Public services management and co production in multi level governance settings
From a normative stance, co production has been recommended at all stages of the public service cycle. However, previous empirical studies on co production have neglected the question of how to make this happen. Moreover, little attention has been paid to how co production might occur in multi level governance settings. The aim of this article is to fill these gaps, identifying triggers and organizational and managerial issues that could support the adoption of co production in multi level governance settings. The empirical analysis is based on a case study of services for autistic children. The findings highlight that co production was prompted by inter organizational arrangements and that trust building among the actors played a pivotal role in nurturing a co production approach. Points for practitioners From an organizational perspective, our case study shows that, in order to foster co production in multi level governance settings, all stages of the public service cycle should be aligned and inspired by the same logic. From a managerial perspective it highlights that the implementation of co production requires new managerial skills and tools. Public managers are asked to listen to community groups and individuals, to mobilize collective resources and knowledge, and exercise a meta governance role. Finally, in order to have co produced services, our findings point to the need to start thinking differently about the roles of civil society and government in satisfying the common good.