Grasping Public Value in Welfare Services: Evidence from Hybrid Organizations

The evaluation and measurement of welfare outcomes is a crucial source of accountability and legitimacy for public service organizations. Such pressure is stronger when public–private hybrid organizations (HOs)—organizations combining public and private sector features—are involved, as it is often the case after the massive wave of corporatization of public service organizations inspired by New Public Management policies. The purpose of this study is to investigate how to measure the public value generated by a hybrid organization delivering welfare services. We focus on an Italian HO which was questioned by shareholders on its economic convenience, requiring innovative ways to represent the value generated for the community. To rebut these allegations, the HO took part to an action research project to develop a public value measurement scheme. Such process resulted in a multi-dimensional representation of the value created for the community, which convinced shareholders about the HO still being an appropriate form of delivery. This chapter’s main contribution relates to the definition of a process to develop a public value measurement framework in an HO that can be tailored to different contexts (both geographical and of policy).