Searching for Inspiration. Practices from Twelve Countries

In this chapter we address the question: What practices could advance learning in public organizations? We based the search for inspirational solutions in the field of organizational learning on research conducted in twelve countries of the Organization for Economic Co operation and Development (OECD). These countries are: Australia, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Japan, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, the United States of America, Switzerland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The choice was dictated by the wish to ensure representativeness, understood as a presence of different models of public administration. The set of solutions includes:

• practices derived from systems based on rules specific to the classical model of public administration (France, Japan, Spain, Switzerland);

• examples from systems which combine classical administration with a participatory and conciliatory approach, described in the latest literature as a  neo-Weberian approach (Norway, Sweden);

• practices rooted directly in market-oriented new public management (Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom); and

• solutions derived from administrative systems reconciling a  market-based approach to the management of public affairs with active civic engagement in public affairs (Canada, the Netherlands, United States).

The rest of the chapter reflects this typology