Public sector organisations as agents of transformations

The demand for a more active role of the state in transformation processes towards a more sustainable development of society raises the question of what capabilities Public Sector Organizations (PSO) would need in order to fulfill this role and to contribute to tackling wicked problems such as climate change. Being able to contribute to the transformation towards a sustainable society requires new organizational capabilities, however. In particular, PSOs acting as agents of transformation must focus on problem-solving instead of simply executing bureaucratic procedures. To date, little research on the capabilities required by PSOs seeking to take on the role as agents of transformation has been conducted. This article uses the three capabilities of problem-oriented governance as a heuristic for analyzing managerial and organizational routines facilitating transformative work. In fact, the paper presents a model to systematically analyze the organizational capabilities a specific PSO might require to take a more active role in shaping transformation processes. The article therefore asks which formal structures within PSO might strengthen the latters’ problem-solving capabilities and put them in a position to shape transformation processes more actively. This conception of PSO’s capabilities actively supporting transformations will be empirically illustrated and critically assessed based on semi-structured expert interviews in PSO in the context of the German environmental policy.