<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The purpose of this paper was to identify common themes from archival records related to innovation in the Australian Public Service (APS). A thematic analysis was conducted to review and evaluate archival records which consisted of transcripts from senior manager presentations at Innovation Month seminars from 2014 to 2018 and other related official documents. This empirical study addressed innovation from the leaders’ perspective, reflecting upon their experience. Analysing themes within archival records helped to gain insights from various perspectives of leaders on how they regard an innovation agenda for the APS. Three themes emerged from archival records: (1) innovation characteristics; (2) drivers of innovation; and (3) barriers to innovation. Synthesis of these drivers and barriers can provide important insights for senior APS managers on how they can enhance their organisations’ ability to innovate in order to respond to digital disruption challenges and opportunities. Variety of perspectives with leader’s perceptions informs about authors’ selection of the research question among consistent patterns and legitimates the salient themes as input for QSR NVivo 11.</p></abstract>

The purpose of this paper was to identify common themes from archival records related to innovation in the Australian Public Service (APS). A thematic analysis was conducted to review and evaluate archival records which consisted of transcripts from senior manager presentations at Innovation Month seminars from 2014 to 2018 and other related official documents. This empirical study addressed innovation from the leaders’ perspective, reflecting upon their experience. Analysing themes within archival records helped to gain insights from various perspectives of leaders on how they regard an innovation agenda for the APS. Three themes emerged from archival records: (1) innovation characteristics; (2) drivers of innovation; and (3) barriers to innovation. Synthesis of these drivers and barriers can provide important insights for senior APS managers on how they can enhance their organisations’ ability to innovate in order to respond to digital disruption challenges and opportunities. Variety of perspectives with leader’s perceptions informs about authors’ selection of the research question among consistent patterns and legitimates the salient themes as input for QSR NVivo 11.

Drivers and barriers to innovation in the Australian public service: A qualitative thematic analysis

Engineering Management in Production and Services

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

The purpose of this paper was to identify common themes from archival records related to innovation in the Australian Public Service (APS). A thematic analysis...

YEAR	POSITION	TOPIC
2014	Secretary, Department of IndustryDeputy Secretary, Department of Human ServicesDirector General, IP AustraliaChief Technology Officer, Department of FinanceDirector of Coordination and Gov 2.0	Innovation Month 2014 launchLeadership or Leadersunk: are new models of leadership needed when it comes to innovation in the Australian Public Service? (Part 1)Leadership or Leadersunk: are new models of leadership needed when it comes to innovation in the Australian Public Service? (Part 2)Feel the Wind: Set yourself the bolder course.Innovation Month Pattern Breaking Summit
2015	Secretary, Department of Industry and ScienceSecretary, Department of HealthSecretary, Department of Infrastructure and Regional DevelopmentDirector, Digital Transformation Office	Innovation Month 2015 LaunchInnovation within the Department of HealthAre we there yet?The Computer Says Yes
2016	Deputy Secretary, Department of Industry, Innovation, and ScienceSecretary, Department of HealthDirector, Business Strategy	Innovation Month 2016 LaunchFuture Frontiers (Part 1)Future Frontiers (Part 2)
2017	Secretary, Department of Industry, Innovation and Science	Innovation Month 2017 Launch
2018	Secretary, Department of the Prime Minister and CabinetAustralian Public Service CommissionerGroup Manager, Workforce Information	Innovation Month 2018 LaunchState of the Service - What it means for a professional, contemporary Public Service (Part 1)State of the Service - What it means for a professional, contemporary Public Service (Part 2)

Drivers and barriers to innovation in the Australian public service: A qualitative thematic analysis

Published Online: Apr 24, 2019

Page range: 7 - 22

Received: Sep 05, 2018

Accepted: Feb 01, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/emj-2019-0001

© 2019 Warit Wipulanusat, Kriengsak Panuwatwanich, Rodney A. Stewart, Jirapon Sunkpho published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Details of presentations from Innovation Month seminars