Theoretical Advances in Our Understanding of Network Effectiveness

Abstract

Abstract Network effectiveness is heavily theorized in the public management and administration literatures. In this article, I synthesize the literature on network effectiveness and the role of organizational theory within this literature. The review illustrates a considerable amount of organization theorizing, which suggests that the subfield of organizational theory, while not always explicit, is very much alive and well. Next, I identify what the literature does well, areas for improvement, and recent work addressing those gaps. One such gap is the mismatch between the theory in its formulation and the methods used to test said theory. While theory is configurational, testing rarely makes use of configurational methods. Further, the majority of the literature treats networks as static despite widespread recognition that networks are in fact quite dynamic. Recent theoretical and methodological advancements have been made to address these shortcomings, but these efforts continue to be the aberration rather than the norm. Finally, I provide an example of one future direction for theorizing which builds upon recent advancements. More specifically, I provide two ideal type configurational paths to network effectiveness which account for one dynamic aspect of a network, namely the sequential introduction of actors into the network.

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