tends to be more interdependent. Lowndes and Skelcher
(1998) go so far as to say that a network is a form of
informal mergers among different types of organizations.
Often a model of resource dependency has been
sought to describe the network relationships where interactions
between organizations are assumed to be motivated
by the need to obtain important resources from
other organizations (Aldrich, 1976; Scharpf, 1978). This
implies that network partners bring important and strategic
assets that contribute to mutual relationship to the
network and the build-up of interdependent relationship
tend to develop trust and reciprocity. Table 1 summarizes
the various definitions network scholars have come
up with in recent years.
Interest exists in network governance as a mode of
organizing economic and political as well as administrative
activities through inter-agency and inter-societal
coordination and cooperation. Although societal
arrangements may consist of various governance forms,
networks are seen as mechanisms under which societal
actors strike a balance between differentiation and integration.
The network governance emphasizes the organizational
aspect of coordinating and integrating various
autonomous and sovereign units to function as an organizational
unit.
It is important to note that the key difference between
inter-firm networks in the management literature and
inter-organizational networks in public administration or
policy literature is the role of dominant players. The
process of creating a meaningful and effective network
in public administration is directly linked to the ability
and the willingness of the state to coordinate various
activities while maintaining the structural or organizational
integrity of governing system. In comparison,
bilateral and trilateral coordinating mechanisms are
often the focus of research in the management literature.
Thus, an inter-organizational or inter-societal network is
a mode of regulating interdependence between agencies
and other societal actors which is different from the
aggregation of these units or coordination through market
signals. Table 2 summarizes key characteristics of
both bureaucratic and network governance modes.