ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how public agencies are 'catching up' in the policy and management portfolio as they face the challenges of engaging with a host of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in various forms of networked activities. NGO refers to US and international nonprofit and for-profit organizations that are not enabled by some government entity. The chapter presents a definition of the conductive public agency, today's networking bureaucracy. It explores how public agency structure and process are changing as a result of increasing conductivity. A related conductive role for the public manager involves the need for public agencies to reinvent themselves by encouraging the creation and flow of information across public agencies and outside of government. The chapter presents eleven leadership, organizing, and management challenges in the era of networking-oriented collaborative management. Leadership is key in the conductive organization. Finally, the chapter offers extant challenges of cross-sector management.
