Please join us on 2 December for a lecture from Emeritus Professor Patrick Kenis, "Organizational Networks Have Many Fans, but Few Friends: Why Institutional Rules Make Collaboration Vulnerable."
Details
2 December, 16:00-17:30
Gadourek Hall (B0126), University of Groningen
Abstract
Organizational networks are increasingly used to address societal challenges that no single organization can solve alone. Yet they operate within institutional environments designed for individual organizations, clear mandates, predictable outcomes, and individual accountability. This presentation argues that network vulnerability cannot be explained solely by weak leadership, limited commitment, or inadequate governance. Such shortcomings may also be produced or amplified by institutional logics that are poorly aligned with the relational and adaptive nature of networks.
Drawing on eleven previously identified sources of vulnerability, the article identifies three underlying institutional tensions: predictability versus adaptability, organizational responsibility versus joint causality, and measurable performance versus relational quality. These tensions extend classic governance dilemmas by showing how institutional arrangements can undermine collaborative capacity. Their accumulation may result in a critical vulnerability: the overload of collective sensemaking.
Although vulnerability cannot be eliminated, it can be mitigated through adaptive governance, multiple forms of accountability, and active attention to the institutional conditions that sustain collaboration.
Bio
Patrick Kenis is Emeritus Professor of Public Governance at Tilburg University and Visiting Professor at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Vienna). He specializes in interorganizational collaboration and network governance. He remains actively involved in research and doctoral supervision on networks in the public domain and complex societal challenges.
