Explaining user-orientation in public service delivery networks: configurations of network structure, process, and context

Abstract

This study explores configurations of structural, process, and contextual conditions associated with high user-orientation in public service delivery networks. Drawing on Public Service Logic, we conceptualize user-orientation and connect it with interorganizational network research. We examine six conditions and apply fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis to data from sixty networks. We identify five pathways. Across these pathways, collaboration intensity and organizational simplicity consistently emerge, underscoring the importance of process factors alongside structural conditions. Network size clarifies the distinct roles of centralization and density. One pathway combines high centralization and high density with high user-orientation, nuancing prevailing views about their simultaneous presence.