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Summary Management in Networks
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Summary ‘Management in Networks second edition’ by Hans de Bruijn & Ernst ten HeuvelhofThe book elaborates decision-making and change processes, in our nowadays, interconnected world. Strategies considering
different actors are described. Next to that are the impacts of these strategies described in the book. Firstly the interconnected
will be treated below.
In chapter 1 the problem of decision-making is introduced. Since we live in an interconnected world, decision-making has
become very complex. Due to the internet and globalisation, everything is connected to another and this can lead to unforeseen
dramatic consequences. The structure of an interconnected world has three characteristics:
Characteristic of an interconnected world …… instead of
Interdependencies Hierarchy
Unstructured wicked problems Structured problems
Dynamics Stability
An example that illustrates the complexity for decision-making in an interconnected world is the dancing table, the dancing table
is an example of the decision-making process. There is a large room with four corners (A, B, C, D) and a table in the middle.
There are 10 actors in the room and all have an opinion where the table should stand. What happens if they push and pull it with
starting and stopping at different times? It will dance around the room. There are a few styles in decision-making which do not
work. Command and control mean that someone imposes their decisions on others. In reality, the decision is reached in a
process. Management by expertise means that expertise in the field determines the solution. In reality the problem and the
solution don’t exist, they can only be determined in a process of interaction. Project management means that the process can be
planned, in reality, it can’t be planned.
There are five strategies that form the core of governance in networks, the first three are described in chapter two. The first
strategy is knowledge about the actors who are in a network, this means that actor analyses are important. Understanding the
actors, who they are and how they behave is just as important as understanding the content. The second strategy is the
relationships between the actors, this means maintenance and development of relationships are important tools for actors in
decision-making. The third strategy is cooperation with other actors. An actor is not able to achieve everything by itself so
cooperation is essential. There are two warnings regarding the use of relations in networks. If one party constantly uses the
relationship in its own favour, the party won’t maintain the relationship. Next to that, the actor loses its trustworthiness. There
are problems that demand decision-making, however, these problems are unstructured and chaotic. Such an environment is not
interesting for actors since they need stability and predictability. To make such an environment attractive to other actors, four
core demands will cooperate with this. The four core demands are; openness, protecting core values, incentives for progress and
incentives for relevant content. Next to that, the process-agreements are of importance, the agreements exist of; agreements of
entry and exit, agreements related to the decision-making, agreements related to conflict management, agreements related to
the organisation of the process and agreements related to the planning and budget.
In chapter three, the last two strategies are discussed. Parties have different opinions and views about the problem. Problems
don’t get solved by bringing in content-related expertise, the opinions of the experts stay always open for debate. Chapter three
describes strategies to solve these problems. The one issue-game leads to an either/or decision-making. Parties are for or
against the project. In such cases, it is important to switch the one-issue to a multiple-issue agenda, on this way multiple issues
are taken into account in the decision-making process and support can be increased for the essential project. For example, the
municipality is going to construct a road through a forest, environmentalists are against this project. However, the municipality
brings interests of these environmentalists on the agenda. This will lead to more negotiating and will reduce the resistance of
the environmentalists. Multi-issue games also contain a number of incentives which are beneficial for decision-making; the
incentive to participate, incentive to continue participating, incentive for depolarisation and for give and take, incentive for
cooperative behaviour, incentive for a learning process and incentive for peer pressure. The second strategy is related to the
management of the losers in the decision-making. In decision-making, there will always be losers. It is important to manage
these losers in the right manner. Strategies are, for example, to ensure a win-win process, to keep relations open, compensate
the loser on other aspects, compensate winners elsewhere, give winners enough prospects of profit and frame the loss as a loss
for all parties.
Chapter four gives reasons why project management does not work and compares the project management with process
management. Decision-making in a network is a complex case, there are many actors, unstructured problems and the dynamics
are constantly shifting. Due to these reasons, the actors in a network have to develop strategies to come to decision-making.
The project management (hierarchy) and the process management (network) will be compared. The decision-making in a project
has three key characteristics: first, the decision-making is placed in logical phases (problem formulation, goal determination,
information gathering, decision-making, implementation and evaluation). Secondly, the project approach is precise, sharp and
focussed. A problem is described as precise as possible. Thirdly, planning is important. This must be clear so there is an overview
of the phases and what will be achieved. This is important for more predictable decision-making. This is in contrast with process-
based decision-making. It is not attractive to formulate precise problems in a process, there is only a process perception and it is
the question whether the other actor has the same perception. In a process, the goals arise during the process, so it is attractive
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