A tension lens for understanding public innovation diffusion processes

How do public servants diffuse public innovations in a bureaucratic and political environment that is fraught with tensions? Through a longitudinal case study, this research explores how tension management evolves with regard to two tensions observed in the diffusion process: control versus resistance and competing interests among stakeholders. Drawing upon three theoretical perspectives (contingency, paradox, and dialectic), the study shows that tension management strategies often evolve from simple to complex through a mechanism of joint learning. This study moves away from a traditional approach that considers tensions as barriers and argues that tensions can be engaged to move innovations forward.