Administrative Coordination in Nonprofit Human Service Delivery Networks

Abstract

Non-profit human service organizations operating within the same regional network are often faced with dual pressure to compete as well as coordinate administrative operations (by sharing funding, staff or space) to enhance efficiency. Emerging evidence has demonstrated that competing organizations coordinate, despite the risks. Trust, or perceived trustworthiness between two organizations may mitigate the negative influence of competition on coordination, however there have been few explicit tests of this hypothesis among non-profit organizations. Drawing on quantitative data collected from a network of 36 non-profit children’s behavioral health organizations, this paper empirically tests how competition and perceived trustworthiness interact to influence administrative coordination. Results support the hypothesis that trustworthiness moderates the influence of competition on administrative coordination. Findings suggest that as competing non-profit leaders build trust, the more their agencies coordinate their administrative functions. This study highlights the importance of leaders’ perceptions for organizational strategy.

Collaboration, competition, and co-opetition: Interorganizational dynamics between private child welfare agencies and child serving sectors

“…Bengtsson & Kock, 2000; Peng & Bourne, 2009), and cross-sectional studies demonstrating evidence of a positive association between collaboration and competition (e.g. Bunger, 2013; Valente et al, 2008; Mascia & Di Vincenzo, 2013), which do not account for the unique combinations or relational features of pair-wise partnerships. Nor have studies to date measured the overlap of collaboration and competition explicitly within the context of organizational dyads—the organizational unit of analysis that is most appropriately suited for examination of interorganizational dynamics involving partnership among competitors.…”

“…Co-opetition is also evident within human service delivery systems. Emerging evidence from children’s service delivery systems suggests that the more agencies compete with one another, the more likely they are to collaborate (Bunger, 2013; Valente, Coronges, Stevens, & Cousineau, 2008). …”

“…Additional risk stems from potential economic or service delivery failure by a partner, which may jeopardize the other agency in the partnership because of increased reliance on one another. Despite the risks, evidence of collaboration among competitors (co-opetition) in for-profit industries (Bengtsson & Kock, 1999), the arts (Mariani, 2007), health care systems (Judge & Ryman, 2001; Zuckerman, 2006), and nonprofit child service systems (Bunger, 2013; Valente, Coronges, Stevens, & Cousineau, 2008) suggests that collaboration and competition should be reconsidered as potentially related interorganizational processes between any given pair of organizations (Chen, 2008). …”

Exploring the Dimensions of Nonprofit Competition through its Supplementary, Complementary, and Adversarial Relationships with Government

“…In some cases, nonprofit organizations are collaborating to strengthen their competitive position (Bunger 2012;Gazley and Brudney 2007). For example, a survey of Georgia local governments and nonprofits (Gazley and Brudney 2007) indicates that both nonprofits and governments were able to secure additional resources for their respective organizations by engaging in nonprofit-government collaboratives.…”

Merging Ahead, Increase Speed: A Pilot of Funder-Driven Nonprofit Restructuring

“…Throughout the research on nonprofit consolidation, funders are often noted as an external influence or a stakeholder to the nonprofits involved (Bunger, 2013;Campbell, 2009;Chen & Krauskopf, 2012). This characterization may understate the influence that funders can and do have on the decisions of nonprofits to both consider and undertake restructuring plans of some type.…”