A Manager's Guide for Choosing and Using Collaborative Networks by Keith Provan and Brint Milward can be viewed as a public manager’s primer on collaborative networks. It distills key concepts about the types and purposes of networks and, more importantly, what managers need to do if they find themselves in charge of or participating in a network. Authors’ practical insights are rooted in more than two decades of observing ongoing networks, mainly at the local and regional levels, where much of the innovative work in using networks is occurring.

You can download a free copy from the IBM Center for the Business of Government here.