Professional Associations as Networks: How Informal Networking Characterizes Inter-Agency Collaboration from a Social Psychology Perspective

Abstract

Relatively little empirical and theoretical research in public management explores the roles of professional associations in collaborative governance and inter-governmental relationships. Drawing on network perspectives and social psychology literature, this study aims to bridge the gap by examining the case of the Los Angeles County Management Council (LACMC) and theorizing about the characteristics of inter-agency collaboration that is derived from local professional associations. Results from the qualitative analysis reveal five key themes: relational comfort and affect-based trust, autonomy and spontaneity in knowledge sharing, shared identity and group cohesion, enhanced system awareness, and informal accountability.

Keywords

professional associations inter-agency collaboration informal networking collaborative governance

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aronson

Lindzey

(1985). Handbook of social psychology: Special fields and applications. Random House.

Atouba

Y. C.

(2016). Let’s start from the beginning: Examining the connections between partner selection, trust, and communicative effectiveness in voluntary partnerships among human services nonprofits. Communication Research, 46(2), 179–207.

Baker

W. E.

Bulkley

(2014). Paying it forward vs. rewarding reputation: Mechanisms of generalized reciprocity. Organization Science, 25(5), 1493–1510.

Balliet

De Dreu

C. K.

(2014). Ingroup favoritism in cooperation: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 140(6), 1556.

Battaglio

R. P.

Belle

Cantarelli

(2022). Self-determination theory goes public: experimental evidence on the causal relationship between psychological needs and job satisfaction. Public Management Review, 24(9), 1411–1428.

Bearman

(1997). Generalized exchange. American Journal of Sociology, 102(5), 1383–1415.

Binz-Scharf

M. C.

Lazer

Mergel

(2012). Searching for answers: Networks of practice among public administrators. The American Review of Public Administration, 42(2), 202–225. https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074011398956

Blais

M. R.

Sabourin

Boucher

Vallerand

R. J.

(1990). Toward a motivational model of couple happiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1021–1031.

Borgatti

S. P.

Foster

P. C.

(2003). The network paradigm in organizational research: A review and typology. Journal of Management, 29(6), 991–1013. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0149-2063(03)00087-4

10.

Braun

Clarke

(2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

11.

Brown

J. D.

(1986). Evaluations of self and others: Self-enhancement biases in social judgments. Social Cognition, 4(4), 353.

12.

Chowdhury

(2005). The role of affect-and cognition-based trust in complex knowledge sharing. Journal of Managerial Issues, 17(3), 310–326.

13.

Chrislip

Larson

C. E.

(1994). Collaborative leadership: How citizens and civic leaders can make a difference. Jossey-Bass.

14.

Chua

R. Y.

Morris

(2009). Innovation communication in multicultural networks: Deficits in inter-cultural capability and affect-based trust as barriers to new idea sharing in inter-cultural relationships (Harvard Business School Organizational Behavior Unit Working Paper, (09-130)). Harvard Business School.

15.

Chua

R. Y. J.

Ingram

Morris

M. W.

(2008). From the head and the heart: Locating cognition-and affect-based trust in managers’ professional networks. Academy of Management Journal, 51(3), 436–452.

16.

Cousins

P. D.

Handfield

R. B.

Lawson

Petersen

K. J.

(2006). Creating supply chain relational capital: The impact of formal and informal socialization processes. Journal of Ooperations Mmanagement, 24(6), 851–863.

17.

Craig

C. A.

Allen

M. W.

Reid

M. F.

Riemenschneider

C. K.

Armstrong

D. J.

(2013). The impact of career mentoring and psychosocial mentoring on affective organizational commitment, job involvement, and turnover intention. Administration & Society, 45(8), 949–973.

18.

Cropanzano

Dasborough

M. T.

Weiss

H. M.

(2017). Affective events and the development of leader-member exchange. Academy of Management Review, 42(2), 233–258.

19.

Cruwys

Greenaway

K. H.

Ferris

L. J.

Rathbone

J. A.

Saeri

A. K.

Williams

Parker

S. L.

Chang

M. X.

Croft

Bingley

Grace

(2021). When trust goes wrong: A social identity model of risk taking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 120(1), 57–83.

20.

de Lima Ferreira

Bertotti

G. R

. (2016). Continuing education for professional development in higher education teaching. Creative Education, 7(10), 1425–1435.

21.

De Widt

Panagiotopoulos

. (2018). Informal networking in the public sector: Mapping local government debates in a period of austerity. Government Information Quarterly, 35(3), 375–388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2018.05.004

22.

Deci

E. L.

Olafsen

A. H.

Ryan

R. M.

(2017). Self-determination theory in work organizations: The state of a science. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4, 19–43

23.

Deci

E. L.

Ryan

R. M.

(2012). Motivation, personality, and development within embedded social contexts: An overview of self-determination theory. In Rayn

R. M.

(Ed.), The Oxford handbook of human motivation (pp. 85–107). Oxford University Press.

24.

Dovidio

J. F.

Piliavin

J. A.

Schroeder

D. A.

Penner

L. A.

(2017). The social psychology of prosocial behavior. Psychology Press.

25.

Edelenbos

Klijn

E.-H.

(2007). Trust in complex decision-making networks: A theoretical and empirical exploration. Administration & Society, 39, 25–50.

26.

Feld

S. L.

(1981). The focused organization of social ties. American Journal of Sociology, 86(5), 1015–1035.

27.

Fernet

Austin

Vallerand

R. J.

(2012). The effects of work motivation on employee exhaustion and commitment: An extension of the JD-R model. Work & Stress, 26(3), 213–229.

28.

Fisher

C. D.

(2002). Antecedents and consequences of real-time affective reactions at work. Motivation and Emotion, 26(1), 3–30.

29.

Fluegge-Woolf

E. R.

(2014). Play hard, work hard: Fun at work and job performance. Management Research Review, 38(8), 682–705.

30.

Foss

N. J.

Minbaeva

D. B.

Pedersen

Reinholt

(2009). Encouraging knowledge sharing among employees: How job design matters. Human Resource Management, 48(6), 871–893.

31.

Gazley

(2010). Why not partner with local government?: Nonprofit managerial perceptions of collaborative disadvantage. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 39(1), 51–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764008327196

32.

Good

J. R.

Halinski

Boekhorst

J. A.

(2023). Organizational social activities and knowledge management behaviors: An affective events perspective. Human Resource Management, 62, 413–427. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.22109

33.

Greenaway

K. H.

Wright

R. G.

Willingham

Reynolds

K. J.

Haslam

S. A.

(2015). Shared identity is key to effective communication. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41(2), 171–182.

34.

Guenter

van Emmerik

I. H.

Schreurs

(2014). The negative effects of delays in information exchange: Looking at workplace relationships from an affective events perspective. Human Resource Management Review, 24(4), 283–298.

35.

Gulati

Gargiulo

(1999). Where do interorganizational networks come from? American Journal of Sociology, 104, 177–231.

36.

Guo

Acar

(2005). Understanding collaboration among nonprofit organizations: Combining resource dependency, institutional, and network perspectives. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 34(3), 340–361.

37.

Hafer

J. A.

(2018). Understanding the emergence and persistence of mandated collaboration: A policy feedback perspective of the United States’s model to address homelessness. The American Review of Public Administration, 48(7), 777–788.

38.

Haynes

Gazley

(2011). Professional associations and public administration: Making a difference? In The state of public administration: Issues, challenges, and opportunities. (pp. 54–67). Routledge.

39.

Haynes

Samuel

(2006). Value of membership in professional associations. Park University International Center for Civic Engagement.

40.

Hodgins

H. S.

Koestner

Duncan

(1996). On the compatibility of autonomy and relatedness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 227–237.

41.

Huang

Chen

(2020). Professional friendship, resource competition, and collaboration in a homeless service delivery network. Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance, 44(2), 110–126.

42.

Huang

(2014). Knowledge sharing in a Third-Party-Governed health and human services network. Public Administration Review, 74(5), 587–598.

43.

Human

S. E.

Provan

K. G.

(2000). Legitimacy building in the evolution of small-firm multilateral networks: A comparative study of success and demise. Administrative Science Quarterly, 45(2), 327–365.

44.

IRS. (2021). IRS data book. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p55b.pdf

45.

Isett

K. R.

Mergel

I. A.

LeRoux

Mischen

P. A.

Rethemeyer

R. K.

(2011). Networks in public administration scholarship: Understanding where we are and where we need to go. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 21, 157–173.

46.

Kane

A. A.

Argote

Levine

J. M.

(2005). Knowledge transfer between groups via personnel rotation: Effects of social identity and knowledge quality. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 96(1), 56–71.

47.

Kapucu

Khosa

(2017). The state of network research in public administration. Administration & Society, 49(8), 1087–1120.

48.

Kwak

C. G.

Song

(2020). Strength of strong ties in intercity government information sharing and county jurisdictional boundaries. Public Administration Review, 80(1), 23–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13135

49.

Knee

C. R.

Lonsbary

Canevello

Patrick

(2005). Self-determination and conflict in romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 997–1009.

50.

Kożuch

Sienkiewicz-Małyjurek

(2016). Factors of effective inter-organizational collaboration: A framework for public management. Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences, 12(47), 97–115.

51.

Kraimer

M. L.

(1997). Organizational goals and values: A socialization model. Human Resource Management Review, 7(4), 425–447.

52.

Kraut

R. E.

Johnston

R. E.

(1979). Social and emotional messages of smiling: An ethological approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37(9), 1539.

53.

Kreindler

S. A.

Dowd

D. A.

Dana Star

N. O. A. H.

Gottschalk

(2012). Silos and social identity: The social identity approach as a framework for understanding and overcoming divisions in health care. The Milbank Quarterly, 90(2), 347–374.

54.

Kuvaas

(2009). A test of hypotheses derived from self-determination theory among public sector employees. Employee Relations, 31(1), 39–56.

55.

La Guardia

J. G.

Patrick

. (2008). Self-determination theory as a fundamental theory of close relationships. Canadian Psychology, 49(3), 201–209. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012760

56.

LACMC. (2020). The by laws governing the Los Angeles County Management Council. https://managementcouncil.lacounty.gov/Files/Documents/1064/Amended%20LACMC%20Bylaws%20040820%20FINAL_Certified.pdf

57.

Los Angeles County Management Council. (n.d.). About us. Los Angeles County Management Council. Retrieved May 1, 2022, from https://managementcouncil.lacounty.gov/AboutUs

58.

Los Angeles County. (n.d.). Work for the county. Los Angeles County. Retrieved May 1, 2021, from https://lacounty.gov/government/county-services/work-for-the-county/

59.

Lam

Chen

(2012). When I put on my service mask: Determinants and outcomes of emotional labor among hotel service providers according to affective event theory. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(1), 3–11.

60.

Langfred

C. W.

(2000). The paradox of self-management: Individual and group autonomy in work groups. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21(5), 563–585.

61.

Langfred

C. W.

(2004). Too much of a good thing? Negative effects of high trust and individual autonomy in self-managing teams. Academy of Management Journal, 47(3), 385–399.

62.

Lasker

R. D.

Weiss

E. S.

Miller

(2001). Partnership synergy: A practical framework for studying and strengthening the collaborative advantage. The Milbank Quarterly, 79(2), 179–205, III–IV.

63.

LeRoux

Carr

J. B.

(2010). Prospects for centralizing services in an urban county: Evidence from eight self-organized networks of local public services. Journal of Urban Affairs, 32(4), 449–470. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9906.2010.00512.x

64.

Liao

(2019). Do professional associations make a difference? Linking municipal managers’ association participation and attitudes toward citizen participation. Public Management Review, 21(12), 1824–1847. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2019.1577907

65.

Lopez-Kidwell

Niven

Labianca

(2018). Predicting workplace relational dynamics using an affective model of relationships. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 39(9), 1129–1141.

66.

Mahura

Birollo

(2021). Organizational practices that enable and disable knowledge transfer: The case of a public sector project-based organization. International Journal of Project Management, 39(3), 270–281.

67.

Mandell

Steelman

(2003). Understanding what can be accomplished through interorganizational innovations the importance of typologies, context and management strategies. Public Management Review, 5(2), 197–224.

68.

Markova

Ford

R. C.

Dickson

D. R.

Bohn

T. M.

(2013). Professional associations and members’ benefits: What’s in it for me? Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 23(4), 491–510.

69.

McAllister

D. J.

(1995). Affect- and cognition-based trust as foundations for interpersonal cooperation in organizations, Academy of Management Journal, 38, 24–59.

70.

McGuire

G. M.

(2000). Gender, race, ethnicity, and networks: The factors affecting the status of employees’ network members. Work and Occupations, 27(4), 501–524.

71.

McGuire

Silvia

(2010). The effect of problem severity, managerial and organizational capacity, and agency structure on intergovernmental collaboration: Evidence from local emergency management. Public Administration Review, 70(2), 279–288.

72.

Milward

H. B.

Provan

K. G.

Fish

Isett

K. R.

Huang

(2010). Governance and collaboration: An evolutionary study of two mental health networks. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 20(suppl_1), i125–i141.

73.

Mitchell

G. E.

Stroup

S. S.

(2017). The reputations of NGOs: Peer evaluations of effectiveness. The Review of International Organizations, 12, 397–419.

74.

Mizruchi

M. S.

(1996). What do interlocks do? An analysis, critique, and assessment of research on interlocking directorates. Annual Review of Sociology, 22(1), 271–298.

75.

Montano

(2019). Disaster volunteerism as a contributor to resilience. In Burayidi

M.A.

Allen

Twigg

Wamsler

(Eds), The Routledge handbook of urban resilience (pp. 217–228). Routledge.

76.

Muhr

(2019). ATLAS.ti 8.5 [Version 8:]. ATLAS.ti Scientific Software Development GmbH. http://www.atlasti.com/

77.

Murray

V. V.

(1998). Interorganizational collaborations in the nonprofit sector. In Shafirtz

J. M.

(Ed.), International encyclopedia of public policy and administration (Vol. 2, pp. 1192–1196). Westview.

78.

Neville

F. G.

Novelli

Drury

Reicher

S. D.

(2022). Shared social identity transforms social relations in imaginary crowds. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 25(1), 158–173.

79.

K. Y.

Chua

R. Y.

(2006). Do I contribute more when I trust more? Differential effects of cognition-and affect-based trust. Management and Organization Review, 2(1), 43–66.

80.

Nguyen

N. P.

Ngo

L. V.

Bucic

Phong

N. D.

(2018). Cross-functional knowledge sharing, coordination and firm performance: The role of cross-functional competition. Industrial Marketing Management, 71, 123–134.

81.

Nolte

I. M.

Boenigk

(2013). A study of ad hoc network performance in disaster response. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 42(1), 148–173.

82.

Nowell

Albrecht

(2019). A reviewer’s guide to qualitative rigor. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 29(2), 348–363.

83.

Nowell

Foster-Fishman

(2011). Examining multi-sector community collaboratives as vehicles for building organizational capacity. American Journal of Community Psychology, 48(3–4), 193–207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-010-9364-3

84.

Nowell

B. L.

Velez

A. L. K.

Hano

M. C.

Sudweeks

Albrecht

Steelman

(2018). Studying networks in complex problem domains: Advancing methods in boundary specification. Perspectives on Public Management and Governance, 1(4), 273–282.

85.

Nowell

Steelman

Velez

A. L.

Albrecht

(2022). Co-management during crisis: Insights from jurisdictionally complex wildfires. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 31(5), 529–544.

86.

Ogawa

R. T.

Malen

(1991). Towards rigor in reviews of multivocal literatures: Applying the exploratory case study method. Review of Educational Research, 61(3), 265–286.

87.

O’Leary

Vij

(2012). Collaborative public management: Where have we been and where are we going?. The American Review of Public Administration, 42(5), 507–522.

88.

Patriotta

Castellano

Wright

(2013). Coordinating knowledge transfer: Global managers as higher-level intermediaries. Journal of World Business, 48(4), 515–526.

89.

Patton

M. Q.

(2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Sage Publications.

90.

Powell

W. W.

White

D. R.

Koput

K. W.

Owen-Smith

(2005). Network dynamics and field evolution: The growth of interorganizational collaboration in the life sciences. American Journal of Sociology, 110(4), 1132–1205.

91.

Provan

K. G.

Fish

Sydow

(2007). Interorganizational networks at the network level: A review of the empirical literature on whole networks. Journal of Management, 33(3), 479–516. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206307302554

92.

Provan

K. G.

Kenis

(2008). Modes of network governance: Structure, management, and effectiveness. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 18(2), 229–252.

93.

Provan

K. G.

Lemaire

R. H.

(2012). Core concepts and key ideas for understanding public sector organizational networks: Using research to inform scholarship and practice. Public Administration Review, 72(5), 638–648.

94.

Ran

(2019). The entangled twins: Power and trust in collaborative governance. Administration & Society, 51(4), 607–636.

95.

Reicher

S. D.

Haslam

S. A.

(2009). Beyond help. The psychology of prosocial behavior: Group processes, intergroup relations, and helping, 289–309.

96.

Restrepo

M. J.

Lelea

M. A.

Kaufmann

B. A.

(2020). Assessing the quality of collaboration in transdisciplinary sustainability research: Farmers’ enthusiasm to work together for the reduction of post-harvest dairy losses in Kenya. Environmental Science & Policy, 105, 1–10.

97.

Rodriguez

Langley

Béland

Denis

J. L.

(2007). Governance, power, and mandated collaboration in an interorganizational network. Administration & Society, 39(2), 150–193.

98.

Romzek

LeRoux

Johnston

Kempf

R. J.

Piatak

J. S.

(2014). Informal accountability in multisector service delivery collaborations. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 24(4), 813–842. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mut027

99.

Romzek

B. S.

LeRoux

Blackmar

J. M.

(2012). A preliminary theory of informal accountability among network organizational actors. Public Administration Review, 72(3), 442–453.

100.

Ryan

R. M.

Deci

E. L.

(2006). Self-regulation and the problem of human autonomy: Does psychology need choice, self-determination, and will? Journal of Personality, 74(6), 1557–1586.

101.

Shropshire

(2010). The role of the interlocking director and board receptivity in the diffusion of practices. Academy of Management Review, 35(2), 246–264.

102.

Siciliano

M. D.

(2015). Advice networks in public organizations: The role of structure, internal competition, and individual attributes. Public Administration Review, 75(4), 548–559.

103.

Tajfel

(1982). Social psychology of intergroup relations. Annual Review of Psychology, 33, 1–39.

104.

Tajfel

Turner

J. C.

(2004). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In Jost

J. T.

Sidanius

(Eds.), Political psychology (pp. 276–293). Psychology Press.

105.

Tajfel

Turner

J. C.

Austin

W. G.

Worchel

(1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. Organizational Identity: A Reader, 56(65), 9780203505984-16.

106.

Tschirhart

(2006). Nonprofit membership associations. In Powell

W. W.

Steinberg

(Eds.), The nonprofit sector: A research handbook (Vol. 2, pp. 523–541). Yale University Press.

107.

Tschirhart

Gazley

(2014). Advancing scholarship on membership associations: New research and next steps. Nonprofit & Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 43(2), 3S–17S.

108.

Vaessen

Van Den Beemt

De Laat

(2014). Networked professional learning: Relating the formal and the informal. Frontline Learning Research, 2(2), 56–71.

109.

Wang

Chan

H. W.

Lin

(2012). Antecedents of Chinese parents’ autonomy support and psychological control: The interplay between parents’ self-development socialization goals and adolescents’ school performance. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41(11), 1442–1454.

110.

Weiss

H. M.

Cropanzano

(1996). Affective events theory. Research in Organizational Behavior, 18(1), 1–74.

111.

Whetsell

T. A.

Kroll

DeHart-Davis

(2021). Formal hierarchies and informal networks: How organizational structure shapes information search in local government. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 31(4), 653–669.

112.

Whitham

M. M.

(2018). Paying it forward and getting it back: The benefits of shared social identity in generalized exchange. Sociological Perspectives, 61(1), 81–98.

113.

Willem

Buelens

(2007). Knowledge sharing in public sector organizations: The effect of organizational characteristics on interdepartmental knowledge sharing. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 17(4), 581–606.

114.

Willem

Lucidarme

(2014). Pitfalls and challenges for trust and effectiveness in collaborative networks. Public Management Review, 16(5), 733–760.

115.

Wong

S. S.

Boh

W. F.

(2010). Leveraging the ties of others to build a reputation for trustworthiness among peers. Academy of Management Journal, 53(1), 129–148.

116.

Kim

(2021). Loss or gain? Unpacking nonprofit autonomy-interdependence paradox in collaborations. The American Review of Public Administration, 51(4), 308–324.

117.

Yang

T. M.

Maxwell

T. A.

(2011). Information-sharing in public organizations: A literature review of interpersonal, intra-organizational and inter-organizational success factors. Government Information Quarterly, 28(2), 164–175.

118.

Yang

(2022). Exploring network mechanisms to organizations’ influence reputation: A case of collaborative disaster response. Public Management Review, 24, 2004–2032.

119.

Yang

Nowell

(2020). Network isomorphism? A network perspective on the symbolic performance of purpose-oriented networks. International Public Management Journal, 24(3), 350–377.

120.

Yin

R. K.

(2017). Case study research and applications: Design and method. Sage.

121.

Zaheer

Bell

G. G.

(2005). Benefiting from network position: Firm capabilities, structural holes, and performance. Strategic Management Journal, 26(9), 809–825.

122.

Zsidisin

G. A.

Smith

M. E.

(2005). Managing supply risk with early supplier involvement: A case study and research propositions. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 41(4), 44–57.