Abstract
An array of governance and public management reforms have been introduced in the past three decades. These reforms broadly initiated in the form of administrative, financial and human resource (HR) reform aim at improving efficiency, economy, equity and quality in public service provisioning through collaborative arrangements. In this regard, concepts including co-production, co-design and co-creation of value have received significant attention among public management researchers, scholars and practitioners (Bovaird and Loeffler, 2016; Tummers, 2015; Cepiku and Giordano, 2014; Pestoff et al., 2012). In recent years a marked increase has been witnessed in co-production and co-creation initiatives not only in developed countries but also in developing countries. In Pakistan alone, the government along with other partners in governance i.e. civil society and citizens is providing some basic health and education services under such interactive arrangements (Irfan and Nutley, 2017; Qasim, Jabeen, Jadoon and Dar, 2015). More recently, Higher Education Commission of Pakistan which is the central body to regulate provision and quality of tertiary education in the country is exploring the new synergetic modes such as co-creation of knowledge through engaging academia and industry/community for re-defining and re-shaping the curricula, contents, processes and competencies of graduates to enhance their employability, potential and valued outcomes. This paper evaluates effectiveness of the Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC) established by the HEC in 2010 in public universities of Pakistan to strengthen academia and industry collaboration for creation of knowledge, quality research, innovation and entrepreneurship through their active engagement for effective delivery of higher education. The following three research objectives will be achieved through the qualitative analysis of information obtained from the public universities, online survey and secondary published resources available on the programme: 1) Effectiveness of the ORIC programme in public universities in terms of knowledge outcomes; 2) Elements of co-creation of knowledge in university-industry collaborations; 3) Satisfaction with services rendered by ORIC in academia and industry collaborations. The paper aims to evaluate the above initiative in the light of the co-creation of public value literature and provide contextual and theoretical explanation of the reform in Pakistan. It will provide useful recommendations to step up the whole effort in this direction.
Keywords: co-creation, public value, industry, universities, Higher Education Commission, ORIC, Pakistan.
Creating and co-creating value through teaching and education in public management
