Title: The importance of HRM factors for public sector innovativeness in Eastern Europe

Authors: Marko Ropret; Aleksander Aristovnik; Maja Klun; Janez Stare

Addresses: Chair of Economics and Public Sector Management, Faculty of Administration, University of Ljubljana, Gosarjeva ulica 5, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia ' Chair of Economics and Public Sector Management, Faculty of Administration, University of Ljubljana, Gosarjeva ulica 5, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia ' Chair of Economics and Public Sector Management, Faculty of Administration, University of Ljubljana, Gosarjeva ulica 5, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia ' Chair of Organisation and Informatics, Faculty of Administration, University of Ljubljana, Gosarjeva ulica 5, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Abstract: The aim of the paper was to identify HRM factors associated with the innovativeness in the public sector of the Eastern European emerging market economies (hereinafter: EEEME). The initial phase of the research consisted of data acquisition. We used microdata from the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS). In the second phase, we divided the EEEME sample into two groups: innovators (at least one novelty introduced in the last three years) and non-innovators (no novelties introduced in the last three years). Finally, in the third phase, a t-test was applied identifying the main HRM factors, which separate the innovators from the non-innovators. The results show a majority of HRM factors by EEEME non-innovators are lacking proper support. At the same time, a positive correlation between HRM factors and EEEME innovation results was indicated. Consequently, proper HRM may be seen as critical when improving the innovativeness of the EEEME public sector.

Keywords: HRM; innovation; factors; public sector; Eastern Europe; development; economies; public policy; capabilities; innovativeness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2017.087487

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2017 Vol.22 No.4, pp.480 - 497

Received: 08 Jun 2016
Accepted: 17 Aug 2016
Published online: 16 Oct 2017 *

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