This essay seeks to explore in which way Public Value Theory (PVT) would be useful in guiding analysis and action with respect to global wicked issues like forced migration. We found that (1) PVT enables envisioning global, collective, public value as well as value for individuals, communities and states by including voices of 'all affected interests' even when discourses prove to be extremely conflicting; (2) PVT enables acknowledging collaborative innovation as a possible means of facilitating cross-sectoral and local -global (transnational) connections which might help reframing wicked global issues and delivering results; (3) When PVT is applied to global wicked issues it offers an opportunity to explore which kind of institutional innovation is required to convene an appropriate authorizing structure in the 'institutional void' at the transnational level. Requisite adjustments to PVT are identified.
This essay reviews the development of public value management, tracing its rise from relative obscurity in the 1990s to the global attention it receives today. We also introduce the accompanying essays in this symposium which aim to spur further development in the years to come. We review the main tenets of public value management and highlight the key debates in the literature, discussing the mandate of public managers visa -vis politicians, the mobilization of 'the public', the framing of strategic challenges and the distinctiveness of value creation in the public domain. The five accompanying essays deal with these debates, but also break new ground by addressing fresh questions.
It is attractive to frame societal challenges such as climate change, terrorism and migration as 'wicked issues'. Wickedness theory in its various guises has become popular as it connects the uncertain and political nature of issues with hopeful strategies for strengthening networks, trust and learning. In this paper we take a critical approach towards wickedness, advancing three criticisms: (1) the daily experiences of people and their practices are missing from the grand narratives about wickedness, (2) the potential of collaborations and learning to address these problems is romanticized, (3) the implications for managerial and professional perspectives are unclear. We argue that the wickedness literature can be strengthened by further emphasizing situated relations, routines and rituals, adopting the perspective of situated wickedness. This would link insight into grand wickedness to insights into daily ambiguity. We illustrate this argument with two specific cases, (counter)terrorism and forced migration/refugees.
Social and sustainable initiatives generally start small and need to scale to create substantial impact. Our systematic review of 133 articles develops a better understanding of this scaling process. From the literature, we conceptualize impact as the result of two different pathways: 'scaling out' (extending geographical space or volume) and 'scaling up' (influence on public discourses, political agendas and legislation). The review identified strategy, actor characteristics and institutional environment as key factors for scaling. The literature indicates that for strategy a focus on open structures generates speed and higher impact, but we also found critical views on this. The literature shows that the actor characteristics such as the ambition to scale, equal focus on the economic and the social logic, entrepreneurial skills and leadership are positively related to the level of impact. The institutional environment influences actor characteristics and strategy choices and also has a direct effect on the level of social and sustainable impact.
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