Modes of network governance revisited: Assessing their prevalence, promises, and limitations in the literature

Abstract

The systematic literature review takes stock of the empirical literature on the governance of organizational networks. The analysis is based on empirical papers citing Provan and Kenis (2008) as the seminal article on the governance of networks. We synthesize key findings on the modes of network governance, contingency factors, and network-level tensions. The review provides insights into how the contingency theory of network governance has developed into an established and recognized research agenda in the last 15 years. We conclude that the governance of organizational networks as a vocabulary has been adopted in the management and organization sciences literature to explain organizational networks' development, functioning, and effectiveness. However, further theoretical development and testing are warranted to inform the practice of network governance, particularly when, how, and why to use institutions and structures of authority and collaboration to allocate resources and coordinate and control joint action of groups of organizations.