Public Service Logic: An Appropriate Recipe for Improving Serviceness in the Public Sector?

Mette Sønderskov and Rolf Rønning
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Mette Sønderskov: Inland School of Business and Social Sciences, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, 2624 Lillehammer, Norway
Rolf Rønning: Inland School of Business and Social Sciences, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, 2624 Lillehammer, Norway

Administrative Sciences, 2021, vol. 11, issue 3, 1-15

Abstract: Researchers have made efforts to combine service management theory with public administration theory to develop an enhanced model of public service logic and help the public sector to develop services through co-creation with service users. This study considered the appropriateness of public service logic for improving serviceness in the public sector, examining the question through a literature review regarding the main elements of service management in which public service logic is anchored. We found no correspondences between this approach and theories on street-level bureaucracy, despite both perspectives aiming to understand the interactions between users and public service providers, and we wanted to explore this gap. We argue that public sector logic neglects important contextual factors, such as the role of public value and politics. Moreover, street-level bureaucrats have a legitimate responsibility not only to provide user-friendly services (creating value for users) but also, occasionally, to overrule citizens’ wishes and needs (following political decisions). We conclude that public service logic does not support the development of more serviceness in the public sector context, because it needs to consider the justification for having a public sector. Further research should consider users as collective citizens rather than individuals.

Keywords: public administration; service management; public service logic; street-level bureaucracy; public value; co-creation; co-destruction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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