Public Sector Entrepreneurship and Innovation Strategies
Summary
Public sector entrepreneurship encompasses the adoption of entrepreneurial principles—such as proactivity, creativity and risk-taking—by public organisations to generate public value and address complex societal challenges. Rather than replicating private-sector models wholesale, it requires adaptation to the distinctive incentives, accountability structures and stakeholder expectations of government bodies. Innovation strategies in the public sector span organisational culture change, digital transformation, cross-sector partnerships and regulatory experimentation. At the organisational level, leadership commitment, autonomy and tolerance for failure foster an entrepreneurial climate; at the network level, collaboration with civil society, academia and private firms can accelerate idea diffusion and resource mobilisation. These strategies aim to enhance agility, promote resilient service delivery and engage citizens in co-creation processes. Globally, successful examples include municipal “innovation labs”, performance-based budgeting reforms and open-data initiatives, each illustrating how strategic alignment of mission, structures and processes can spur sustainable public sector renewal.
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Public Sector Entrepreneurship and Innovation Strategies publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in public sector entrepreneurship and innovation strategies across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Public sector entrepreneurship: The practice of applying entrepreneurial behaviours and mindsets within government or public organisations to generate public value.
Entrepreneurial orientation: A composite of innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking that guides organisational strategy and decision-making.
Public value: Benefits realised by society as a result of public sector activities, encompassing social, economic and environmental outcomes.
Innovation strategy: A deliberate set of policies and processes designed to foster, select and implement new ideas within an organisation or sector.
References
- Organizational Support for Entrepreneurial Orientation: The Perception of Professionals from Early Childhood Education Centers in Brazil. Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research (2023).
- Public sector entrepreneurship: an integrative review. Small Business Economics (2024).
- Corporate entrepreneurship strategy in universities: emerging leadership in austerity time. The Journal of Technology Transfer (2024).
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