases and the results showed a successful story of public service innovation outcomes of Bangladesh; that is, 65% of time, 66% of costs, and 38% of visits have been reduced. (Galaxy, 2019)
5.2.1 Implications of the Study
The study of public service innovation outcomes of Bangladesh public service has practical and theoretical significance.
5.2.1.1 Theoretical Implications
This research attempts to assess the level of influence of the selected predictors in expediting public service innovation outcomes. From the rigorous study, it was found that there are some studies that have been conducted on TL or POS individually. The direct and indirect influences in combination were studied in the current research on the relationship of TL and POS regarding public service innovation outcomes, where both moderator and mediator factor have been used.
Further, more specifically, the influence of the team leader has been assessed, which is a new addition, an attempt to measure public service innovation outcomes on team- based performance where the team is the unit of analysis. However, there is no comprehensive study like the current one, which was conducted on the outcomes of public service innovation.