Roest Manon, van der Smissen Doris, Mannak Remco, Oerlemans Leon, Weggelaar-Jansen Anne Marie
Tranzo, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands.
Organization Studies, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands.
PLoS One. 2025 Jul 22;20(7):e0326915. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0326915. eCollection 2025.
In the Netherlands inter-organizational networks have been established to drive long-term healthcare improvement on a regional and national scale. Managing healthcare networks is challenging, especially in sustaining participants' active engagement. This study aims to empirically explore why participants' network commitment declined and how network commitment was managed by network coordinators.
We conducted an exploratory qualitative study using purposive sampling we held semi-structured interviews with representatives from 18 Dutch healthcare improvement networks.
Respondents mentioned that allocated time and continued participant commitment was required to reach their goals. A key challenge was the decline in participant commitment over time due to misalignment of goals and needs, slow progress, lack of reciprocity, and resistance to change at the organizational level. Approaches to manage this were collaborative reassessment of goals and needs, expectation management, setting preconditions and fostering personal relationships.
Our findings highlight the importance of strategic timing of managerial approaches and their interdependencies with social mechanisms. These insights contribute theoretically to Ring and Van de Ven's framework on developmental processes of cooperative interorganizational relationships and offer practical guidance for network managers aiming to maintain long-term commitment.
在荷兰，已建立跨组织网络以推动区域和国家层面的长期医疗保健改善。管理医疗保健网络具有挑战性，尤其是在维持参与者的积极参与方面。本研究旨在实证探索参与者的网络承诺为何下降以及网络协调员如何管理网络承诺。
我们进行了一项探索性定性研究，采用目的抽样法，对18个荷兰医疗保健改善网络的代表进行了半结构化访谈。
受访者提到，需要分配时间并持续让参与者投入才能实现目标。一个关键挑战是，随着时间的推移，由于目标与需求不一致、进展缓慢、缺乏互惠以及组织层面的变革阻力，参与者的承诺有所下降。管理这一问题的方法包括对目标和需求进行协作性重新评估、期望管理、设定前提条件以及培养人际关系。
我们的研究结果凸显了管理方法的战略时机及其与社会机制的相互依存关系的重要性。这些见解在理论上为林和范德文关于合作性组织间关系发展过程的框架做出了贡献，并为旨在维持长期承诺的网络管理者提供了实践指导。
