The growing intensity and complexity of public service has spurred policy reform efforts across the globe, many featuring attempts to promote more collaborative government. Collaboration in Public Service Delivery sheds light on these efforts, analysing and reconceptualising the major types of collaboration in public service delivery through a governance lens.
The International Group for Policy and Program Evaluation (INTEVAL) serves as a forum for scholars and practitioners of public policy to discuss ideas and developments as a community dedicated to enhancing the contribution of evaluation to government. From the group's studies has emerged a concern with the impact of public management reforms. Collaboration in Public Services examines collaboration in the delivery of public policies and identifies the challenges for policy and program evaluation. Written by a mix of academics, program managers, evaluators, and auditors, this volume explores the forms and challenges of collaboration in different national contexts. Chapter 1 introduces the notion and manifestations of collaboration and discusses emerging issues. Chapter 2 examines partnerships and networks of public service delivery. Chapter 3, drawing on Dutch and British data, reveals the QUANGO as both a collaborative end and means. Chapter 4 analyzes Israel's push to enhance collaboration with voluntary organizations. Chapter 5 examines the Canadian and Danish experiences. Chapter 6 suggests that the creation of markets to improve quality has not been totally successful at least in Nordic countries. Chapter 7 suggests that traditional service values such as trust and parliamentary accountability are challenged by the complexity of collaboration, but, using illustrations from Canada and other OECD countries, argues that results-based governance can increase trust, flexibility, and empowerment. Chapter 8 demonstrates from Dutch and Canadian experiences that auditor responses to collaborative delivery tend to overlook traditional roles as guardians of accountability on behalf of parliaments. Chapter 9 deliberates the efficacy of programs involving multiple partners. Chapter 10 discusses the lessons and challenges of evaluation and collaborative government. Andrew Gray is emeritus professor of public sector management, University of Durham and deputy editor of Public Money and Management. Bill Jenkins is professor of public policy and management at The University of Kent and deputy editor of Public Administration. Frans Leeuw is chief review officer, the Netherlands' Inspectorate for Education and professor of sociology at Utrecht University. John Mayne is a principal with the Office of the Auditor General of Canada.
Today’s public managers not only have to function as leaders within their agencies, they must also establish and coordinate multi-organizational networks of other public agencies, private contractors, and the public. This important transformation has been the subject of an explosion of research in recent years. The Collaborative Public Manager brings together original contributions by some of today’s top public management and public policy scholars who address cutting-edge issues that affect government managers worldwide. State-of-the-art empirical research reveals why and how public managers collaborate and how they motivate others to do the same. Examining tough issues such as organizational design and performance, resource sharing, and contracting, the contributors draw lessons from real-life situations as they provide tools to meet the challenges of managing conflict within interorganizational, interpersonal networks. This book pushes scholars, students, and professionals to rethink what they know about collaborative public management—and to strive harder to achieve its full potential.
Local governments do not stand alone—they find themselves in new relationships not only with state and federal government, but often with a widening spectrum of other public and private organizations as well. The result of this re-forming of local governments calls for new collaborations and managerial responses that occur in addition to governmental and bureaucratic processes-as-usual, bringing locally generated strategies or what the authors call "jurisdiction-based management" into play. Based on an extensive study of 237 cities within five states, Collaborative Public Management provides an in-depth look at how city officials work with other governments and organizations to develop their city economies and what makes these collaborations work. Exploring the more complex nature of collaboration across jurisdictions, governments, and sectors, Agranoff and McGuire illustrate how public managers address complex problems through strategic partnerships, networks, contractual relationships, alliances, committees, coalitions, consortia, and councils as they function together to meet public demands through other government agencies, nonprofit associations, for-profit entities, and many other types of nongovernmental organizations. Beyond the "how" and "why," Collaborative Public Management identifies the importance of different managerial approaches by breaking them down into parts and sequences, and describing the many kinds of collaborative activities and processes that allow local governments to function in new ways to address the most nettlesome public challenges.
A comprehensive guide to public sector collaboration with private and nonprofit organizations for better service delivery Governing Cross-Sector Collaboration tackles the issues inherent in partnerships with nongovernmental actors for public service delivery, highlighting the choices available and the accompanying challenges and opportunities that arise. Based on research, interviews with public, private and nonprofit sector leaders, and considerable analysis of organizations involved in public-private-nonprofit collaborations, the book provides insight into cross-sector collaboration at the global, federal, state, and local levels. Through an examination of the primary modes of cross-sector collaboration, including collaborative contracting, partnerships, networks, and independent public services providers, the book presents a clear case for how public managers can assess the trade-offs and use these options to improve public service delivery. Nonprofit organizations, businesses, and third-party contractors are increasingly partnering with government to deliver public services. Recognizing the types of collaborative approaches, and their potential to solve public policy problems is quickly becoming a major task for public managers, with new methods and techniques constantly emerging. Governing Cross-Sector Collaboration provides specific examples and a framework for public managers to make strategic choices about how to engage private and nonprofit actors in delivering public goods and services while ensuring the public interest. The book provides effective methods for choosing, designing, governing, and evaluating networks, partnerships, and independent public-services providers, with in-depth discussion encompassing: Analysis and engagement of cross-sector organizations Fostering democratic accountability in the public interest Collaborative approaches (including contracts, networks and partnerships) and the issues associated with each type of arrangement Leadership and organizational learning in cross-sector collaboration Included case studies illustrate effective application of the concepts and methods described, providing both practicing public and nonprofit managers and public policy/administration students with insight into these emerging strategic alliances. The first comprehensive guide to public governance collaborations, Governing Cross-Sector Collaboration is an important and timely contribution to the field of public management.
This collection of essays had its origins in a one-day workshop held in August 2015 at The Australian National University. Jointly convened by Dr John Butcher (ANZSOG) and Professor David Gilchrist (Curtin Not-for-profit Initiative) the purpose of the workshop was to bring together academic researchers, policy practitioners and thought leaders to address a variety of emerging issues facing policymakers, public sector commissioners, not-for-profit providers of publicly funded services, and businesses interested in opportunities for social investment. The workshop itself generated a great deal of interest and a ‘baker’s dozen’ of contributors challenged and engaged a full house. The level of enthusiasm shown by the audience for the subject matter was such that the decision to curate the presentations in the form of a book was never in doubt. The editors trust that this volume will vindicate that decision. At one time the state exercised a near monopoly in the delivery of social programs. Today, almost every important public problem is a three sector problem and yet we have little idea of what a high-performing three sector production system looks like. It is the editors’ hope that this volume will provide a foundation for some answers to these important public policy questions.
Working Across Boundaries is a practical guide for nonprofit and government professionals who want to learn the techniques and strategies of successful collaboration. Written by Russell M. Linden, one of the most widely recognized experts in organizational change, this no nonsense book shows how to make collaboration work in the real world. It offers practitioners a framework for developing collaborative relationships and shows them how to adopt strategies that have proven to be successful with a wide range of organizations. Filled with in-depth case studies—including a particularly challenging case in which police officers and social workers overcome the inherent differences in their cultures to help abused children—the book clearly shows how organizations have dealt with the hard issues of collaboration. Working Across Boundaries includes Information on how to select potential partners Guidelines for determining what kinds of projects lend themselves to collaboration and which do not Suggestions on how to avoid common pitfalls of collaboration Strategies proven to work consistently The phases most collaborative projects go through The nature of collaborative leadership
Inter-organizational relations (IOR), the study of Strategic Alliances, Joint Ventures, Partnerships, Networks and other forms of relationship between organizations, is a field of study that has burgeoned over the last four decades, but is fragemented, drawing contributions from a wide variety of disciplines, theoretical bases, and sectoral interests. The Oxford Handbook of Inter-Organizational Relations provides a structured overview of the field. With contributions from leading international experts on their particular areas of expertise, it is an authoritative introduction to its research findings. The material is organized in three main sections. The first relates to research that focuses on particular manifestations of IORs such as industry, supply, policy and project networks, public and voluntary sector partnerships, strategic alliances, and so on. The second section relates to research that stems from distinct disciplinary or theoretical bases, including, institutional theory, social networks, evolutionary theory, transaction cost economics, management process, psychology, critical theory political theory, economic geography, and the legal perspective. The third section focuses on key topics in contemporary IOR topics--or those that will become so in the future. These include, trust, power, development interventions, social capital, learning and knowledge, dynamics and change, and evaluation. About the Series Oxford Handbooks in Business & Management bring together the world's leading scholars on the subject to discuss current research and the latest thinking in a range of interrelated topics including Strategy, Organizational Behavior, Public Management, International Business, and many others. Containing completely new essays with extensive referencing to further reading and key ideas, the volumes, in hardback or paperback, serve as both a thorough introduction to a topic and a useful desk reference for scholars and advanced students alike.
Many people have always believed that more can be accomplished when government, business, and the general public cooperate with a common goal in mind. Unfortunately it has taken the recent manifestations of two of humankind's oldest scourges—terrorism and disease—to bring the point home. For example, the lack of collaboration among various government agencies prior to the attacks of September 11, 2001, has been found to have been of such an egregious nature that a new Homeland Security umbrella department was formed to ensure a new level of cooperation. And in China in early 2003, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) was found to have spread far beyond initial reports, a discovery that led in April of that year to the unprecedented step of firing the mayor of Beijing for mishandling the situation. To handle potential future attacks and outbreaks of disease, as well as to maximize the results of collaboration when times are good, it is imperative for citizens, the private sector, and government agencies—especially at the local, regional, and state levels—to learn how, when and why they should share information, knowledge, and resources to get things done. Collaboration is the real challenge facing free democracies in the future, and the success of modern societies will hinge upon our meeting this challenge. The community level is a most promising arena in which to start and to practice many collaborative ventures. The power of citizens as individuals and within groups can be expected to increase dramatically, in line with more involvement of the media and academia. This book presents various examples of successful collaboration and partnership for inspiration and presents a theoretical typology among such closely related concepts as integration, partnership, coooperation, coordination, and association. Current thinking in the field is rather pessimistic about the actual willingness to collaborate among all parties. This book offers a more optimistic (but also realistic) pattern of alliance that is vital for modern societies that carry the heavy burden of citizens' growing demands and needs.
This book comprehensively explores the many different forms of collaboration in government, both formal and informal, including strategic alliances, intergovernmental networks, and public-private partnerships. Contemporary US governmental and public organizations are changing to better cope after several decades of pressures to downsize, as well as to deliver new services with declining resources and, in many cases, decaying infrastructure. To meet these challenges, public managers are developing new networks, partnerships, collaborations, alliances and coalitions to deliver government services. Collaboration in Government is designed to help public organizations parse the new and emerging forms of public partnerships and to develop the skills needed to manage them. Each chapter offers examples of how each type has been used in real public organizations, providing the reader with an understanding of how these partnerships may be applied in a variety of contexts, as well as lessons that may be gleaned from the successes (and failures) of these collaborative models. This book will be of interest to public servants who collaborate in their daily work, as well as students of public administration and public policy.
