Robyn L. Keast

Getting The Right Mix: Unpacking Integration Meanings and Strategies

ABSTRACT Integration has emerged as having an increasingly significant role in public policy discourse and practice in many jurisdictions across the globe. In providing a different framework for establishing relationships between service providers and citizens and government, horizontal integration arrangements offer the prospect of delivering new ways of working and providing solutions to seemingly insolvable social problems. Ways of achieving horizontal integration have been variously described by linkage terms such as cooperation, coordination, and collaboration. These terms have been typically used interchangeably to describe the coming together of individuals to work in concerted effort to achieve common goals.We argue that each of these terms, expressed as the “3Cs,” are different and consequently achieve different objectives. This paper explores the use of the “3Cs” and examines the differences highlighted by practitioners in the human services arena to extend the understanding of constructs relating to integration mechanisms. It is contended that in focusing on the experiences of integration and unpacking the use and expectations of the related “3Cs,” public administrators and practitioners will gain an enhanced understanding of each of the processes of integration as a coherent framework. As a consequence, there will be improved ability to match appropriate integration mechanisms with contexts and strategies.

Evaluating the effectiveness of interorganizational relations through networks: developing a framework for revised performance measures

Abstract Although networks are a growing phenomenon there is no definitive way to determine if they are a more effective means of policy development and service delivery. The difficulty is that networks have been assessed based on traditional measures while ignoring the importance of process variables and their impact on outcomes in networks. Furthermore, networks can be complex arrangements, operating within and across layers of interaction with diverse member expectations and goals. Therefore, in addition to using traditional performance measures to determine some aspects of the effectiveness of networks, this article proposes that different types of evaluation processes are needed to incorporate the complex and unique characteristics of networks. A combined framework that incorporates multiple perspectives in effectiveness that is based on the different types, levels of analysis and stages of development of networks is therefore presented.

Mixing state, market and network governance modes: the role of government in "crowded" policy domains

The three governance modes of state, market and network have long been recognized as key forms of social organization. However, the failure of these modes to solve complex public problems has meant that new hybrid arrangements drawing on and mixing the strengths of each mode have come to the fore. This situation results in what is contended to be a “crowded” policy domain which may erode the potential for positive service delivery and programme outcomes. This paper argues that policy and decision-makers need to recognize the difference between these modes and select optimal mixes. The paper proceeds by tracing the evolution of the expanded mix. It sets out a coherent framework to aid decision-making and explores the challenges faced by governments in balancing the structural and operational mechanisms necessary to sustain the engagement of such a diverse set of players

Citizen-Government Engagement: Community Connection Through Networked Arrangements

Changes in the social, political and economic make-up of contemporary society have resulted in greater emphasis on competition, entrepreneurship, individualisation and fragmentation but, at the same time, there has been growing calls by the community for improved connection between government and citizens, and greater integration and cooperation. Since governments cannot afford to tolerate excessive levels of tension between constituents and other stakeholders, and the previous systems of integration on their own are no longer sufficient, there is a need for new processes and mechanisms of connection. Universally, networked forms based on horizontal integration principles have been presented as the new mode for social connection. Despite their apparent simplicity, networked arrangements offer a wide array of options, structures and potential outcomes. This article explores and analyses the emerging need to customise these linkages between governments and community to optimise inherent benefits of these modes of working. It is proposed that in this context, new ways of working together require specialised mixing, matching and managing of networked arrangements between government and citizens.

The Government Service Delivery Project: a case study of the push and pull of central government coordination

Fragmentation and the lack of appropriately coordinated government services are widely considered to be costly problems impeding effective and efficient government service provision. Moreover, there is a growing realization that many modern social issues have developed into meta-problems that cannot be resolved by the traditional single agency approach. Coordination of services through more cooperative and collaborative networks of relationships between government agencies has become a preferred strategy for many public administrators. This article gives an account of a public sector initiative aimed at enhancing service provision through the formation and management of interdepartmental networks of coordinative and cooperative action. It concludes that although networks are a useful mechanism of social coordination, their inherent benefits may be jeopardized when network management issues make them vulnerable to pressures from the centre.

Joined-Up Governance in Australia: How the Past Can Inform the Future

Joined-up enterprises have become a cornerstone of the institutional architecture to facilitate closer linkages within and between departments and across sectors. Some of these initiatives are now mainstream enterprises, while others struggled to gain purchase or effect. Since the future is likely to be characterized by an ongoing emphasis on joined-up initiatives, an assessment of past efforts can provide a valuable backdrop for the development of new approaches and the fine tuning of existing ones. Drawing on ten years of research data, this article tracks the ebbs and flows of joined-up or integrated practice in Queensland. In doing so, it examines the drivers for integration, preferred models, and the language used to engender change. It also assesses what has worked and why and whether integrated reform has been sustained. Based on these insights, an extended integration framework is presented, which will assist those responsible for the design, monitoring, and evaluation of joined-up processes.

Creating change in government to address the social determinants of health: how can efforts be improved?

BackgroundThe evidence base for the impact of social determinants of health has been strengthened considerably in the last decade. Increasingly, the public health field is using this as a foundation for arguments and actions to change government policies. The Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach, alongside recommendations from the 2010 Marmot Review into health inequalities in the UK (which we refer to as the ‘Fairness Agenda’), go beyond advocating for the redesign of individual policies, to shaping the government structures and processes that facilitate the implementation of these policies. In doing so, public health is drawing on recent trends in public policy towards ‘joined up government’, where greater integration is sought between government departments, agencies and actors outside of government.MethodsIn this paper we provide a meta-synthesis of the empirical public policy research into joined up government, drawing out characteristics associated with successful joined up initiatives.We use this thematic synthesis as a basis for comparing and contrasting emerging public health interventions concerned with joined-up action across government.ResultsWe find that HiAP and the Fairness Agenda exhibit some of the characteristics associated with successful joined up initiatives, however they also utilise ‘change instruments’ that have been found to be ineffective. Moreover, we find that – like many joined up initiatives – there is room for improvement in the alignment between the goals of the interventions and their design.ConclusionDrawing on public policy studies, we recommend a number of strategies to increase the efficacy of current interventions. More broadly, we argue that up-stream interventions need to be ‘fit-for-purpose’, and cannot be easily replicated from one context to the next.

A new look at leadership in collaborative networks : process catalysts

It is now argued that the network approach with its horizontal orientation operates differently to conventional management, which is internally focused and directed at arranging an organisation’s resources with the aim of achieving goals in an efficient manner. To manage is to bring about and/or accomplish goals. In contrast, to lead is to influence, guide, build commitment, and convince others of a vision. The tasks of management and leadership overlap. However, whereas leadership is identified as an important aspect of conventional management, within collaborative network management, leadership becomes a much more critical and interlinked component. There are a variety of leadership theories identified in conventional management, including transformational and charismatic leaders and distributive leadership. Although these theories apply to some types of networks, they do not apply completely to collaborative networks. Collaborative networks, with its unique characteristics require fresh leadership skills. Drawing on two collaborative network case studies this paper examines the impact of these unique characteristics on the concept of leadership. The critical characteristics of these types of networks are the interdependence of the participants, the emphasis on process rather than only on achieving tasks and the need for systems change. Based on these characteristics a new concept of leadership called “process catalysts”, is presented.

Social services policy and delivery in Australia: centre-periphery mixes

The development of social services policy and the delivery of those attendant services have come to occupy a core role for modern governments. The modes of policy development and service delivery and their coordination have shifted between centralised models operated by decision-making elites and a peripheral model in which government divests some level of authority and responsibility for the development and implementation of social services policy to community based actors and organisations. Changing policy stances bring these models and their associated coordination principles into dominance at different points in history and importantly, problematise social services policy making and delivery through the continued existence of residual aspects of these multiple approaches. The Howard Government’s current social policy draws on aspects of the periphery modes of social organisation, policy development and service delivery. However the continued reliance on central regulating and co-ordinating processes has led to a blurring of the boundaries of responsibility for policy formulation and co-ordinated execution and delivery of services in this critical area. It is argued that irrespective of the dominant domain, government, by virtue of its central role to ensure social stability, should retain some responsibility for policy development and oversight through more vertical, centralised coordination modes but in a way that combines with horizontal, decentralised relational approaches to ensure participation and engagement.

Corrupt police networks: uncovering hidden relationship patterns, functions and roles

This paper applies social network analysis techniques to a case study of police corruption in order to produce findings that will assist in corruption prevention and investigation. Police corruption is commonly studied, but rarely are sophisticated tools of analyses engaged to add rigour to the field of study. This paper analyses the ‘First Joke’, a systemic and long-lasting corruption network in the Queensland Police Force, a state police agency in Australia. It uses the data obtained from a commission of inquiry that exposed the network, and develops hypotheses as to the nature of the networks structure based on existing literature into dark networks and criminal networks. These hypotheses are tested by entering the data into UCINET and analysing the outcomes through social network analysis measures of average path distance, centrality and density. The conclusions reached show that the network has characteristics not predicted by the literature.