Public value

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Public value ( English literally for "public value") describes the value contribution and benefits that an organization provides for a society. Public value answers the question of what makes an organization valuable to a society. The decisive factor here is the new understanding of "value" creation, which only arises through appreciation and social acceptance. This emphasizes the function of organizations to stabilize or change society. The term was originally coined by Harvard administrative scientist Mark H. Moore: His concept aims at a value creation term for the public sector analogous to shareholder value in the private sector. Public value is intended to provide management with a guideline by means of which entrepreneurial action is promoted in favor of the common good . The public value idea, through the focus on the added value of public administrations, also includes a fundamental criticism of new public management and its emphasis on private-sector efficiency criteria. Today the term “public value” is no longer used only in the public sector, but is used more widely for all types of organizations, including non-governmental organizations and private companies. Public value researcher Timo Meynhardt , who works in Leipzig and St. Gallen, uses the term in management teaching to raise the general question of how organizations contribute to the common good. He is of the opinion that current management concepts such as B. Shareholder Value, Stakeholder Value , Customer Value , Sustainability or Corporate Social Responsibility , should legitimize themselves through the public interest. In his (social) psychologically based conception, public value arises for the individual from experiences in social relationships and represents a prerequisite and resource for a successful life.

Definitions

Public value

“Public values ​​are those that have a normative consensus on 1) the rights, benefits and privileges to which citizens should (not) be entitled; 2) the obligations of citizens towards society, the state and each other; 3) and provide the principles on which governments and policy programs should be based. "

- Bozeman, B. (2007)

“Public value is value for the public. Public value is the result of assessments of how basic needs of individuals, groups, and society as a whole are affected in relationships with the public. Public value is therefore also the value of the public, i.e. it is derived from experience with it. The public is an indispensable operative fiction of society: Any influence on the shared experience of the quality of relationships between the individual and society creates or destroys public value. This social value creation takes place in relationships between the individual and society, is anchored in the individual, is constituted in subjective evaluations based on basic needs, activated by and realized in emotional-motivational states and in experience-intensive practices and is produced and reproduced. "

- Meynhardt, T. (2009)

"The definition that remains equates the success of public sector managers with initiating and transforming public companies so that their value to society is increased in both the short and long term."

- Moore, M. (1995)

"Public value is society's combined view of what it considers valuable."

- Talbot, C. (2006)

Public Value Creation

“Public value is only created or destroyed when the individual experience and behavior of people and groups is influenced in such a way that this has a stabilizing or destabilizing effect on assessments of social cohesion, community experience and the self-determination of the individual in the social environment. Public value thus arises as a result of evaluation processes that have a collective and in this sense social character and are not limited to the individual alone. "

- Meynhardt, T. (2008)

Public value in management

Public Value Scorecard by Mark Moore
Public Value Scorecard by Timo Meynhardt and Peter Gomez (fictitious example)

The public value concept is no longer limited to administrative science. Public value is increasingly seen as important from a management perspective in various organizations, including private companies. This is also based on the idea that organizations always create or destroy public value, even when they do not intend to. The loss of confidence in the economy illustrates the relevance of such considerations for companies. Public value measurements are used in organizations to prepare strategic decisions and to ensure social acceptance and raison d'etre. The St. Gallen public value researcher Timo Meynhardt derives four dimensions of public value from the findings of psychological research on basic human needs :

  • Instrumental-utilitarian (basic need for orientation and control over the environment)
  • Moral-ethical (basic need for self-esteem and self-enhancement)
  • Political-social (basic need for positive social relationships)
  • Hedonistic- aesthetic (basic need to avoid pain and gain pleasure).

Public value can be measured along these dimensions through surveys. The results can be displayed on a public value scorecard and then used for management decisions (see right column). This enables companies, public institutions and non-profit organizations to better understand the influence of their core activities on the quality of social coexistence and to make appropriate management decisions. The question of power also plays an important role here, since managers can understand power more holistically by rediscovering their social role and can use it in the sense of a creative, social force.

Orientation towards public value also plays an important role in non-profit organizations. Strategic management in the non-profit sector relies on a definition of the value to be produced by the organization. Since non-profit organizations serve a social purpose, purely monetary value concepts are not suitable here. An orientation towards the creation of public value therefore offers an important strategic orientation for non-profit organizations.

Based on the public value concept was the common good Atlas an Internet platform created in Switzerland, where the public welfare contributions - ie the public value - the biggest companies and organizations are made transparent. Public good atlases for Switzerland were published in May 2014 and September 2015. Such a public value atlas was created for Germany for the first time in 2015 (published in October 2015).

Examples of the application of public value in practice

  • In practice, the public value concept was particularly adopted by public broadcasters . They feel compelled to legitimize their financing through public money with their contribution to the common good. The BBC has taken on a pioneering role and is subjecting new programs to a public value test. In Germany ARD and ZDF and in Austria ORF use similar procedures to determine the public value of new broadcast formats.
  • The German Society for Bathing e. V. presents a Public Value Award for the public bathroom every two years. This is intended to award public swimming pools that create special public added value. This takes into account the fact that public swimming pools are not purely commercial enterprises, but create values ​​for society in several dimensions. The evaluation is based on a variant of the Public Value Scorecard.
  • The Federal Employment Agency uses Public Value to understand its social contribution, which goes far beyond the mere fulfillment of tasks, and to make it usable for management decisions. An empirical study has shown that a particular value contribution of this organization is seen in its contribution to social peace in Germany. These value contributions are not sufficiently recorded by conventional controlling systems. In terms of entrepreneurship for the common good, core competencies such as initiative and the joy of innovation are particularly important for managers at the Federal Agency.
  • The Bayern Munich uses the public value approach to capture in a structured manner, the challenges related to the social role of the organization associated with the growth into a global entertainment brand. For a football club that is particularly exposed and seen by many as a role model with great importance for their own identity, such questions are particularly important. Various public values ​​such as "Radiance as a brand" and "Mia san Mia" are sometimes in conflict with one another at FC Bayern. The structured recording of social value can be used as management information for strategic decisions.
  • At the DAX Group Fresenius Medical Care , the Public Value Scorecard is used in addition to the Balanced Scorecard . By including an external point of view, the company would like to gain a better understanding of the social benefits of health services provided by private providers. The public value of the company's dialysis clinics in Great Britain was determined in a pilot project. The company would like to use the knowledge gained to position itself vis-à-vis the stakeholders.
  • The German schools abroad see the public value concept as an opportunity to record their value holistically and in several value dimensions. This focuses on the contribution of this organization to the community. In June 2014, a study on the public value of German schools abroad was presented at the World Congress of German Schools Abroad. Representatives from politics, administration, business, trade unions and associations in Germany took part in the study. In an online survey, board members, school principals and other managers around the world were able to assess the performance of German schools abroad. Public values ​​such as “Reliable charitable status” and “German educational ideals” were worked out.

Differentiation from other concepts

  • Shared Value : The shared value approach developed by Michael Porter and Mark Kramer is based on the idea that companies can realize advantages in many areas that benefit themselves and society at the same time. Unlike public value, however, this approach only deals with economic value creation and, by focusing solely on win-win situations, gives companies no orientation for dealing with trade-offs.
  • Corporate Social Responsibility : Corporate Social Responsibility primarily focuses on the negative consequences of entrepreneurial activity and derives various corporate responsibilities from a basic moral and ethical logic. The public value approach, by including various value dimensions, is more holistic and does not limit corporate responsibility to avoiding negative consequences. Because public value can be threatened and destroyed, but above all it can also be created. The public value approach stands for a value relativism and also rejects the primacy of ethics.
  • Sustainability : Sustainability in a business context emphasizes the long-term consequences of entrepreneurial activity, often with a focus on ecological factors. Interesting questions arise in connection with public value: Does ecological sustainability create public value? Or: How sustainable are the created public values?
  • Economy for the common good : The economy for the common good would like to align economic activity more closely with the common good and, with the balance of the common good, also offers a corresponding tool to measure such contributions. However, in these measurements certain public welfare contributions by organizations are a priori weighted more heavily than others and public welfare contributions in certain dimensions are not recorded at all in the public welfare balance.
  • Public interest : As an indefinite legal term, the public interest thematizes the relationship between the common good and particular interests and serves as a balance in favor of the general public. Public value can be seen as a realized public interest. Not everything that is in the public interest creates or destroys public value.
  • Public good : Public goods are defined by the exclusion of exclusivity and rivalry for a particular good. The extent to which, for example, climate protection or a dike defined as a public good are also socially accepted and valued (public value) is an empirical question and is subject to change.

further reading

  • Meynhardt, T. (2009); Public Value Inside: What is Public Value Creation? International Journal of Public Administration , 32 (3-4), 192-219
  • Meynhardt, T. and Gomez, P. (2013); Organizations create value for society; In: Heuser, J. et al. DIE ZEIT explains the economy (199–207), Hamburg: Murmann
  • Moore, M. (1995); Creating Public Value: Strategic Management in Government , Cambridge: Harvard University Press
  • Moore, M. (2013); Recognizing Public Value , Cambridge: Harvard University Press
  • Talbot, C. (2006); Paradoxes and prospects of 'Public Value' , Paper Presented at Tenth International Research Symposium on Public Management, Glasgow

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Moore, M. (1995). Creating Public Value - Strategic Management in Government . Cambridge , Harvard University Press , ISBN 978-0674175587 , pp. 64 ff.
  2. ↑ Meynhardt, T. (2013). Public Value: Organizations make society. Organizational Development , 2013 (4), 4–7.
  3. ^ Meynhardt, T. (2009). Public Value Inside: What is Public Value Creation? International Journal of Public Administration , 32 (3-4), 192-219.
  4. ↑ Bozeman, B. (2007). Public Values ​​and Public Interest: Counterbalancing Economic Individualism. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. (own translation)
  5. ↑ Public Value Inside: What is Public Value Creation? International Journal of Public Administration , 32 (3-4), 192-219. (own translation)
  6. ^ Moore, M. (1995). Creating Public Value - Strategic Management in Government. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. (own translation)
  7. ^ Paradoxes and prospects of 'Public Value' . Paper presented at Tenth International research Symposium on Public Management, Glasgow (own translation)
  8. ↑ Meynhardt, T. (2008). Public Value - or: what does value creation mean for the common good? dms - the modern state , 2, 457-468.
  9. ^ Moore, M. (2013). Recognizing public value. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
  10. ↑ Meynhardt, T. and Gomez, P. (2013). Organizations create value for society. In: Heuser, J. et al. DIE ZEIT explains the economy (199–207). Hamburg: Murmann.
  11. ^ Meynhardt, T. (2009). Public value. In International Encyclopedia of Civil Society , 1277-1282. New York: Springer New York.
  12. ↑ Article from the Financial Times Deutschland ( Memento from January 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) from January 23, 2012
  13. ↑ Meynhardt, T. (2008). Public Value - or: what does value creation mean for the common good? dms - the modern state , 2, 457–468.
  14. ^ Meynhardt, T. and Bartholomes, S. (2011). (De) Composing Public Value: In Search of Basic Dimensions and Common Ground. International Public Management Journal , 14 (3), 284-308.
  15. ↑ Schmid, T. (2013); Whoever wants public value has to talk about power: Four guidelines, Organizational Development, 2013 (4), 48–53
  16. ^ Moore, M. (2000). Managing for value: Organizational strategy in for-profit, nonprofit, and governmental organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly , 29, 183-204.
  17. ↑ http://www.gemeinwohl.ch Gemeinwohl Schweiz Website with GemeinwohlAtlas
  18. ↑ http://www.gemeinwohlatlas.de Gemeinwohl Germany website with GemeinwohlAtlas
  19. ↑ Public Value Test Guidance of the BBC ( Memento of the original of April 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 101 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bbc.co.uk
  20. ↑ The Public Value Test A comparison between the BBC model and the planned procedure at ZDF - Institute for Media and Communication Policy. Retrieved on July 30, 2018 (German).
  21. ↑ ARD.de: "We are yours": ARD starts public value campaign . In: ard.de . ( ard.de [accessed on July 30, 2018]).
  22. ↑ ARD.de: We are yours. ARD. Retrieved on July 30, 2018 (German).
  23. ^ Public Value Page of the ORF
  24. ↑ Unterberger, K. (2013); Who is it good for ?: Media in Reality Check, Organizational Development, 2013 (4), 54–61
  25. ↑ Bartenberger, M. (2010); With public value to counter hegemony? Diploma thesis, University of Vienna. Faculty of Social Sciences
  26. ↑ Public Value Award on the website of the German Society for Bathing
  27. ↑ Ochsenbauer, C. and Ziemke-Jerrentrup, K. (2013); Giving value a prize: The contribution of public pools to the common good and the 'Public Value Award', Organizational Development , 2013 (4), 40–47
  28. ^ Meynhardt, T. and Bartholomes, S. (2011); (De) Composing Public Value: In Search of Basic Dimensions and Common Ground, International Public Management Journal , 14 (3), 284-308
  29. ^ Weise, F. and Deinzer, R. (2013); The social mission firmly in view: The social value creation of the Federal Employment Agency, Organizational Development , 2013 (4), 30–36
  30. ↑ Beringer, L. and Bernard, S. (2013); Stern des Südens- football club or global entertainment ?: The Public Value of FC Bayern Munich, Organizational Development , 2013 (4), 13–19
  31. ↑ Armsen, W .; Lampe, R .; Moeller, S. and Gatti, E. (2013); Health services in the public eye: Measuring the societal benefits of privatized health services. Organizational Development , 2013 (4), 20–26
  32. ↑ Klingebiel, T. (2013); Value of German Schools Abroad, Organizational Development , 2013 (4), 96
  33. ^ Public Value Page of the World Association of German Schools Abroad