Pa 212 - Assignment 2 (co-creation, Co-prudction, And Co-construction).docx

Submitted by: Mark Jason E. Arca For the purpose of this paper, three (3) articles that focus on the concept of co-construction were reviewed. All of the articles are concerned with service-oriented organizations (e.g. government and hospitals) and as such, the quality of services and policies are the main concerns. This is rather important to acknowledge since it further drives the notion of these two (improved service delivery and better policies), along with serving the public, being the organization’s goals. In this short literature review, a few major themes may be observed. Organization learning through the process of co-construction is one of the few major themes observed in the articles. The article of Collins & Ison (2009) illustrates how social learning is achieved through co-construction and how such process (interaction and convergence of knowledge from different stakeholders) can address certain policy issues. Given that the participants will most likely be those with similar advocacies, organizations can gain wider insights on a subject matter through this experience. The article also highlights concerted action as one of the benefits of coconstruction. Empowering and enabling those outside of the organization to partake in the process of addressing an issue inevitably leads to concerted action – which tends to be an holistic approach in coming up with solutions to particular issues. Through co-construction, stakeholders can influence organization direction, determine whether goals are being met, and recommend policy action towards an issue. As it was highlighted in the article of Brooks & Harris (2008), one of the possible entry points for co-construction is the creation of joint steering groups wherein stakeholders are provided an avenue to, in a way, review the plans of an organization. Innovation is also among the major theme observed in the literature review. Bason’s (2013) article offers different cases where innovation was sourced through the process of co-construction (whether from the direct participation of stakeholders or through sourcing inputs from them to improve processes). The article highlights the notion that, ultimately, the stakeholders know themselves the best. By acknowledging such premise (through the process of co-creation) and adjusting the organization around the stakeholders’ experiences, organizations may obtain innovative means of rendering their services. In relating these articles to the planning process, co-construction can help improve the planning process by providing new insights and perspectives. Given that the actors in a given context, while sharing similar advocacies, have varying value sets. These variations, as illustrated in most of the cases found in the articles, may become sources of innovation for an organization. These may also serve as a means to identify matters that are of high value to an organization’s stakeholders. By gaining these insights and perspectives, and through the creation of new information streams, organizations will have a wider set of available information for them during the planning process. While co-construction brings certain benefits to an organization, it may also come with certain disadvantages. Planning and control is, in a way, a formal process. Bringing in entities with different values sets may introduce managerial challenges especially in the control side as such may require a different control mechanism to ensure that organization goals are shared by these entities. Another probable source of issue is the introduction of new streams in the information system. Control systems tend to be systematic in its approach. Input and information flows play and important part in a good control system. With the introduction of new sources of inputs and information, control managers must be able to make sense out of it and figure out how these new sources relate to the current system in place. Failing to do so may lead to managerial obstacles and, inevitably, poor performance of the control system. Nevertheless, if the process of co-construction is done right, there are numerous opportunities for organizations to reap benefits out from it.

Submitted by: Mark Jason E. Arca Works Cited Bason, C. (2013). Engaging Citizens in Policy Innovation: Benefiting public policy from the design inputs of citizens and stakeholders as ‘experts’. In Putting Citizens First. ANU Press. Brooks, R., & Harris, G. (2008). Citizen Participation, NEPA, and Land-Use Planning in Northern New York, USA. Environmental Practice, 10(4), 140-151. Collins, K., & Ison, R. (2009, November/ December). Dare we jump off Arnstein's ladder? Social learning as a new policy paradigm. Special Issue: Living with Environmental Change: Adaptation as Social Learning, 19(6), 358-373.