A comprehensive guide to future-proofing public sector communication and increasing citizen satisfactionHow to communicate with the citizens of the future? Why does public sector communication often fail? Public Sector Communication combines practical examples from around the world with the latest theoretical insights to show how communication can help bridge gaps that exist between public sector organizations and the individual citizens they serve. The authors—two experts in the field with experience from the public sector—explain how public entities, be they cities, governments, foundations, agencies, authorities, municipalities, regulators, military, or government monopolies and state owned businesses can build their intangible assets to future-proof themselves in a volatile environment.The book examines how the recent digitalization has increased citizen expectations and why one-way communication leaves public sector organizations fragile. To explain how to make public sector communication antifragile, the authors map contributions from a wide variety of fields combined with illustrative examples from around the world. The authors propose a research-based framework of different intangible assets that can directly improve communication in the public sector.This important resource: Helps explain the sector-specific conditions and why communication is often challenging in the public sectorSummarizes all relevant literature on the topic across disciplines and includes the most popular management ideals of the recent decadesExplores how public sector organizations can increase citizen satisfaction with effective communicationPresents new approaches to both the study and practice of communication in the public sector Provides international examples of successful public sector communication Offers realistic guides to building intangible assets in practiceWritten for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, as well as public managers and leaders, Public Sector Communication offers an illustrative, research-based guide to improving communication and engaging citizens of today and the future.
Part I 11 What Is Changing in Public Sector Communication? 31.1 The Change: Identifying the Gaps with Citizens 31.1.1 What Is Changing? 31.1.1.1 Change in Everyday Practice 31.1.1.2 Answering the Most Important Question 41.1.1.3 Changing Values? 51.1.2 Changes in Individuals: Citizens, Stakeholders, Customers, and Partners 51.1.2.1 Changes in Citizens’ Demands and Expectations 61.1.2.2 Citizen Communication Practices 61.1.2.3 Citizen Diversity 61.1.2.4 Changing Citizen Roles 71.1.3 The Traditional Gaps that Citizens Perceive When Assessing the Public Sector 71.1.3.1 Citizens Are from Venus, Public Authorities Are from Mars? 71.1.3.2 Gap 1: Speed: Bureaucracy versus Postbureaucracy 81.1.3.3 Gap 2: Privacy: Public versus Private Communication 81.1.3.4 Gap 3: Viewpoints: Process versus Answers 81.1.3.5 Gap 4: Context: Single Events versus General Attitude 91.1.3.6 Gap 5: Perceptions: Perception versus Performance 91.1.3.7 Gap 6: Roles: Obligations versus Rights 101.1.3.8 Gap 7: Media Use: Controlled versus Real Time 101.2 Framework for the Book 111.2.1 What Has Been Done on Public Sector Communication? 111.2.1.1 Earliest Works 111.2.1.2 Little Development despite the Relevance of the Topic 111.2.1.3 Nomenclature 121.2.1.4 Mapping Contributions from Different Fields to the Study of Public Sector Communication 121.2.2 The Three Pillars of this Book 161.2.2.1 The Intangible Nature of Public Sector Management 161.2.2.2 Knowledge for Practice, Practice for Knowledge 171.2.2.3 Considering Public Sector Communication from an International Perspective 171.2.3 Plan of the Book 17References 182 What Is So Special about Public Sector Communication? 252.1 What Is the Public Sector? 252.1.1 Initial Basic Definitions 252.1.2 Is This Public or Private? 262.1.3 Scholarly Approaches to Establishing Criteria of Publicness 272.1.4 The Rings of Publicness 282.1.5 The Publicness Fan 282.2 Defining Public Sector Communication 302.2.1 Mapping Scholarly Definitions 302.2.2 Some Insights from Practice 322.2.3 Our Definition of Public Sector Communication 332.3 Looking at Public Sector Communication from the Publicness Fan 332.3.1 Different Communication? 332.3.2 How Public Is This and Hence How Should Intangibles and Communication be Managed? 352.3.2.1 Funding and Profit 362.3.2.2 “Ownership” and “Employees” 372.3.2.3 Control and Accountability 382.3.2.4 Purpose and Values 39References 403 Fragile Public Sector Organizations 453.1 A Brief History of Public Sector Organizations’ Development 453.2 Global Trends in Public Sector Management: An Overview 463.3 Is There a Need for Intangible Assets? 473.3.1 From New Public Management to New Public Service 473.3.2 From Management to Public Value 483.4 The Fragility of Public Sector Organizations 503.4.1 Distrust 503.4.2 Services and Experiences 513.4.3 Bureaucracy 523.4.4 The Political Dimension 523.4.5 A Tactical Approach 533.5 Expectations as a Cause for Public Sector Fragility 543.5.1 How Citizen Expectations Are Changing 543.5.2 Expectations through Experiences 563.5.3 Unmet Expectations 56References 574 Antifragile Communication: Closing the Gap through Intangible Assets 654.1 Defining “Intangible Asset” 654.1.1 What Is an Intangible Asset About? 654.1.2 Pinning Down Intangibility 664.1.3 The Features of an Intangible Asset 674.2 Types of Intangibles 674.2.1 Accounting Categorizations 674.2.2 Relationships and Perceptions as the Basis for Intangible Assets that Aim to Build Competitive Advantage 694.3 Why Are Intangibles Different in the Public Sector? 704.3.1 What Is the Value of Intangibility in the Public Sector? 724.3.2 Building Intangible Assets: Is It Possible? 734.4 Different Intangible Assets in the Public Sector 744.5 Avoiding Fragility through Intangible Assets 744.5.1 Antifragile Communication: Taking the Citizen Point of View 754.5.2 The Steps toward Antifragility 764.6 Intangible Assets in this Book 774.6.1 Definition of Intangible Asset in the Public Sector 774.6.2 Different Intangible Assets and the Relationships between Them 78References 79Part II 835 Satisfaction 855.1 What Is Satisfaction? 855.2 Experiences and Satisfaction 865.3 Why Should Public Organizations Care About Citizen Satisfaction? 875.4 Communication and Satisfaction 885.5 Measuring Citizen Satisfaction 895.5.1 The Purpose of Measuring 895.5.2 Do Measurement Tools from the Private Sector Suit the Public Sector? 915.6 Summary of Citizen Satisfaction 925.7 Case Study on Citizen Satisfaction 935.8 Route Guide to Building Citizen Satisfaction 96References 976 Organizational Culture 1016.1 Organizations’ Invisible Cultures 1016.2 Defining Organizational Culture 1036.3 What Benefit Does Organizational Culture Bring? 1046.4 Public Sector Organizational Culture 1056.5 Subcultures 1066.6 Communication and Public Sector Culture 1076.6.1 Gaps that Public Sector Culture Can Fix 1076.6.2 What to Measure in Practice? 1106.7 Changing Organizational Culture 1106.8 Criticism of Organizational Culture 1126.9 Summary of Organizational Culture 1126.10 Case Study on Organizational Culture 1136.11 Route Guide to Changing Organizational Culture 116References 1177 Reputation 1217.1 What Is the Logic behind Organizational Reputation? 1217.2 How the Digital Environment Shapes Reputation 1227.3 Organizational Reputation Defined 1247.4 The Benefits of a Good Reputation 1257.5 Public Sector Organizations and Reputation 1267.5.1 Reputation in a Context of Lower Competition 1267.5.2 Neutral Reputation as Ideal for Public Sector Organizations 1277.6 Measuring Public Sector Reputation 1287.7 Two Examples of Measuring Reputation 1317.8 Summary of Public Sector Reputation 1337.9 Route Guide to Building Organizational Reputation 135References 1368 Legitimacy 1398.1 Conferring Legitimacy upon Public Sector Organizations: What Does It Mean? 1398.2 The Legitimacy Judgment: What Confers Organizational Legitimacy in the Public Sector? 1418.2.1 Achievements versus Procedures 1418.2.2 Typologies of Legitimacy 1418.2.3 Moral Legitimacy 1428.3 Resources Generated by Legitimacy 1438.4 Communication and Legitimacy Building 1448.4.1 Being Acknowledged as Legitimate 1458.4.2 Legitimacy Building as Sense Making 1458.5 How Legitimacy Typologies Help Legitimacy Builders 1468.6 Building Legitimacy 1478.7 Critical Issues and Further Research 1498.8 Summary of Legitimacy 1518.9 Case Study on Legitimacy 1518.10 Route Guide to Building Legitimacy 154References 1559 Intellectual Capital 1599.1 What Intellectual Capital Is About 1599.1.1 Definition 1599.1.2 What Has Been Done So Far on Intellectual Capital in the Public Sector? 1609.2 Why is Intellectual Capital Needed? 1619.3 What Resources Does Intellectual Capital Generate? Measuring Intellectual Capital 1639.3.1 What Does Intellectual Capital Tell Us About? The Dimensions of IC 1639.3.2 Measuring Intellectual Capital in the Public Sector 1649.4 Communicating Intellectual Capital 1669.4.1 Does Communication Play a Role in the Acknowledgement of Intellectual Capital? 1669.4.2 Intellectual Capital Management and Communication Management 1679.5 Critical Issues, Unanswered Questions, and Future Research 1689.6 Summary of Intellectual Capital 1699.7 Case Study on Intellectual Capital 1709.8 Route Guide to Building Intellectual Capital 174References 17510 Engagement 17910.1 What Citizen Engagement Is About 17910.1.1 Looking at Engagement from the Citizen Side 17910.1.2 Engagement from the Organization Side: The Role of Public Administrations in Engaging Citizens 18010.2 Going Deeper into Public Sector Engagement 18110.2.1 Governmental Efforts to Involve Citizens 18210.2.2 Deepening Engagement: The Coproduction Perspective 18210.3 Why Is Engagement Needed? 18510.3.1 The Context for an Increasing Concern with and Practice of Citizen Engagement 18510.3.2 What Specific Gaps Does Engagement Help to Bridge? 18510.4 Outcomes of Engagement: Calibrating Its Value as an Intangible Asset 18610.4.1 A General Positive Assessment of the Impact of Engagement 18610.4.2 More Mixed Evidence that Cannot Be Disregarded 18710.4.3 Engagement Effects for the Organization: The Managerial Side 18810.4.4 Benefit for Both Sides: The Cobenefit of Coproduction 18810.5 Building and Communicating Engagement 18910.6 Summary of Engagement 19010.7 Case Study on Public Sector Engagement 19110.8 Route Guide to Building Engagement 196References 19711 Social Capital 20111.1 Theory of Social Capital 20111.2 What Kind of Value Does Social Capital Produce? 20311.3 What Kind of Gaps Does Social Capital Help to Bridge? 20511.4 Communicating Social Capital 20611.5 What Does This Mean for Public Sector Organizations’ Communication Management? 20711.6 Measuring Social Capital 20911.7 Are All Networks Real? 21011.8 Closing the Gap through Social Capital 21111.9 Future Research on Social Capital 21211.10 Summary of Social Capital 21311.11 Case Study on Social Capital in the Public Sector 21311.12 Route Guide to Building Social Capital 216References 21612 Trust 22112.1 Why Does Trust Matter? The Intangible and Tangible Value of Trust 22112.2 What Is Trust? 22312.2.1 What is Trust About? 22312.2.2 Can There Be Trust in Public Sector Organizations? 22412.3 Trust in the Public Sector 22412.3.1 Political Trust, Public Trust, and Trust in Government 22512.3.2 Trust in Public Administration 22612.3.3 Going Beyond the Public Administration: Trust in the Public Sector 22612.4 Sources of Trust: What Generates Trust in the Public Sector? 22712.4.1 Demographics 22812.4.2 Political Attitudes as Explainers of Trust 22812.4.3 The Influence of Events Management 22812.4.4 Performance as a Source of Trust 22812.5 Other Intangible Assets as Causes of Trust 22912.6 Trust and Communication: Building Trust 23212.7 Critical Issues and Further Research 23312.7.1 Is There a Trend of Decreasing Trust in Public Sector Organizations? 23312.7.2 Debated Issues about Measuring Trust 23512.8 Summary of Trust 236References 23713 Closing the Gaps 24313.1 How Can We Close the Gap between Citizens and Public Sector Organizations? 24313.1.1 Closing Gap 1: Speed: Bureaucracy versus Postbureaucracy 24613.1.2 Closing Gap 2: Privacy: Public versus Private Communication 24613.1.3 Closing Gap 3: Viewpoints: Process versus Answers 24613.1.4 Closing Gap 4: Context: Single Events versus General Attitude 24713.1.5 Closing Gap 5: Perceptions: Perception versus Performance 24713.1.6 Closing Gap 6: Roles: Obligations versus Rights 24713.1.7 Closing Gap 7: Media Use: Controlled versus Real Time 24813.2 Expectations Management to Build Intangibles that Bridge Gaps 24813.2.1 Concluding Remarks 252References 253Index 255