Governance, management and performance in public networks: How to be successful in shared-governance networks
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Governance, management and performance in public networks: How to be successful in shared-governance networks Daniela Cristofoli • Josip Markovic Marco Meneguzzo
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Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2012
Abstract This paper compares four cases and explores the effects on network performance of network governance, coordination mechanisms, and the abilities of the network manager. The focus is on shared-governance networks, which are in general considered to have difficulties achieving high-level performances. The cross-case comparison suggests a relationship between coordination mechanisms and the way shared-governance networks are managed: in order to be successful, they must be able to rely on formalized mechanisms and make a pool of ‘‘network administrators’’ responsible for their governance. Keywords Public networks Governance Management Performance Collaboration
1 Introduction Scholars only started focusing on network governance methods and exploring their relationships with network performance relatively recently. It was in 2008 that the well-known article ‘‘Modes of network governance. Structures, management and D. Cristofoli (&) J. Markovic Faculty of Economics, Universita` della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland e-mail: [email protected] J. Markovic e-mail: [email protected] M. Meneguzzo Department of Business, Government and Philosophy, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy e-mail: [email protected] M. Meneguzzo Faculty of Economics, Universita` della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
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effectiveness’’ by Provan and Kenis (2008) identified three different forms of network governance: Shared/Participant governance, Lead Organization governance and Network Administrative Organization (NAO) governance. In a subsequent article, the authors looked in more detail into the relationships between these governance forms and network performance, arguing that the appropriateness and success of different governance forms can vary in different circumstances (Kenis and Provan 2009). Shared-governance forms in particular are normally considered to have difficulties achieving high-level performances. They are only expected to work well in small, geographically concentrated networks where full, active face-toface interaction between network members is possible (Kenis and Provan 2009). Our paper aims to contribute to the literature on the topic. Following the lead of Kenis and Provan (2009), it will focus on shared-governance networks and examine the key factors in making them successful. ‘‘How to be successful in sharedgovernance networks’’ is the central research issue in our study. We took the literature on service-delivery networks as our theoretical framework (Turrini et al. 2010) and identified two categories of predictors of network performance: network-coordination mechanisms and the abilities of the network manager. We then explored whether coordination mechanisms and managerial abilities, or a combination of them, can lead to
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