Comparing the role of personal and organisational support on the innovative behaviour of frontline healthcare workers in Australia and the United States

Abstract

This paper empirically uses a street‐level bureaucrat (SLB) lens to compare the impact of personal and organisational support on the innovative behaviour of frontline healthcare workers in Australia and the United States. Survey data came from the 260 U.S. and 220 Australian respondents. The structural equation model shows that organisational (i.e. manager–subordinate relationships) and personal supports (i.e. psychological capital [PsyCap]) significantly influence the innovative behaviour of frontline SLBs in health care. Further, the mediation results show that reciprocal social exchanges provide the foundations for facilitating the growth of healthcare workers’ PsyCap, which then gives them the resilience to be innovative in the workplace. The U.S. respondents perceived stronger organisational support and consequently had a better platform for building PsyCap – providing better work conditions for facilitating innovative behaviour to bourgeon. The paper adds to SLB theory concerning the influence of two variables on SLBs' innovative behaviour, in addition to a meaningful comparison of the U.S. and Australian healthcare workers. If governments and organisations want innovative workers, then the policies must be based on empirical evidence that shows the impact on all stakeholders, including SLBs, because otherwise, irrespective of policy directives, the outcome is low levels of employee wellbeing (which likely results in limited innovative activity).

Repairing the State: Policy Repair in the Frontline Bureaucracy

“…We believe that highlighting SLBs' creativity and improvisation has important implications for future research. Brunetto et al (2020), for example, note that organizational support and individual psychological capital or PsyCap (defined as self‐efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience) positively affect frontline workers’ innovative behaviors and their ability to deal with organizational red tape. The idea of repair further supports this research by showing how improvisation takes place at frontlines to create resilient public service delivery systems.…”

“…We accept that every citizen–state interaction is in many ways disciplined, open to biased decision making, and coerced discretion (Lipsky 1980[2010]; Maynard‐Moody and Musheno 2000; Lavee and Strier 2019), but we also believe that frontline practices have the potential to exceed this discretionary envelope. We believe that the tacit knowledges, creative capabilities, and collaborative networks produced during repair can provide a way to understand why and how street‐level innovation (Brunetto et al 2020) and entrepreneurship (Arnold 2015) take place. Our research may also provide a way for future research to link public service motivation (Wright et al 2016) and individual attributes of SLBs like their social and political capital (Brunetto et al 2020; Lavee and Strier 2019) to their formal and informal responses to policy breakdowns in frontline organizations.…”

“…We believe that the tacit knowledges, creative capabilities, and collaborative networks produced during repair can provide a way to understand why and how street‐level innovation (Brunetto et al 2020) and entrepreneurship (Arnold 2015) take place. Our research may also provide a way for future research to link public service motivation (Wright et al 2016) and individual attributes of SLBs like their social and political capital (Brunetto et al 2020; Lavee and Strier 2019) to their formal and informal responses to policy breakdowns in frontline organizations.…”

Nurse champions as street-level bureaucrats: Factors which facilitate innovation, policy making, and reconstruction

“…The framework illuminates how, while being remote from the centers of power, SLBs’ direct interaction with their citizen clients influences policy implementation and innovation, and affects the lives and fate of many individuals ( Hupe and Hill, 2007 ; Cohen and Hertz, 2020 ). This is especially true among healthcare SLBs who face additional challenges of having to balance between various growing demands for healthcare services and, at many times, being confronted with emotionally challenging situations and conflicts while working in highly stressful and intensive work environment ( Brunetto et al, 2020 ). Innovation and creativity in the healthcare system are also required in light of rising costs and high expectations of improving care and its outcomes, maximizing convenience, access and simplicity while also aiming at spending less time and public money ( Copeland et al, 2018 ).…”

Condições De Trabalho De Profissionais Da Saúde: Um Estudo Realizado Em Um Hospital Público No Noroeste Do Paraná

“…Da mesma forma, os problemas de estresse, fadiga e esgotamento são os mais evidentes, e são os mesmos que provavelmente respondem às condições limitadas de trabalho, e está longe das condições de trabalho decente que se busca implementar. (CANALES-VERGARA; VALENZUELA-SUAZO; PARAVIC- KLIJN, 2016).…”