Organizational Change and Barriers to Innovation: A Case Study in The Italian Public Sector

Abstract

This study describes the introduction of a new working organization in an administrative office of the Italian public sector. Staff members actively contributed and realized their ideas to improve service and increase organizational flexibility. These improvements resulted in a paradox: they went unrecognized by the staff members themselves who moreover sabotaged them to reproduce the organizational malfunctions existent prior to the changes. This study aims to understand both why staff members rejected the changes that they themselves had proposed and why they sought to return to their previous situation. The analysis seeks to shed light on the importance of individual recognition for the public employee and how this variable influences both barriers to, and opportunities for, innovation in the public service organization.