Managing governance complexity and knowledge networks in transparency initiatives: the case of police open data

ABSTRACT Public organisations are often described as being subject to types of complexity that result from the interorganisational structure of governance networks. Transparency programmes add another level of complexity due to increased information openness. However, neither the nature of this complexity nor the network management approaches needed for transparency programmes has been conceptually developed. To address this gap, this article brings together governance complexity theory and knowledge management theory. An empirical model is tested using the case of police open data with regression analysis and 22 expert interviews. The results show that institutional and environmental complexity such as budget pressures, legal-normative constraints, and task complexity exert a negative influence on police information openness. However, network knowledge management practices including developing mission focus on people and communication and overcoming organisational boundaries through interorganisational collaboration can counteract these problems of complexity.

[1]  J. Pfeffer Size and Composition of Corporate Boards of Directors: The Organization and its Environment , 1972 .

[2]  Gary L. Wamsley,et al.  The political economy of public organizations , 1973 .

[3]  James L. Perry,et al.  The Public-Private Distinction in Organization Theory: A Critique and Research Strategy , 1988 .

[4]  B. Berg Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences , 1989 .

[5]  J. Mashaw Explaining Administrative Process: Normative, Positive, and Critical Stories of Legal Development , 1990 .

[6]  J. Saidel,et al.  Resource interdependence : the relationship between state agencies and nonprofit organizations , 1991 .

[7]  W. Powell,et al.  The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis , 1993 .

[8]  P. Ring,et al.  Developmental Processes of Cooperative Interorganizational Relationships , 1994 .

[9]  Robert O. Keohane,et al.  Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. , 1995 .

[10]  Ronald L. Thompson,et al.  Managing Information Technology Projects in the Public Sector , 1995 .

[11]  R. Greenwood,et al.  Understanding Radical Organizational Change: Bringing Together the Old and the New Institutionalism , 1996 .

[12]  R. Rhodes,et al.  The New Governance: Governing without Government , 1996 .

[13]  S. Globerman,et al.  A Framework for Evaluating the Government Contracting-Out Decision with an Application to Information Technology , 1996 .

[14]  George Alexander Boyne,et al.  Human Resource Management in the Public and Private Sectors: An Empirical Comparison , 1999 .

[15]  Donald F. Kettl,et al.  Public Administration at the Millennium: The State of the Field , 2000 .

[16]  Glenn Robert,et al.  Knowledge management and communities of practice in the private sector: lessons for modernizing the National Health Service in England and Wales , 2002 .

[17]  C. Bellamy From Automation to Knowledge Management: Modernizing British Government with ICTS , 2002 .

[18]  Eran Vigoda From Responsiveness to Collaboration: Governance, Citizens, and the Next Generation of Public Administration , 2002 .

[19]  M. Thite Strategic positioning of HRM in knowledge‐based organizations , 2004 .

[20]  Frans van Waarden,et al.  ‘Governance’ as a bridge between disciplines: Cross-disciplinary inspiration regarding shifts in governance and problems of governability, accountability and legitimacy , 2004 .

[21]  Robyn L. Keast,et al.  Network structures : working differently and changing expectations , 2004 .

[22]  David Thacher Deliberative Policy Analysis: Understanding Governance in the Network Society , 2005 .

[23]  Chao Guo,et al.  Understanding Collaboration Among Nonprofit Organizations: Combining Resource Dependency, Institutional, and Network Perspectives , 2005 .

[24]  A. Roberts Spin Control and Freedom of Information: Lessons for the United Kingdom from Canada , 2005 .

[25]  J. Bryson,et al.  The design and implementation of cross-sector collaborations: Propositions from the literature , 2006 .

[26]  Robert Agranoff,et al.  Inside Collaborative Networks: Ten Lessons for Public Managers , 2006 .

[27]  Stephen P. Osborne,et al.  The New Public Governance? 1 , 2006 .

[28]  John W. Creswell,et al.  Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research , 2006 .

[29]  Suzanne J. Piotrowski,et al.  Governmental Transparency in the Path of Administrative Reform , 2007 .

[30]  S. Dawes,et al.  Authority and Leadership Patterns in Public Sector Knowledge Networks , 2007 .

[31]  Sonia Royo,et al.  ARE ICTs IMPROVING TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE EU REGIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS? AN EMPIRICAL STUDY , 2007 .

[32]  C. Hood,et al.  What happens when transparency meets blame-avoidance? , 2007 .

[33]  L. Bingham,et al.  Conclusion: Conflict and Collaboration in Networks , 2007 .

[34]  Gregg G. Van Ryzin,et al.  Citizen Attitudes Toward Transparency in Local Government , 2007 .

[35]  Chris Taylor,et al.  Transparency: The Key to Better Governance? , 2007 .

[36]  Pan Suk Kim,et al.  A Daunting Task in Asia , 2008 .

[37]  A. Cresswell,et al.  From "Need to Know" to "Need to Share": Tangled Problems, Information Boundaries, and the Building of Public Sector Knowledge Networks , 2009 .

[38]  D. Moynihan,et al.  Performance Regimes Amidst Governance Complexity , 2009 .

[39]  Karin Kreutzer Nonprofit governance during organizational transition in voluntary associations , 2009 .

[40]  A. Buuren Knowledge for Governance, Governance of Knowledge: Inclusive Knowledge Management in Collaborative Governance Processes , 2009 .

[41]  E. Ferlie,et al.  The organizational context and use of routine data for cancer service management , 2009 .

[42]  L. Luton Qualitative Research Approaches for Public Administration , 2010 .

[43]  David H. Rosenbloom,et al.  Four Challenges to Accountability in Contemporary Public Administration: Lessons From the United States and China , 2010 .

[44]  L. Beh Development and Distortion of Malaysian Public-Private Partnerships – Patronage, Privatised Profits and Pitfalls , 2010 .

[45]  D. Loorbach Transition management for sustainable development: A prescriptive, complexity-based governance framework , 2010 .

[46]  David Cuillier Honey v. Vinegar: Testing Compliance-Gaining Theories in the Context of Freedom of Information Laws , 2010 .

[47]  LooSee Beh,et al.  Development and Distortion of Malaysian Public- Private Partnerships: Patronage, Privatised Profits and Pitfalls DOI: 10.1111/j.1467- 8500.2009.00655.x , 2010 .

[48]  Michele Bush Kimball Mandated state-level open government training programs , 2011, Gov. Inf. Q..

[49]  Efthimios Tambouris,et al.  A classification scheme for open government data: towards linking decentralised data , 2011, Int. J. Web Eng. Technol..

[50]  Alon Peled,et al.  When transparency and collaboration collide: The USA Open Data program , 2011, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[51]  N. Roberts Beyond Smokestacks and Silos: Open‐Source, Web‐Enabled Coordination in Organizations and Networks , 2011 .

[52]  D. Moynihan,et al.  Responsiveness to Reform Values: The Influence of the Environment on Performance Information Use , 2012 .

[53]  Zsuzsanna Lonti,et al.  How to Measure Public Administration Performance , 2012 .

[54]  Yannis Charalabidis,et al.  Benefits, Adoption Barriers and Myths of Open Data and Open Government , 2012, Inf. Syst. Manag..

[55]  David Heald,et al.  Why is transparency about public expenditure so elusive? , 2012 .

[56]  B. Berg,et al.  Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences (8th ed. , 2012 .

[57]  Robin H. Lemaire,et al.  Core concepts and key ideas for understanding public sector organizational networks: Using research to inform scholarship and practice , 2012 .

[58]  A. Meijer Understanding the Complex Dynamics of Transparency , 2013 .

[59]  Jerry Fishenden,et al.  Digital Government, Open Architecture, and Innovation: Why Public Sector IT Will Never Be the Same Again , 2013 .

[60]  Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar,et al.  Determinants of Financial Transparency in Government , 2013 .

[61]  Erik-Hans Klijn,et al.  What Makes Governance Networks Work? A Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis Of 14 Dutch Spatial Planning Projects , 2013 .

[62]  Daniel Berliner,et al.  The Political Origins of Transparency , 2014, The Journal of Politics.

[63]  A. Meijer,et al.  Effects of Transparency on the Perceived Trustworthiness of a Government Organization: Evidence from an Online Experiment , 2014 .

[64]  Christopher G. Reddick,et al.  The Use of ICT for Open Government in U. S. Municipalities , 2014 .

[65]  Andrew Whitmore,et al.  Using open government data to predict war: A case study of data and systems challenges , 2014, Gov. Inf. Q..

[66]  Marijn Janssen,et al.  Open data policies, their implementation and impact: A framework for comparison , 2014, Gov. Inf. Q..

[67]  Pamela A. Mischen Collaborative Network Capacity , 2015 .

[68]  President's Task Force on st Century Policing Final Report of The President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing , 2015 .

[69]  Gro Sandkjær Hanssen,et al.  THE IMPACT OF NETWORK MANAGEMENT AND COMPLEXITY ON MULTI‐LEVEL COORDINATION , 2015 .

[70]  Erik-Hans Klijn,et al.  Governance Networks in the Public Sector , 2015 .