Innovation and public management: Comparing dynamic capabilities in two swiss wastewater utilities

Potable water and flushing toilets in households are taken for granted in today’s Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Close to 100 percent of the population in most OECD countries has access to safe drinking water, and ca. 70 percent is connected to wastewater treatment plants (Aubin and Varone, 2007; OECD, 2011; OECD Environment Directorate, 2008).1 This taken-for-granted situation is largely possible due to extensive governmental planning, management, and investments in water and wastewater infrastructure (OECD, 2009). The expansion of domestic water service provision occurred via public subsidies, with service provision provided by primarily local and regional governments and, hence, predominantly public organizations (Citroni, 2010). Indeed, the water and wastewater sectors in OECD countries have been developed as centralized systems of treatment plants and waterworks with vast, integrated networks of water supply mains and wastewater pipes. Accordingly, these sectors can be considered ‘typical’ public network utility sectors (LuisManso, 2007: 2).