Unravelling interdependence: coordinating public-private service networks

Governments aim to improve service delivery towards citizens and businesses. One of the main trends in this area is that organisations are increasingly trying to integrate service delivery by using information and communication technology (ICT). Service integration is necessary as individual service offerings are often just a part of a bigger process. This overall process does not stop at the boundaries of individual organisations, or at the boundary between the public and the private sector. Therefore, in order to improve service delivery, the service providers have to collaborate and integrate their services across organisational boundaries. The challenges that these collaborations face are varied, including heterogeneous organisations, a variety of processes, and fragmented information systems. How can we deal with these challenges to realise integrated service delivery? It is this question that is the background of this dissertation. It is addressed by exploring the interdependence in integrated service delivery, provided by networks of public and private organisations. Ultimately, the dissertation improves the understanding of the coordination of such public-private service networks.