Author Description

This ebook explores governance as a process - a trend emerging in response to the need to control and coordinate inter-organizational forms around a shared purpose. The increasing prevalence of organizational forms such as inter-organizational networks, alliances and public-private partnerships is increasingly challenging the practice of governance to move away from a traditional focus on structure. Given the often temporary and highly flexible nature of these relationships, it is not likely that governance by compliance to government regulation is suitable, particularly as many of these arrangements involve multinational enterprises (MNEs). As a result, governments, NGOs and community groups are developing process-based governance arrangements to control corporate activities that relate to specific social or environmental contexts or projects. A major behefit of such relationships can be the production of new knowledge. The question is how to design governance to ensure such an outcome.