*What are the various ways in which public agencies can measure their specific processes and each of the four bottom lines. Be sure to discuss each of these specific measurable concepts when you explain specific measures.

Measuring the public innovation processes is based on assessing the potential to innovate, learning from individual innovation processes, and measuring the value of innovation. In turn, assessing the potential to innovate addresses four Cs that show how we can strengthen the efforts of the organization and implement undertaken innovation. The innovation potential of organizations can be assessed by the four Cs: consciousness, capacity, co-creation, and courage. Consciousness is the ability to see the same concepts. Capacity is about the political and legal context of innovation. Co-creation is the ability to work with citizens and includes methods of such cooperation. Courage is the ability to lead innovation. Learning from the individual innovation processes helps to measure the innovation and improve it. This follows up for feedback on the quality of the process. Finally, measuring the value of innovation considers how to measure the four bottom lines of innovation discussed below.

The four bottom lines of public sector innovation are productivity, service experience, result, and democracy. Productivity of the innovation is difficult to measure. Most often it is measured as a case output per staff input. However, when the innovation is successful, productivity grows. For example, employing new techniques increases the productivity of organization operation. Therefore, it is relatively easy to register the rise of productivity after implementing the innovations in the process and equipment. The use of digital systems is a good example of the introduced innovation that made the workflow more effective. Service experience puts citizens in the center of the governmental organization work and measures the subjective experience of citizens in getting the service. Citizen satisfaction surveys are good at this point to measure public service satisfaction methods. Results are often the most obvious bottom line of the organization operation. Results are outcomes that organizations aim to achieve. These outcomes can be short-term and long-term. Finally, democracy is the main and the most important result of the innovation in the public sector. At this point, democracy is not a barrier for innovation, but rather its result. Democracy consists of different dimensions, such as equality, transparency, accountability and participation. Innovating these dimensions makes the innovations democracy innovations, which is beneficial for both the government and the citizens.

*How do these measurements help public agencies in innovation and change?

These measurements allow to track the innovation process in public agencies and assess it. It is easier to determine a performance of the organization having this information. While the road to effective innovation is learning the ways to improve existing practices and improving them, having the timely feedback is the same important. However, innovations are assessed by their outcomes, and the outcome is in fact the major cause of transforming the public organizations and the way it works. Moreover, these innovations help in tracking the company’s performance records, based on the effectiveness of new innovations within the company. In so doing, the business, or even a government can be easily able to move forward without any problems whatsoever.    

Reference

Bason, C., 2010. Leading public sector innovation: Co-creating for a better society. 2nd ed. Bristol: Policy Press.