Organisational design choices in response to public sector reforms: A case study of mandated hospital networks

Abstract

In this study we investigate the design and control of public sector networks formed by government mandate. Specifically, we analyse how a range of antecedent factors influence the extent to which organisations within such networks effectively collaborate to unify their efforts. We examine the role of both formal and informal controls in promoting and co-ordinating activity and managing appropriation concerns among organisations of the network. We address these issues in the context of health sector reforms in Victoria, Australia, that resulted in the amalgamation of metropolitan hospitals into a number of hospital networks. While the reforms determined the particular aggregation of hospital..