A PRELIMINARY THEORY OF INTERORGANIZATIONAL NETWORK EFFECTIVENESS - ACOMPARATIVE-STUDY OF 4 COMMUNITY MENTAL-HEALTH SYSTEMS

This paper presents the results of a comparative study of interorganiz ational networks, or systems, of mental health delivery in four U.S. c ities, leading to a preliminary theory of network effectiveness. Exten sive data were collected from surveys, interviews, documents, and obse rvations. Network effectiveness was assessed by collecting and aggrega ting data on outcomes from samples of clients, their families, and the ir case managers at each site. Results of analyses of both quantitativ e and qualitative data collected at the individual, organizational, an d network levels of analysis showed that network effectiveness could b e explained by various structural and contextual factors, specifically , network integration, external control, system stability, and environ mental resource munificence. Based on the findings, we develop testabl e propositions to guide theory development and future research on netw ork effectiveness.