Download Mar. 5 Bureaucracy as policy-making organizations (accountability

Apr. 11 Inter-Organizational Networks
(I-ON’s)
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Social Capital (what does term imply?)
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“capital” obviously an economic concept
• Theory: networks can create assets for organizations involved in them.
• Do you believe this? (If so, what (if any) conditions need to exist?
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Fountain’s definition of I-ON’s
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Same as/different than Provan and Milward’s definition?
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As different than intra-organizational network?
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Hierarchies, Markets, and…?? “the network” as another form of organization??
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Is the network a distinctly separate form on a par with hierarchies and markets?
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Oliver Williamson’s theory of “transaction cost economics” (as an extension of agency
theory)
• Central question: Which is more efficient form of organization (for accomplishing a
particular task)?
• Hierarchy (do it inside bureaucracy), or
• Market (contract from outside).
• (note: “more efficient” = lower transaction cost)
• Fountain’s claim: networks reduce transaction costs—What’s her logic here?
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An economist’s view, a sociologist’s view, and a little of both
• Classical economic views of organization as under-socialized—don’t take
relationships (such as trust) into account: decision makers seen as free to make
rational transactions based on high return
• Strictly sociological views of organization as over-socialized—assume that no truly
rational decision can be made because every action is based on existing norms and
relationships
Apr. 11 Inter-Organizational Networks, Adaptive Management
•
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Strategy—re: involvement in networks vs. typical organization strategies
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EMBEDDEDNESS avoids these two extremes: assumes that economic (rational)
actions are embedded within structures of social relations (based on work of Mark
Granovetter)
• Corporate executives “schmooze” with others they trust to get ahead (in
other words, they are guided by their social relationships), THESE
RELATIONSHIPS=SOCIAL CAPITAL
• Politicians make rational (calculated) decisions on which social groups to
court or to offend (in other words, they can make rational decisions regarding
who to trust, build political relationships with).
• [for an example, review the Meier & O’Toole study of “cheating” in Texas
school districts as a fairly good example of an embbeddedness account that
avoids the two extremes]
Differences? How does the Thompson and McEwan article relate here?
What is meant by “graduated sanctions” (p. 70)
Wise article “Organizing for Homeland Security…” (refer back to Gormley&Balla Ch. 5 “intergovenmental
networks”)
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Like most reforms, the Bush proposal centralizes authority (in the upper-level of HAS). According
to Wise, would a more- or less-socialized organizational design be better for natural disaster
management? Why?