"Public policy makers and managers in public administration operate under a unique set of circumstances that differ significantly from those in the private sector.

Collaboration through networks is a feature of both sectors, but in the private sector it is often characterized by partnerships and alliances meant to benefit a particular company or industry, whereas collaboration through networks in the public sector involves disparate organizations working toward a common goal and not merely to enhance the performance of one among them. Therefore, much of the work that has been published in the business management literature on collaboration through networks does not apply wholesale, without revisions, to the public sector.

Mandell and her contributors fill that gap by bringing together academic and practitioner perspectives into a coherent, holistic examination of the operative processes in public-sector networks and network structures."--BOOK JACKET.