A systematic review of barriers to public sector innovation process

ABSTRACT

This article provides a systematic review of the empirical literature on barriers within public sector innovation processes, based on data from 63 articles. We investigate the nature of barriers using four dimensions: (i) classification; (ii) interrelations; (iii) innovation process and (iv) types of innovations. A new classification is developed to show that interaction-specific barriers emerge during collaborative innovation. Significantly, we identify that the nature of barriers are more complex than has previously been recognized, where there has been an emphasis on organizational barriers. We identify that the nature of barriers differ in process and innovation types. Moreover, they show interrelations across the process.

KEYWORDS:

• Public sector innovation
• innovation process
• collaboration
• barrier

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank a number of PSI scholars for their contribution to identify relevant studies: Prof. Sandford Borins of the University of Toronto; Prof. Stephen Osborne of the University of Edinburgh, Prof. Richard Walker of the City University of Hong Kong.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Emre Cinar

Emre Cinar is a Lecturer in Innovation Management at the Business School, University of Portsmouth. His research interest is the management of public innovation processes. In particular, he is exploring how public sector actors collaborate to innovate in a New Public Governance framework.

Paul Trott

Paul Trott is Professor of Innovation Management at the Business School, University of Portsmouth. He received his Ph.D from Cranfield University. He has published over fifty articles on innovation management; these include articles in R&D Management, Research Policy, Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, Technovation, International Journal of Innovation Management.

Christopher Simms

Christopher Simms (Ph.D, University of Portsmouth) is a Reader in Innovation Management. He completed his PhD, examining the development of new products and packaging within the FMCG Industry. Chris has had a number of articles published in Research Policy, European Journal of Marketing and R&D Management.