TOPIC 1.6: Contracting and Collaborating for public value

Moore’s (1995)^[1] concept of the ‘public value’ of government organisations and his assertion that the role of managers is to create public value, often with the support of co-producers, amplifies the need for managers to manage outwards, to engage stakeholders, to manage networks (or strategic relationships) and to achieve results from collaboration.

One might question the assumption that public value is created or identified by public agencies. Cross sector collaboration and flexibility is what constitutes public value and where it originates. Public value may best be defined as ‘what the public values’.

Reflecting back to GSZ631 Managing within the Context of Government and Moore’s notion of the role of managers’ being to ‘create public value’ (often with co-producers) – there has been a spirited debate by policy analysts and academics as to the benefits and limits of the concept of ‘public value’ and the implications for public managers within the Westminster system. If you are interested in pursuing this concept in more depth, read the articles within the Deeper Learning section on your Canvas unit site, which reflect the stream of thinking about the emergence of public value management and potential hurdles.

The idea of co-production also raises the question of how a role could be defined for non-governmental actors that is not just a ‘deliverer’ doing what government could anyway, but what possibilities exist to work in a more open, emergent space – a space where innovation and co-design flourish?

In 2015, an attempt was made by the South Australian Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) to engage consumers in co-designing mental health services. Consumers worked with clinicians and administrators to create and deliver improved triage systems, acute care, guardianship and other mental health services.

Innovative work has been undertaken with The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (tacsi.org.au) to develop a better way of assisting families in stress.

New forms of relationships between government and the private sector (and between government and non-government organisations) are implicit in managing out, contestability processes, innovative contracts, alliances and collaborative delivery of services.  The challenge in network management relates to harnessing autonomous entities whilst operating within the system of government.

Managing out efforts to collaborate with and to co-ordinate networks horizontally exist in concert with needs for vertical integration and hierarchical systems of decision making. In short, the manager’s challenge is to look sideways, outwards and up at the same time.