Innovating public sector education: integrating lean and micro-credentials for sustainable governance in Brazil
Edmilson Suassuna da Silva, Alexandre Beraldi Santos, Robisom Damasceno CaladoPurpose
This study examines how Lean principles, micro-credential-based professional development, and co-creation can strengthen public governance and operational efficiency in managing Brazil's Decentralized Execution Terms (TEDs). It addresses how a capacity-building intervention can diagnose process bottlenecks, develop civil-servant competencies, support the production of standardized operational guidance, and connect learning to institutional practice. The study also seeks to identify the conditions under which this model may be adapted by other public administrations rather than replicated without regard to local regulatory, organizational, and technological contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
Using Design Science Research, the study conducted a mixed-methods organizational intervention with 37 civil servants from Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. Three phases combined institutional diagnosis, a 120-h modular training program, and the co-creation of three operational manuals. Quantitative indicators from the learning platform and satisfaction ratings were analyzed descriptively. Interviews, open-ended survey responses, forum posts, meeting records, and workshop outputs underwent two-cycle content analysis. The strands were integrated during interpretation through a statistics-by-themes joint display to examine convergence, complementarity, and tension.
Findings
The program achieved an 83% module completion rate, a mean assessment score of 8.3/10, and positive ratings for content clarity (92%), organization (95%), and practical applicability (88%). Qualitative analysis identified four themes: practical relevance and flexibility; workplace application and knowledge sharing; professional confidence and institutional belonging; and constraints, improvement needs, and institutionalization. Participants reported using course materials in verification routines, team meetings, and colleague induction. Engagement was strongest when learning addressed immediate operational problems, while more abstract modules required stronger contextualization and facilitator support.
Research limitations/implications
The single-ministry pilot and small voluntary sample of 37 participants limit statistical power and generalizability. Several outcomes were self-reported, and the study did not include a comparison group or longitudinal follow-up, preventing causal claims or conclusions about sustained competency retention and cultural change. The absence of formal recognition for micro-credentials in federal public administration also constrains scalability. Future research should test the model across institutions, use larger samples and longitudinal designs, compare pedagogical approaches, assess workplace effects, and examine regulatory pathways for institutionalizing micro-credentials.
Practical implications
The study offers public managers a condition-based model for linking professional learning to concrete administrative problems. Its practical value lies in combining modular micro-credentials, Lean tools, and civil-servant co-creation to produce usable operational artifacts. Adaptation requires leadership support, meaningful participation, adequate digital infrastructure, protected learning time, alignment with recognized work problems, and credible recognition of micro-credentials. Lightweight, mobile-accessible delivery can support geographically dispersed teams, while joint development of manuals and checklists can strengthen standardization, knowledge sharing, onboarding, and process-improvement discussions.
Social implications
The findings indicate how professional development can support more capable, transparent, and accountable public institutions. Flexible, mobile-accessible learning can broaden access for civil servants working across geographically dispersed units, although the study did not directly measure equity effects. By strengthening process understanding, knowledge sharing, and collaborative problem-solving, the intervention aligns most directly with SDG 16. The government–university partnership also reflects SDG 17 by combining academic expertise with practitioner knowledge to address public-sector challenges and support improved management of public resources.
Originality/value
The study's originality lies in integrating Lean-oriented process improvement, micro-credential-based learning, and co-created operational artifacts within a single public-sector capacity-building intervention. Rather than treating certification, process tools, and participation as separate elements, it identifies a mechanism in which micro-credentials structure focused learning, Lean directs that learning toward work problems, and co-creation embeds practitioners' knowledge in shared resources. The research provides empirical evidence from a Brazilian federal administration and specifies the institutional conditions required for adaptation, avoiding assumptions of automatic replication.