COLLABORATIVE PUBLIC MANAGEMENT: PROPOSAL TO EXPLORE PUBLIC MANAGERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL COLLABORATION

Abstract

This article provides a discussion about the main factors influencing public managers’ attitudes towards inter-organizational collaboration and it presents a theoretical proposal for an empirically approach to the phenomenon. The primary contribution of the article is the introduction of a two dimensional concept of inter-organizational collaboration, which include both structural and managerial dimensions, that allows distinguishing among determinants of attitudes towards collaborative structures from those towards collaborative activities. The proposal and ideas presented here are especially salient for helping public management students and practitioners understand one set of complexities involved in the collaborative phenomenon that could be useful to consider when building, maintaining, and operating in multi-organizational networks. The article ends with methodological considerations which will make possible to apply the proposal and direction for future research for the many public management scholars who are currently studying organizational networks and collaborative arrangements in the public sector.