Managing the performance of healthcare networks: a ‘dance’ between control and collaboration

This qualitative case study examines how the tension between control and collaboration is managed in the relationship between a Network Administrative Organization (NAO) and the 40 inter-organizational service delivery networks it governs using a performance management system. We found that the relationship between the NAO and networks operated as a ‘dance’, with the NAO taking steps to collaborate with and control the networks. We identified three forms of network governance ambidexterity that characterize this dance – structural, goal, and behavioural – and propose a framework of their antecedents, stability, and influencing factors. Network governance ambidexterity may help explain network functioning and performance.