The Role of Collaboration in Relational Contracting

1
The Role of Collaboration in Relational
Contracting

• David M. Van Slyke, Ph.D.
• The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public
  Affairs
• Syracuse University
• Presented at the Maxwell Conference on
  Collaborative Public Management
• September 28-30, 2006 Washington, D.C.

2
Outline

• Research Question
• Background
• Contracting
• Government-Nonprofit
• Incomplete Contracting
• Collaboration
• Methodology
• Findings
• Conclusion

3
Research Question

• How do contract relationships between government
  agencies and nonprofits evolve from transactional
  to relational forms?
• What role do trust and collaboration play in
  relational forms of contracting?

4
Contracting

• Well established literature
• Make or buy
• Contract design
• Factors affecting G-NP SS contract relationships
• Market characteristics competition
• Service characteristics complex, conflicting,
  ambiguous
• Institutional capacity hollow state metaphor
• Effects on Nonprofits mission creep,
  professionalization
• Transactional to Relational
• Complete and Incomplete Contract Design
• What are the characteristics?
• What are the decision criteria?

5
Collaboration

• Issues that have already been discussed ?
• Definitional precision and clarity
• Theoretical frameworks
• Causality and construct validity issues?
• Spectrum Evolution in relationships?
• Coordination, cooperation, joint involvement,
  collaboration, alliance, partnership whats the
  sequence?
• Antecedents, processes/activities, outcomes
• Where do contracting collaboration come
  together?
• Can there be collaboration without trust?
• Is relational contracting a result of
  collaboration and trust? An evolved state on the
  contracting spectrum?

6
Methods

• Interviews
• Government contract managers
• Executive directors, nonprofit social service
  organizations
• Semi-structured interview protocol
• New York and Georgia
• Qualitative data analysis
• Ethnograph
• Secondary document analysis

7
Findings

• Why nonprofits?
• External legitimacy, Expertise
• Creative Capability Think outside the box
• Trust the significant issue in contract
  relationships
• True collaboration difficult to achieve without
  TRUST
• Trust takes time to develop has many
  implications
• Building blocks for trust development
• Quality and specificity of the relationship
• Transaction costs
• Context matters

8
Conclusion

• Contract environment and contract dance
• Transactional to Relational
• EVOLUTION in trust collaboration
• Develops incrementally
• Outcomes of Trust and Collaboration
• Cooperation and coordination do occur without
  trust
• Collaboration does not take place without trust
• Changes in contractual specificity contract
  management
• Human capital challenges being a smart
  manager
• Capacity, skills, tools for building
  collaborative partnerships