Network Governance : The Role of Power and Trust in Mandated Collaboration Network

Abstract:

Mandated collaboration networks are an overly studied topic in the field of public administration and management, with the emphasis on these studies however focused on the failures to accomplish its collaborative aims. The role that mandated collaboration networks play today in enabling societies and governments alike,  to realize insurmountable challenges through their  collaborative efforts is however not being paid as much attention as it should be, yet through it, huge socio and economic benefits are derived. 

This study recognizes the part mandated collaboration network plays by seeking to further investigate the role, power and trust play in influencing managers towards attaining efficiency. Data was collected from 7 managers from the public sector, with some public managers, tasked with the responsibility of playing oversight role and disbursing funds and other public managers tasked with implementing the services, all working towards achieving a regional goal within Västerbotten region. By conducting semi-structured interviews with them, the aim was to find out the daily encounters they faced in implementing their activities and achieving their goals.

In order to analyze this study adequately, theories were derived from governance, principal agency, structuration theory, Long & Sitkin integrated trust and control framework  that enabled me to come up with a conceptual framework. The findings of this framework were particularly insightful in regards to how managers in mandated collaboration network can use trust in ensuring that they achieve their desired efficiency goals. The findings show both power and trust in mandated collaboration network play a coordinative and regulative role in ensuring that the goals are realized. Calculative trust alongside formal controls can be used to address challenges that managers encounter in realizing their goals. Relational trust can also be nurtured, however at an interpersonal level or with peers that perform the same activities but not at an institutional level such as the mandated collaboration network. Attaining efficiency in the mandated collaboration network is however also further compounded by contextual matters both internal and external that hamper its attainment.