Author ORCID Identifier
Paidi O’Raghallaigh: 0000-0003-2056-9854
Abstract
Public sector organizations face mounting pressure to innovate digitally while operating with reduced resources, legacy systems, and entrenched routines. Some establish innovation units to drive transformation, but these initiatives can drift into “innovation theatre” or quietly fade once early enthusiasm wanes. While prior research has examined the structures, processes, and technologies of public sector transformation, less attention has been paid to how collective identity shapes whether such initiatives gain legitimacy, endure, or break down over time. This study traces the rise and dissolution of Service rePublic, a service design and digital transformation unit within a local authority, through the lens of an insider practitioner-researcher. Combining collective identity theory and Goffman’s dramaturgical perspective, the paper develops a temporal model of identity work across five stages: emergence, negotiation, solidification, maintenance, and transformation/disintegration. It identifies six service design scripts through which transformation became recognizable, legitimate, and actionable. The findings show that scripts require bounded codification: when weakly embedded, they remain episodic or symbolic; when over-codified, they harden into routines and expectations that inhibit adaptation. For practitioners, the study highlights the need to retune strong identities and treat disengagement and attrition as signals of deeper misalignment between frontstage narratives and backstage realities.
Recommended Citation
Coughlan, J., & O’Raghallaigh, P. (In press). Beyond Innovation Theatre: Identity Work and the Fragility of Public Sector Digital Transformation. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 59, pp-pp. Retrieved from https://aisel.aisnet.org/cais/vol59/iss1/51
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