02012nam a2200157Ia 4500008004100000100002200041245010600063260000900169300001500178504000800193520154100201650002201742650003001764650001501794773004501809181130s2018    xx            000 0 und d  aNohrstedt, Daniel  aNetworking and crisis management capacity: ba nested analysis of local-level collaboration in Sweden  c2018  ap.232-244.  dApr  aStudies of how actors collaborate across organizational boundaries to prepare for and respond to extreme events have traditionally focused on describing network structure whereas fewer studies empirically investigate how network relationships influence crisis management capacities. Using survey data on crisis management work in Swedish municipalities, this study considers how the number of collaboration partners and venues for collaboration (networking) influence organizational goal attainment. Given managerial costs associated with increasingly complex collaboration networks, the study explores the diminishing returns hypothesis, which predicts a positive relationship between networking and goal attainment up to a certain point when payoffs do not increase. Results support a nonlinear relationship; networking at low levels had a positive effect on goal attainment whereas no relationship was found at moderate or high levels. To identify characteristics of collaboration conducive to performance, the study undertakes a comparative case study of two low-residual cases where the relationship between networking and performance follow the predicted nonlinear curve and one deviant case where high levels of networking had a positive effect on performance. The cases show that stable interpersonal relationships, clarification of the terms of collaboration, shared problem perceptions, and coordination of joint decision making constitute important assembly mechanisms for overcoming collective action problems. - Reproduced.  aCrises management  aLocal government - Sweden  aNetworking  aAmerican Review of Public Administration