Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of boxes
- Notes on contributors
- Foreword
- 1 Introduction: knowledge and performance – theory and practice
- 2 Knowledge from inspection: external oversight and information to improve performance
- 3 How is information used to improve performance in the public sector? Exploring the dynamics of performance information
- 4 Citizens, users or consumers: the voice of the public and its influence on improving performance
- 5 Competition and choice: the place of markets in connecting information and performance improvement
- 6 The role of corporate governance and boards in organisational performance
- 7 Change at the top: connecting political and managerial transitions with performance
- 8 The role of leadership in knowledge creation and transfer for organisational learning and improvement
- 9 Process Improvement and Lean Thinking: using knowledge and information to improve performance
- 10 Using evidence: how social research could be better used to improve public service performance
- 11 Absorptive capacity: how organisations assimilate and apply knowledge to improve performance
- 12 Knowing through doing: unleashing latent dynamic capabilities in the public sector
- 13 Conclusions: a puzzle, three pieces, many theories and a problem
- Index
- References
11 - Absorptive capacity: how organisations assimilate and apply knowledge to improve performance
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2011
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of boxes
- Notes on contributors
- Foreword
- 1 Introduction: knowledge and performance – theory and practice
- 2 Knowledge from inspection: external oversight and information to improve performance
- 3 How is information used to improve performance in the public sector? Exploring the dynamics of performance information
- 4 Citizens, users or consumers: the voice of the public and its influence on improving performance
- 5 Competition and choice: the place of markets in connecting information and performance improvement
- 6 The role of corporate governance and boards in organisational performance
- 7 Change at the top: connecting political and managerial transitions with performance
- 8 The role of leadership in knowledge creation and transfer for organisational learning and improvement
- 9 Process Improvement and Lean Thinking: using knowledge and information to improve performance
- 10 Using evidence: how social research could be better used to improve public service performance
- 11 Absorptive capacity: how organisations assimilate and apply knowledge to improve performance
- 12 Knowing through doing: unleashing latent dynamic capabilities in the public sector
- 13 Conclusions: a puzzle, three pieces, many theories and a problem
- Index
- References
Summary
In this chapter, we will examine the concept of absorptive capacity – defined as an organisation's ability to access, assimilate and apply new knowledge – and its value and utility in understanding, explaining and predicting public service performance, particularly in relation to the process of managing improvement and turnaround in poorly performing organisations. We will draw on research that we have been undertaking on organisations in the public sector, examining how they respond to evidence that they are performing poorly and what part absorptive capacity plays in determining their response.
Introduction
Organisations in the public sector are subject to increased monitoring and management of their performance. Schools, hospitals, local authorities, police forces and other public service agencies are required to meet nationally set performance standards and targets and their performance is often publicly reported through league tables, performance indicators, and reports from inspectorates and regulators. While those organisations that are deemed to be high performing may be rewarded, for example, by way of greater freedoms, those whose performance is poor are expected to bring about substantial, and often rapid, improvements in performance.
Organisations appear to react to evidence of poor performance in a range of both defensive and proactive ways, some challenging the measures against which they have been judged, others seeking ways to respond to the evidence and bring about the necessary improvements.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Connecting Knowledge and Performance in Public ServicesFrom Knowing to Doing, pp. 226 - 250Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
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