Public management, agility and innovation: The Swiss experience with the COVID-19 loan scheme

Abstract

Within only 10 days of March 2020, the Swiss administration had designed and implemented a loan guarantee scheme for enterprises. The implementation phase was also short: it lasted less than five months. This article examines how that was possible, considering the complexity of the institutional setting and the scheme's innovative form, especially in terms of IT, including breakthroughs for the Swiss e-administrative practice: the scheme used algorithms to verify clients’ applications, a unique identification number for companies was implemented on a large scale, Swiss banks were integrated into the project's preparation and implementation, and some of their client operations were centralised on a government e-platform. The salient features of the process are identified through an analysis of the unfolding of operations during those ten days. The circumstances and context leading to radically new forms of public governance are also identified. Besides, an output analysis was undertaken to single out the innovative features of the deliverable. The case under consideration was short, and came unpredictably, so that no data or observations could be collected before or during the case. Accordingly, the study is by and large based on ex-post enquiries. With no explicitly formalised mandates, structures, or roles, the project participants came up with an informal organisation system. A well-defined deliverable was a powerful driver of the process. Several characteristics of the project, such as efficient networks, real-time information flow, flexible roles, flat hierarchy, and swift iterative subprocesses were akin to those of ‘agile organisations’. Tasks were performed concomitantly instead of sequentially. Points for practitioners It is striking that not much scholarly research has been published so far with a view to collecting and sharing the ‘lessons learned’ from the unique experience of emergency support packages during the pandemic, including at intra-organisational level. Research could be done regarding replicability both for future emergencies and for adjusting normal-times public management practices. This proposal aims to contribute to this conversation with a view to inspiring practitioners in public administrations and government entities. It foregrounds the relationship between governmental crisis management and the digitalisation of public administration processes using computer-enabled tools.

Introduction to the special issue ‘Towards a Multi-Level Understanding of Agile in Government: Macro, Meso and Micro Perspectives’

“…Some of the few empirical results we have so far on the impact of agile government, are also situated on the meso-level and point to faster processes, also in complex situations. Pauletto (2024), for example, found in the case of the introduction of a loan guarantee scheme for companies during Covid-19 in Switzerland that an agile approach led to a very fast process in terms of designing (10 days) and implementing (5 months) a policy and related tools. They argue that informal organization, flat hierarchy, flexibles roles and iterative subprocesses determine this success.…”

“…Agile government on this level emphasizes iterative development, allowing for incremental progress and the adjustment of strategies based on real-time feedback as well as reacting to changing environmental circumstances (Wernham, 2012). Meso-level agility requires a shift in organizational structures, often adopting flatter hierarchies and flexible project management methodologies (Pauletto, 2024). By streamlining internal processes, agile government at the meso level seeks to optimize the performance of specific government units, ultimately contributing to the broader agility of the entire public sector (Mergel et al, 2021) Articles in this special issue are covering meso-level aspects of agile government in terms of project management procedures and instruments (Bonomi Savignon and Costumato) and other agile processes (see also Fig.…”