Keith G. Provan

Bio: Keith G. Provan is an academic researcher from University of Arizona. The author has contributed to research in topics: Human services & Organizational effectiveness. The author has an hindex of 41, co-authored 80 publications receiving 15017 citations. Previous affiliations of Keith G. Provan include Vanderbilt University & University of Kentucky.

Modes of Network Governance: Structure, Management, and Effectiveness

Abstract: This article examines the governance of organizational networks and the impact of governance on network effectiveness. Three basic models, or forms, of network governance are developed focusing on their distinct structural properties. Propositions are formulated examining conditions for the effectiveness of each form. The tensions inherent in each form are then discussed, followed by the role that management may play in addressing these tensions. Finally, the evolution of governance is explored.

Do Networks Really Work? A Framework for Evaluating Public-Sector Organizational Networks

Abstract: Although cooperative, interorganizational networks have become a common mechanism for delivery of public services, evaluating their effectiveness is extremely complex and has generally been neglected. To help resolve this problem, we discuss the evaluation of networks of community-based, mostly publicly funded health, human service, and public welfare organizations. Consistent with pressures to perform effectively from a broad range of key stakeholders, we argue that networks must be evaluated at three levels of analysis: community, network, and organization/participant levels. While the three levels are related, each has its own set of effectiveness criteria that must be considered. The article offers a general discussion of network effectiveness, followed by arguments explaining effectiveness criteria and stakeholders at each level of analysis. Finally, the article examines how effectiveness at one level of network analysis may or may not match effectiveness criteria at another level and the extent to which integration across levels may be possible.

Governing the Hollow State

Abstract: For the past ten years the authors have conducted a concentrated research program on the dimensions and impact of the hollow state. The hollow state is a metaphor for the increasing use of third parties, often nonprofits, to deliver social services and generally act in the name of the state. The types of structures, incentives, and mechanisms used to control third-party providers have been the focus of this research. The empirical thrust of this research is on how effective various types of mechanisms, structures, and incentives are at promoting the effectiveness of contracted services. The normative question this research has raised, but not answered, is, What effect does government contracting with third-party providers have on the perceived legitimacy of the state? This article is a summary of the theoretical development and the empirical findings from the authors' research on the dimensions and impact of the hollow state in the domain of health and human services contracting. Elements of this article have appeared previously in this journal and in many others as well. The article's purpose is to integrate the authors' research on the hollow state. This is a summative article that seeks to bring together in one place what the authors have learned. In addition, new directions are explored for future research on the hollow state.

Out of the Crisis

Abstract: According to W. Edwards Deming, American companies require nothing less than a transformation of management style and of governmental relations with industry. In Out of the Crisis, originally published in 1982, Deming offers a theory of management based on his famous 14 Points for Management. Management's failure to plan for the future, he claims, brings about loss of market, which brings about loss of jobs. Management must be judged not only by the quarterly dividend, but by innovative plans to stay in business, protect investment, ensure future dividends, and provide more jobs through improved product and service. In simple, direct language, he explains the principles of management transformation and how to apply them.

Strategic responses to institutional processes

Abstract: This article applies the convergent insights of institutional and resource dependence perspectives to the prediction of strategic responses to institutional processes. The article offers a typology of strategic responses that vary in active organizational resistance from passive conformity to proactive manipulation. Ten institutional factors are hypothesized to predict the occurrence of the alternative proposed strategies and the degree of organizational conformity or resistance to institutional pressures.

Structural Holes and Good Ideas.

Abstract: This article outlines the mechanism by which brokerage provides social capital. Opinion and behavior are more homogeneous within than between groups, so people connected across groups are more familiar with alternative ways of thinking and behaving. Brokerage across the structural holes between groups provides a vision of options otherwise unseen, which is the mechanism by which brokerage becomes social capital. I review evidence consistent with the hypothesis, then look at the networks around managers in a large American electronics company. The organization is rife with structural holes, and brokerage has its expected correlates. Compensation, positive performance evaluations, promotions, and good ideas are disproportionately in the hands of people whose networks span structural holes. The between-group brokers are more likely to express ideas, less likely to have ideas dismissed, and more likely to have ideas evaluated as valuable. I close with implications for creativity and structural change.