Redefining the network management model for collaborative public policy-making: the case of Maryland's Accounting for Growth network
Date
2015
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Collaborative public networks have become an important governance mechanism to promote change and enhance the effectiveness of the public sector. Research indicates that, despite their potential to produce better outcomes, public networks can also yield failure, thus precluding the development and implementation of effective solutions to public problems. It is anticipated that, through a better understanding of management process, public policy networks could optimize their operation, in order to achieve intended outcomes. This research was conducted as a qualitative single case study with multiple units of observation, featuring the work of the Accounting for Growth (AFG) network. The purpose of the study was to test the applicability of McGuire and Agranoff’s (2014) network management behaviors framework in a public policy network, and to uncover the processes and approaches used to achieve common understanding, agreement, and decision-making capacity. The sources of information were direct input from participants, public documents and audio recordings. Data analysis consisted on coding the data, creating categories, and developing categories and themes. The findings of this research supported the partial applicability of the network management behaviors framework and recommended the expansion of the model to better reflect the operational context of public policy networks. Such expansion operationalizes the moves and countermoves, actions and adjustments that characterize network management, as inferred from the experience of the AFG network. The empirical observations collected in this research were integrated into three general processes: formal and informal learning, systematic problem solving, and flexible and dynamic decision-making.