The paper qualitatively infers which factors allow public administrations to be quick when an emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, occurs. For this purpose we analyze the same type of ...intervention (i.e. conversion of convention centers into makeshift hospitals for coronavirus patients) in two different geographical settings (i.e. New York (USA) and Milan (Italy)) and we trace the two processes on the basis of a systematic analysis of national newspaper articles.
The comparative analysis reveals that there is no one single best way to manage emergencies successfully, and it sheds light on which conditions might drive different modes of intervention from the public sector in emergencies and beyond.
Public network leadership and the ties that lead Cristofoli, Daniela; Trivellato, Benedetta; Sancino, Alessandro ...
Journal of management and governance,
03/2021, Letnik:
25, Številka:
1
Journal Article
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This study explores how certain characteristics of the network structure, such as autonomization and connectivity, differently combine with individual leadership in order to produce high network ...performance. Data gathered through a survey of 265 networks for homecare assistance shed light on three different paths simultaneously leading to network success. First, the presence of autonomy from government (autonomization) appears to be able to ensure network success, irrespective of the other conditions. Secondly, the presence (or absence) of an individual network leader combines differently with the network’s connectivity. Sparsely connected networks seem to require a network leader, forging agreements and leading partners towards a common objective. On the contrary, in highly connected networks, it is the intensity of network ties that appears to lead the network (the network leader seems to be not important). These networks seem to be leaderless, but not necessarily leadershipless.
The growing expectations to public services and the pervasiveness of wicked problems in times characterized by growing fiscal constraints call for the enhancement of public innovation, and new ...research suggests that multi-actor collaboration in networks and partnerships is superior to hierarchical and market-based strategies when it comes to spurring such innovation. Collaborative innovation seems ideal as it builds on diversity to generate innovative public value outcomes, but there is a catch since diversity may clash with the need for constructing a common ground that allows participating actors to agree on a joint and innovative solution. The challenge for collaborative innovation - taming the snake in paradise - is to nurture the diversity of views, ideas and forms of knowledge while still establishing a common ground for joint learning. While we know a great deal about the dynamics of the mutually supportive processes of collaboration, learning and innovation, we have yet to understand the role of institutional design and leadership in spurring collaborative innovation and dealing with this tension. Building on extant research, the article draws suitable cases from the Collaborative Governance Data Bank and uses Qualitative Comparative Analysis to explore how multiple constellations of institutional design and leadership spur collaborative innovation. The main finding is that, even though certain institutional design features reduce the need for certain leadership roles, the exercise of hands-on leadership is more important for securing collaborative innovation outcomes than hands-off institutional design.
Many studies have striven to understand which factors affect the performance of public networks. However, there are very few studies in the field of public management that investigate the joint, ...interactive effects of different determinants on network performance. This article uses the relatively new method of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to investigate the complex causality of determinants and network performance. It examines the combination of resource munificence, centralization of the network structure, formalization of coordination mechanisms, network management and their joint effects on network performance. An analysis of 12 Swiss networks providing home and social care services shows that there are a range of possible paths. Various combinations of the above‐mentioned factors can in fact lead to high network performance. The paths provide insight into how to make public networks really work.
Public sector organizations are simultaneously subject to three types of environmental pressure: institutional, economic and political. How do these pressures influence the strategic behaviour of ...public organizations when confronted with efficiency-oriented reforms? We focus on the strategic behaviour of Swiss municipalities facing the amalgamation wave: a reform characterized by a strong economic rationale. Results confirm that the success of reforms depends not only on its matching with economic underpinnings. It is also necessary to take the political leadership and the responsibility of reform implementation.
Despite a general consensus on the importance of collaborative settings for the solution of 'wicked' problems, questions of how to successfully manage public networks remain without a clear answer. ...Some authors highlighted the importance of the network structure and context; other authors shed light on network management and coordination mechanisms. More recently, some scholars have stressed the criticality of 'soft' factors, such as interorganizational trust. In this multifaceted landscape, the goal of the special issue is to stimulate a dialogue on the functioning of public networks, and contribute to the development of sound knowledge about how to make them succeed.
Network managers engage in several day-to-day activities, including bridging, networking, and stabilizing relationships. Still, when should they opt for one activity or another? Our study shows that ...this choice needs to be taken in combination with certain network characteristics, such as network development stage, connectivity, and trust. It sheds light on four different combinations of activities and network characteristics that are simultaneously able to lead to perceived high network performance. It also suggests three approaches to network management in networks that differ in their development stage, connectivity and trust: stabilize, stabilize and connect, stabilize and develop.
Since the early 1990s, public networks have been implemented in many countries to solve ‘wicked’ public problems, addressing such issues as health, social care, local development and education. While ...considerable research has been carried out into public networks, both managers and scholars are left with some doubts about network effectiveness. In fact literature on this topic has been highly fragmented, comprising a plurality of definitions, multiple theories, multiple methods and multiple explanations. This paper aims to review and classify previous theoretical and evidence‐based studies on network effectiveness and its determinants. Our aim is to rearrange existing literature into a unitary framework in order to shed light on both hitherto unfilled gaps and established theoretical cornerstones.
Collaborative governance is often advocated as a way to address ‘messy’ problems that individual stakeholders cannot solve alone. However, whereas stakeholders’ participation brings a broad range of ...response options to public decision-making, the complexities of the perspectives at stake may also lead to conflicts and stalemates. This is especially true in collaborative environmental governance, where conflict is common and stakeholders’ interdependence in more than one arena tends to be frequent. Based on a longitudinal field study, we explore how to break stalemates in collaborative environmental governance when they occur, and move the collaboration towards a shared decision. The successful collaborative decision-making for the defence of Venice against floods represents our empirical setting. Our findings show that, in this context, the combined effect of three factors seems to be important to break stalemates and lead stakeholders towards a shared decision in collaborative environmental governance: stakeholders’ reactivation, fear of marginalization and leaders acting as orchestrators.
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