International Review of Administrative Sciences, Ahead of Print.
Within only 10 days of March 2020, the Swiss administration had designed and implemented a loan guarantee scheme for enterprises. The implementation phase was also short: it lasted less than five months. This article examines how that was possible, considering the complexity of the institutional setting and the scheme's innovative form, especially in terms of IT, including breakthroughs for the Swiss e-administrative practice: the scheme used algorithms to verify clients’ applications, a unique identification number for companies was implemented on a large scale, Swiss banks were integrated into the project's preparation and implementation, and some of their client operations were centralised on a government e-platform. The salient features of the process are identified through an analysis of the unfolding of operations during those ten days. The circumstances and context leading to radically new forms of public governance are also identified. Besides, an output analysis was undertaken to single out the innovative features of the deliverable. The case under consideration was short, and came unpredictably, so that no data or observations could be collected before or during the case. Accordingly, the study is by and large based on ex-post enquiries. With no explicitly formalised mandates, structures, or roles, the project participants came up with an informal organisation system. A well-defined deliverable was a powerful driver of the process. Several characteristics of the project, such as efficient networks, real-time information flow, flexible roles, flat hierarchy, and swift iterative subprocesses were akin to those of ‘agile organisations’. Tasks were performed concomitantly instead of sequentially.Points for practitionersIt is striking that not much scholarly research has been published so far with a view to collecting and sharing the ‘lessons learned’ from the unique experience of emergency support packages during the pandemic, including at intra-organisational level. Research could be done regarding replicability both for future emergencies and for adjusting normal-times public management practices. This proposal aims to contribute to this conversation with a view to inspiring practitioners in public administrations and government entities. It foregrounds the relationship between governmental crisis management and the digitalisation of public administration processes using computer-enabled tools.

International Review of Administrative Sciences, Volume 89, Issue 3, Page 901-918, September 2023.
Although public policy and public administration are intuitively practical fields of scholarship, much public affairs research never affects practice. Previous studies have shown that one major predictor of whether a given research study or researcher achieves impact is the researcher's motivation to do so. Using data from a survey of 409 authors of articles in major public affairs journals, we present and test models of the determinants of researchers’ use motivations with regard to specific research studies and over the course of their careers. Results indicate that previous experience as a practitioner is positively associated with perceived career-long use motivation and rewards for use associated with tenure and promotion, although not with annual evaluations. In addition, project-specific use motivation is positively associated with perceived career-long use motivation, academic age, a study suggestion made by a practitioner, and methodological contribution. Motivations based on a desire to appear productive or on suggestions from researcher colleagues are negatively associated with study-specific use.Points for practitionersAcademic motivation to affect policymaking is positively associated with rewards associated with tenure and promotion, although not with year-end evaluations.Longer-serving researchers, and those with practitioner experience, report greater motivation to affect practice through their research.