Abstract
This article reports on a study of technological innovations in state and local government agencies. The study was based on an aggregate analysis of 140 previously published and unpublished case studies, in which a closed-ended questionnaire was used to extract information from the case studies. The main hypotheses and findings of the study concern the possible existence of two innovative processes, one that emphasizes service improvements but that does not necessarily lead to enduring incorporation of the innovation (production efficiency), and the other that emphasizes incorporation even where the innovation may not have produced a demonstrable service improvement (bureaucratic self-interest).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahlbrandt, Rogers S., Jr. (1974). “Implications of Contracting for a Public Service,”Urban Affairs Quarterly,9 (March), 337–358.
Alesch, Daniel J. (1971). “A Strategy for Developing in State Government the Capability to Change through Science and Technology,” The Rand Corporation, R-785-NSF, Santa Monica.
Berman, Paul and Milbrey McLaughlin (1974). “Federal Programs Supporting Educational Change,” Vol. I, The Rand Corporation, R-1589/1-HEW, Santa Monica, September.
Berman, Paul and Edward W. Pauly (1975). “Federal Programs Supporting Educational Change”, Vol. II, The Rand Corporation, R-1589/2-HEW, Santa Monica, April.
Burt, Marvin et al. (1972). “Factors Affecting the Impact of Urban Policy Analysis: Ten Case Histories,” working paper, The Urban Institute, Washington, D.C., July.
Carroll, Jean (1967). “A Note on Departmental Autonomy and Innovation in Medical Schools,”Journal of Business,49 (March), 531–534.
Corwin, Ronald G. (1975). “Innovation in Organizations: The Case of Schools,”Sociology of Education,48 (Winter), 1–37.
Cyert, Richard M. and James G. March (1963).A Behavioral Theory of the Firm. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
Downs, Anthony (1967).Inside Bureaucracy. Boston: Little, Brown.
Ernst, Martin L. (1972). “Public Systems Analysis: A Consultant's View,” pp. 31–44 in Alvin W. Drake et al. (eds.),Analysis of Public Systems. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press.
Frohman, Alan et al (1972).Factors Affecting Innovation in the Fire Services. Cambridge, Mass.: Pugh-Roberts Associates.
Gordon, Diana R. (1973).City Limits. New York: Charterhouse Books.
Gross, Neal et al. (1971).Implementing Organizational Innovations: A Sociological Analysis of Planned Educational Change. New York: Basic Books.
Hargrove, Erwin C. (1975). “The Missing Link: The Study of Implementation of Social Policy,” draft manuscript, The Urban Institute, Washington, D.C., July.
Hatry, Harry P. (1971). “Status of PPBS in Local and State Governments in the United States,”Policy Sciences,2 (June), 177–189.
Havelock, Ronald G. (1969). “Planning for Innovation through Dissemination and Utilization of Knowledge,” Center for Research on Utilization of Scientific Knowledge, Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, July.
House, Ernest R. (1974).The Politics of Educational Innovation. Berkeley: McCuthan.
Kelly, Patrick et al. (1975).Technological Innovation: A Critical Review of Current Knowledge (four vols.), Atlanta: George Tech.
Lambright, W. Henry and A. H. Teich (1974). “Federal Laboratories and Technology Transfer,” Syracuse University Research Corporation, Syracuse, March.
Mohr, Lawrence B. (1969). “Determinants of Innovation in Organizations,”American Political Science Review,3 (March), 111–126.
Mytinger, Robert E. (1968). “Innovation in Local Health Services: A Study of the Adoption of New Programs by Local Health Departments with Particular Reference to Newer Medical Care Activities,” U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Division of Medical Care Administration, Arlington, Virginia.
Niskanen, William A. (1971).Bureaucracy and Representative Government. Chicago: Aldine.
Niskanen, William A. (1968). “The Peculiar Economics of Bureaucracy,”American Economic Review,58 (May), 293–305.
Pincus, John (1974). “Incentives for Innovation in the Public Schools,”Review of Educational Research,44 (Winter), 113–144.
Pressman, Jeffrey L. and Aaron Wildavsky (1973).Implementation. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Radnor, Michael et al. (1970). “Implementation in Operations Research and R&D in Government and Business Organization,”Operations Research, 18 (Nov.–Dec.), 967–991.
Richland, Malcolm (1965). “Traveling Seminar and Conference for the Implementation of Educational Innovations,” Systems Development Corporation, TM-2691, Santa Monica, October.
Robbins, Martin D. et al. (1973). “Federal Incentives for Innovation,” Denver Research Institute, November.
Rogers, Everett M. and F. Floyd Shoemaker (1971).Communication of Innovations, 2nd ed. New York: Free Press.
Rosenbloom, Richard S. and John R. Russell (1971).New Tools for Urban Management. Boston: Harvard Business School.
Rosner, Martin M. (1968). “Economic Determinants of Organizational Innovation,”Administrative Science Quarterly,12 (March), 614–625.
Schultz, Randall L. and Dennis P. Slevin (1975). “Implementation and Management Innovation,” pp. 3–20 in Randall L. Schultz and Dennis P. Slevin (eds.),Implementing Operations Research/Management Science. New York: American Elsevier.
Scott, Thomas M. (1968). “The Diffusion of Urban Governmental Forms as a Case of Social Learning,”Journal of Politics,30 (November), 1091–1108.
Szanton, Peter (1972). “Analysis and Urban Government,” pp. 19–30 in Alvin W. Drake et al. (eds.),Analysis of Public Systems. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press.
United States Department of Justice, (1973).Innovation in Law Enforcement. Washington, D.C.
The Urban Institute (1971).The Struggle to Bring New Technology to Cities. Washington, D.C.
Utech, Harvey P. and Ingrid D. Utech (1974). “The Communication of Innovations between Local Government Departments,” report submitted to Office of R&D Assessment, National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C., September.
Utterback, James M. (1974). “Innovation in Industry and the Diffusion of Technology,”Science,183 (February), 620–626.
Utterback, James M. (1971). “The Process of Technological Innovation within the Firm,”Academy of Management Journal,14 (March), 75–88.
Walker, Jack L. (1969). “The Diffusion of Innovations among the American States,”American Political Science Review,63, (September), 880–899.
Williams, Walter (1975). “Implementation Analysis and Assessment,”Policy Analysis,1 (Summer), 531–566.
Yin, Robert K. and Douglas Yates, (1975).Street-Level Governments: Assessing Decentralization and Urban Services. Lexington, Mass.: D. C. Heath.
Yin, Robert K. et al. (1976). “The difference that quality makes: the case of literature reviews,”Sociological Methods and Research 5 (November): 139–156.
Yin, Robert K. et al. (1977).Tinkering with the System: Technological Innovations in State and Local Services. Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This study was supported in part by a grant from the Office of R&D Assessment, National Science Foundation, though the author alone is responsible for the views expressed here.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yin, R.K. Production efficiency versus bureaucratic self-interest: Two innovative processes?. Policy Sci 8, 381–399 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01727406
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01727406