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Title
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The governance of organizational networks
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Author
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Abstract
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| In my dissertation, I study how organizational networks govern themselves and what conditions explain the governance of organizational networks. Organizational networks are groups of three or more organizations working together to achieve not only their own goals but also a collective goal. As an organizational form, they have become pivotal in various sectors because an organizational network provides policy planners and managers with an alternative strategy to deal with issues, solve problems, or produce products and services that are too broad in scope and too complex for any organization to handle. For organizational networks to be an effective organizational form, however, some mode of governance is imperative to ensure that they act as a goal-directed system of coordinated action. Despite their rising popularity, we still need more theoretical understanding and empirical evidence on under what conditions a mode of network governance varies and how networks use institutions and structures of authority and collaboration to govern themselves. This dissertation aims to help remedy the mismatch between practice and theory by enhancing the contingency theory of network governance by Keith Provan and Patrick Kenis. The findings show that organizational networks govern themselves differently, considering that they vary regarding environmental conditions and their structural pattern of relations. Furthermore, the results indicate that organizational networks use a range of institutions and structures of authority and collaboration to allocate resources and coordinate and control joint action across the network. Based on leveraging insights from a systematic literature review, two single case studies, and a network game simulation—network governance is explained, and the need to rethink its dimensions, perspectives, and research methods on the governance of organizational networks is addressed. |
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Language
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English
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Publication
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Antwerp
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University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics
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2023
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Volume/pages
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212 p.
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Note
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Cambré, Bart [Supervisor]
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Kenis, Patrick [Supervisor]
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Full text (open access)
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