Award Date

5-1-2012

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Environmental and Public Affairs

First Committee Member

Christoper Stream

Second Committee Member

Edward Weber

Third Committee Member

Scott Abella

Fourth Committee Member

Daniel Stout

Number of Pages

171

Abstract

This is a dissertation about local, regional and federal agencies charged with the development of parks, trails and natural areas in Southern Nevada. The context for the delivery of this service is a network. Networks are an increasingly common context for service delivery in the United States; however, their value for constituents has been questioned. Some suggest that the advantages of capacity building and social capital that are expected when organizations work across their typical boundaries are not as significant as expected. This dissertation provides knowledge to add to this debate.

The dissertation is an in-depth case study that evaluates the effectiveness of a network using the factor of structure, the process by which organizations come together in a network. The key factor in the effectiveness of the process of working across organizational boundaries is collaboration. Two stages of analysis, network analysis and logistic regression analysis are used to test the development of collaboration and then of effect of collaboration on the work of the network. The network analysis demonstrates that this is not a collaborative network. Two of Three factors of collaboration, shared motivation and capacity for joint action are lacking in the network. The logistic regression analysis tests the effect of the structure of the network on the outputs of the network, 264 projects that are reviewed for approval by the network. The analysis demonstrates that the outputs of the network reflect the structure.

Keywords

Collaboration; Coordination; Interagency coordination; Interorganizational relations; Networks; Network structure; Nevada; Public administration; Public management; Social sciences – Network analysis

Disciplines

Public Administration | Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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