1.3 When Coordination Occurs
Whether and how agencies coordinate can depend on how they interpret the impacts of coordination.15,16,17 While coordination can provide benefits, such as increased efficiencies and prevention of countervailing actions, coordination has its costs. Coordination requires time, energy, and resources. Agencies may be concerned about how costs and responsibilities are distributed, particularly when there are unequal capacities and expertise across coordinating agencies. Agencies may also be concerned about how coordination may affect their broader mandate and objectives.18,19,20,21 While many agencies have a public service mission, they still retain a motivation for self-protection, growth, and good standing. Agencies may have apprehensions about how coordination affects their autonomy and independence.6 Agencies may think that that coordination with other organizations will endanger their ‘turf’, thus reducing control over issues, prominence, sets of responsibilities, and clout.9 Agencies may also be concerned about the implications of coordination on identity or branding. Further, agencies may be averse to implementing policies and programs or otherwise taking actions that are not aligned with their ideology. Such concerns can be particularly prominent when there are strong differences in perspective between the agencies that are considering coordination. Lastly, agencies may be constrained in how they coordinate by the legal and regulatory requirements governing them.
The willingness of an agency to coordinate and how it chooses to coordinate will be moderated by past experiences and relationships with the agencies with which it is coordinating.18,22 A positive history of working together can build trust and good will, while less positive experiences may augment concerns about the risks of coordination. Further, through prior relationships, agencies may have developed mechanisms for reducing the transaction costs of working with one another making coordination more appealing. Lastly, it is important to note that organizations are not monolithic entities. Within each agency, there are varying divisions, programs, and offices, and within each of those are individuals who make and enact decisions. Entrepreneurs, key actors, and boundary spanners within an organization have an immense influence on coordination decisions and coordination outcomes. It is these individuals who go to meetings, discuss the coordination, and share information. The social capital that is developed between them can facilitate or impede coordination across agencies.