Managing Strategically in Collaborative Networks: The Importance of Strategic Leveraging

Abstract

Working through networks has been recognized as a growing phenomenon and although significant development has been made in understanding networks, how best to manage the diverse sets of relationships formed as the basis of the networks to produce public value is still of concern (Agranoff, 2006; Agranoff and McGuire, 2001, 2003; Keast, 2011; Keast and Mandell, 2012; Kickert et al., 1997; Koppenjan and Klijn, 2004; Koppenjan et al, 2010; Mandell, 2008; O’Leary and Blomgren Bingham, 2009; Vangen and Huxham, 2010). Two key elements drive this concern: The first relates to the different types of networks that can be formed. The term collaborative networks is used in this chapter, not in the loose sense of a collaboration but rather as a distinct and unique type of network that requires a different management process from other types of networks. This distinction will be made clear in this chapter and relates to the second element of concern.