Conference Agenda

Introduction and objective. Public-sector organizations operate in complex environments that require the development of organizational capabilities to improve performance and societal outcomes. The dynamic capabilities (DC) framework is increasingly applied in public administration, where performance depends on an organization’s ability to adapt despite political constraints, resource limitations, and a persistent “knowing–doing gap.” Unlike private firms, public organizations face multiple stakeholders and rigid cycles, often focusing on short-term goals. Understanding how DCs contribute to public sector performance is essential, yet research in this area remains limited. This study addresses that gap by examining how innovation and leadership DCs influence healthcare performance in Tuscany, exploring the mediating role of organizational change.

Methods. The study investigates whether DCs influence performance directly and indirectly through the reorganization of resources to support implementation of the Family and Community Nurse (FCN) model, a natural experiment launched in the Tuscan healthcare system (2022–2023). The mediator reflects resource reorganization, measured as the FCN’s perceived ability to manage the care pathway. Performance is conceptualized across four dimensions: allocative, personal, technical, and societal value. This study focuses on personal value (employee-perceived performance) and technical value (service delivery), while allocative data are currently being collected. A co-designed survey was administered to 1,078 FCNs (response rate: 74.5%) and combined with 927 responses from the 2022 regional organizational climate survey. Additional indicators were retrieved from administrative databases. Data were aggregated at the level of the primary care group practice. Factor analysis identified two DC constructs and one employee-perceived performance scale, based on reverse-coded items on intention to leave and satisfaction. Technical outcomes included (1) elderly access to home care and (2) emergency department use during home care. Mediation was tested using bootstrapped indirect effects (1,000 replications).

Preliminary results. Factor analyses confirmed high internal consistency for all constructs (α > 0.85). Both innovation and leadership capabilities were significantly and positively associated with employee-perceived performance (β = 0.44 and 0.37, respectively; p < 0.001). Bootstrapped mediation analyses showed that perceived reorganization of resources to support FCNs significantly mediated both relationships, with a stronger indirect effect for innovation (0.045) than leadership (0.015). Regarding technical outcomes, innovation was associated with increased elderly access to home care, while leadership was linked to reduced emergency department use, both partially mediated by perceived reorganization.

Discussion. Our findings suggest that not all dynamic capabilities work the same way or affect performance in the same areas. Innovation capabilities seem to help expand access to services, while leadership capabilities are more connected to preventing unnecessary use, like emergency visits during home care. In both cases, their impact is not automatic. What seems to make a real difference is how the organization adapts to support the implementation of new professional roles, such as the Family and Community Nurse. This suggests that developing capabilities is important, but not sufficient. Without some degree of organizational reorganization, those capabilities may not translate into meaningful results. Performance improvements depend on both the presence of capabilities and the organization’s ability to put them into action effectively.

The concept of innovation ecosystems has gained traction in public policy, yet its application in the public sector – particularly in welfare domains – remains under-theorized. This paper critically examines how the innovation ecosystem concept can be adapted to support innovation in complex public sector settings, where institutional logics, governance structures, and societal mandates differ from commercial contexts. Drawing on a qualitative multi-case study of welfare reform initiatives in Finland, the analysis identifies five interlocking tensions that constrain ecosystem formation: fragmented architectures, leadership ambiguity, selective participation, cognitive disconnects, and weak learning mechanisms. These tensions highlight a deeper misalignment between dominant innovation ecosystem assumptions and the governance realities of welfare systems. To address this, the paper introduces a sector-sensitive reframing of innovation ecosystems as public infrastructures: collaborative, multi-actor configurations oriented toward societal learning, institutional renewal, and democratic legitimacy. It argues that transformative innovation in the public sector depends not only on structural coordination, but on the cultivation of strategic, adaptive, and inclusive governance capacities. The findings contribute to emerging debates on transformative governance and dynamic capabilities by clarifying what ecosystem-building entails when societal missions – not market logics – drive innovation.

Existing research has explored a series of impacts brought about by digital transformation; however, insufficient attention has been paid to the key factors influencing digital transformation, particularly the role of organisational factors. Since its establishment in 1994, the Air Traffic Management Bureau of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (ATMB) has undergone three major organisational reforms. These reforms have played a crucial role in advancing the ATMB’s digital transformation. This study analyses the pathways and mechanisms through which the ATMB’s organisational reforms influence digital transformation.

Using the organisational reforms of the Air Traffic Management Bureau (ATMB) as a case for empirical research, it examines the primary pathways through which organisational reforms during different periods have influenced digital transformation. Primary data were collected from ATMB’s internal archives, yearbooks, case studies, and policy documents. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ATMB staff involved in information technology operations to gather first-hand interview data. Grounded theory methodology was employed, with qualitative analysis conducted using NVivo14 software to iteratively code the collected materials. This process led to the construction of a pathway analysis model for how organisational reforms impact digital transformation, identified as the “Institutional Reshaping, Mechanism Reconstruction, and Resource Reallocation.” This model was then used to interpret and analyse the pathways through which ATMB’s organisational reforms influenced digital transformation, along with the main characteristics of these pathways during different periods of reform.

Theoretically, this paper introduces the “Institutional Reshaping-Mechanism Reconstruction-Resource Reallocation” pathway model, enriching the theoretical explanation of the factors influencing digital transformation. Practically, it provides new perspectives and approaches for digital transformation research, offering valuable insights for accelerating the digital transformation of the ATMB.