Endogenous Development Dynamics of Multisectoral Network Management

摘要

Public networks are purported to be more organizationally agile than hierarchically structured bureaucracies, thereby seemingly offering such benefits as more efficient use of public resources and more effective delivery of services. However, little is known about how public networks develop over time and whether such change is related to managerial strategy. This article contributes to network management scholarship by offering an empirically based conceptual framework that extends Ring and Van de Ven's theoretical model (1994) of interorganizational development processes by integrating it with Herranz's framework (2008) for multisectoral network coordination. Specifically, this study analyzes how different network coordination strategies influence the balance of formal and informal processes associated with the three internal dimensions—negotiation, commitment, execution of agreement—of network development. The analysis is based on a quasi-natural experiment of three workforce development networks operating between 1996 and 2002 in Boston. The study finds that different network coordination approaches are associated with differences in the balance of informal and formal processes of network development. A network with more formal processes is related to more stable network development. A network with more informal processes is related to more flexible network development.