Daniela Cristofoli

Structure, Mechanisms, and Managers in Successful Networks

Since public networks became widespread, doubts have arisen over how to make them succeed. Scholars have traditionally addressed the issue in different ways, thus variously shedding light on the network structure, mechanisms, or managers as predictors of the network performance. The aim of our article is to explore the possibility of an interaction effect between the abovementioned factors. Our results show that there may be a relationship between network structure, mechanisms, and managers that jointly affects network performance. Therefore, important suggestions can be made about how to manage public networks successfully: (1) ensure that your network mechanisms and managerial abilities are coherent with the structure of your network; and (2) if you are in a well-established and integrated network, allow yourself some flexibility. Data were collected through a multiple case study that focused on collaboration for joint provision of home care services in Switzerland.

Explaining the Reactions of Swiss Municipalities to The ‘Amalgamation Wave’: At the crossroad of institutional, economic and political pressures

Abstract 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.

Lifting the veil of Maya

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to build a working definition of public administrations management capacity (PA‐MANCAP) aiming at empirically testing the existence and size of an implementation gap in public management reforms in Italy.Design/methodology/approach – A confirmatory factor analysis is developed to assess the validity of the proposed operational measure. Data are taken from a survey administered on 204 local governments in Italy.Findings – The validity of the measure is assessed for all the attributes that conceptualize PA‐MANCAP except for the information and communication technology dimension. Findings from a survey of 102 major Italian municipalities indicate a situation with areas of light and shadow with regard to the implementation of public management reforms in Italy.Originality/value – The paper presents a valuable insight for both academics and practitioners in order to benchmark the managerial capacity of various local governments and to develop additional quantitative rese...

Collaborative administration: the management of successful networks

ABSTRACT 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.

Italian City Managers: Caged Leaders?

Abstract Purpose This paper aims to explore the behaviour of city managers in the ongoing context of city leadership in Italy where there are high levels of political, economic and social turbulence. Design/methodology/approach A survey was administered to 140 Italian city managers, with a response rate of 56%. The main research questions were the following: Who are the Italian city managers? How do they spend their time? Are their actions influenced by political, administrative, management and/or governance-related pressures? Findings The results depicted Italian city managers as caged leaders. They feel like they are capable of soaring to great heights outside the boundaries of their organisations, but they are constrained by their day-to-day organisational activities. Originality/value This paper offers new empirical insights into the different leadership activities carried out by Italian city managers discussing the differences between the time devoted to some activities and the perception of their leadership style.

Coming Back Soon: Assessing the Determinants of Absenteeism in the Public Sector

Abstract This study explores how different factors influence absenteeism in the public sector. In particular, it investigates whether absence rates at work vary as a result of the individual personal traits of civil servants, some organizational features of governments and the context where public agencies operate. The study elaborates on the data on self-reported days of absence for all civil servants working for Italian regional and local governments. Our analysis of the Italian case shows that factors linked to the community where these governments operate influence the absence trends of civil servants; cultural differences in particular (that is different political cultures) are reliable predictors of absenteeism. We then assess the potential areas for research and suggest policies for countering absenteeism in the public sector based on our analysis.

To wind a skein into a ball: exploring the concept and measures of public network performance

ABSTRACT Since Provan and Milward’s article in 1995, a wide variety of conceptualizations and measures of network performance has been proposed. The lack of consensus among scholars generated a confusing landscape. In an attempt to wind a skein into a ball, our paper aims to synthesize the conceptualizations and measures of network performance proposed by the existing literature and explore their statistical and theoretical relationships. Structural equation modelling techniques were used for this purpose.

Managing Service Delivery Networks Strategically

The relationship between strategy and structure is one of the long-lasting, and rather controversial, topics in the strategy literature. It is also an evergreen and unresolved issue in the literature on public networks. Some authors have focused on structural characteristics of public networks (i.e., network integration and centrality and/or network governance structure) and their relationship with network performance (Kenis and Provan, 2009; Provan and Kenis, 2008; Provan and M il ward, 1995; Provan and Sebastian, 1998). Others have shed light on the criticality of strategies to manage public networks and of the mechanisms for strategy implementation and network partner interaction (Klijn et al, 2010), and have concluded that strategy matters (and matters even more than structure) in affecting public network performance (Klijn et al, 2010). However, just very few studies have investigated the possibility of an interaction effect among the above-mentioned factors.