Using collaboration as a governance strategy - Lessons from six watershed management programs

This article utilizes a comparative cross-case analysis of six watershed programs to examine how collaboration is used to enhance governance of networks where problem-solving capacity is widely dispersed and few organizations accomplish their missions by acting alone. A conceptual framework that illustrates how collaboration occurs at the operational, policy-making, and institutional levels is presented. Understanding these structural relationships is important and can help public managers design effective collaborative processes. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for future research and advice for public managers using collaboration as a strategy for enhancing network governance.