Bruner, C., Kunesh, L.G. & Knuth, R.A. (1992). "What Does Research Say about Interagency Collaboration?" http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/stw_esys/8agcycol.html Oak Brook: NCRL.

Interagency collaboration is the solution to the fragmented state and local initiatives that currently provide services to families and children. Comprehensive and integrated services are a better way to meet the human needs of families, but comprehensive and integrated services usually do not exist in most states. The nature and magnitude of the problem are presented and a vision for interagency collaboration is outlined. The authors provide a list of guidelines for effective collaborative planning, and they spell out strategies for engaging families and communities. The article includes an excellent list of resources.

Cigler, B.A. (1994 January/February). "The County-State Connection: A National Study of Associations of Counties." Public Administration Review 54(1): 3-11.

The author looks at current issues of greatest concern to counties as their service delivery roles expand. The lobbying efforts of state associations of counties were examined, and executive directors of statewide county organizations across the United States were interviewed in the study. The findings focus on four main areas: structural change, intergovernmental arrangements, substantive policy issues, and internal operations.

Dawes, S. S. et al. (1996). Making Smart IT Choices: A Handbook. Albany, NY: Center for Technology in Government.

Making Smart IT Choices summarizes the methods and models that CTG uses to help organizations apply technology to mission-critical problems. In true handbook style, it provides background information, worksheets, exercises, and practical ways to approach an information technology project. The case descriptions include nine evaluation products that culminate in final problem analysis and a choice of an optimal IT solution to an information problem or need. The book includes tools that can assist any planning team with step-by-step guidance.

Florio, J. J. & Reich, R. B. (1996). Working Together for Public Service. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor.

This work is a report of the U.S. Secretary of Labor’s Task Force on Excellence in State and Local Government through Labor-Management Cooperation. The results of site visits across the country are detailed to show how management and labor groups cooperated to produce better service for citizens. Typical findings are outlined and case studies are presented. A list of contact people for exemplary projects is included.

Jennings, E.T. (1994). "Building Bridges in the Intergovernmental Arena: Coordinating Employment and Training Programs in the American States." Public Administration Review 54(1): 52-60.

This article examines coordination issues in the context of employment and training programs at the state and local level and associated federal legislation, grants, and administrative activities. The particular focus is the effort of states to produce coordinated employment and training programs. Statutory provisions of those programs indicate that national policy makers have been attentive to the need for coordination but not much more willing to consolidate program authority than they were in the past. Instead, they have instituted procedural and structural coordination requirements, granted governors authority to foster coordination, and provided funding incentives to support coordination activities (adapted from author’s abstract).

Kumar, K. & van Dissel, H.G. (1996 September). "Sustainable Collaboration: Managing Conflict and Cooperation in Interorganizational Systems." MIS Quarterly: 279-287.

The article identifies the possible risks of conflict in interorganizational systems, and it points out some strategies for minimizing such conflicts. A typology is identified that classifies interorganizational systems into three types: pooled information resources, value/supply chains, and networks. Economic, technical and socio-political arguments for potential conflict in these systems are also identified.

Lambright, W.H. (1997 January/February). "The Rise and Fall of Inter- agency Cooperation: The U.S. Global Change Research Program." Public Administration Review 57 (1): 36-44.

The Committee on Environment and Natural Resources was an inter- agency Federal committee that coordinated the multibillion dollar Global Change Research Program. Created by Ronald Reagan, honored by George Bush, and used as an exemplary model by Bill Clinton, the committee is considered an ideal model for integrated institutional innovation.

The Global Change Research Program was charged with studying environmental issues such as global warming, deforestation, and ozone depletion. The program has involved as many as 18 different federal departments and agencies since the science involved in studying these environmental issues overlap the missions of many organizations. In order to be successful the Committee on Environmental and Natural Resources determined that the critical success factors included awareness and vision of the problems, a ‚triggering™ event such as the 1987 Montreal Protocol, the birth of an institution, and successful implementation. The key to implementation involved neutralizing dissent, securing external dissent, and defining the limits of power.

Marzke, C., Both, D. & Focht, J. (1994). Information Systems to Sup- port Comprehensive Service Delivery: Emerging Approaches, Issues, and Opportunities. Des Moines, IA: National Center for Service Integration.

The Ford Foundation and the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services funded a project that investigated the current status of information technology in the context of comprehensive services initiatives. The project focused on information systems developed to support efforts to reform the service delivery system rather than those relating to the automation of existing single service programs. Examples of using information systems effectively to plan and deliver integrated services are explained, and documentation and tools from various projects are included.

McCaffrey, D.P., Faerman, S.R. & Hart, D.W. (1995). "The Appeal and Difficulties of Participative Systems." Organization Science 6 (6): 603- 627.

Relying on the literature of cooperation and collaboration, the authors analyze experiences with participative systems in management and regulatory policy. Their thesis is that although there are many compelling reasons for private and public organizations to embrace participative systems, there are significant barriers to doing so embedded in deeply valued social, economic, and political principles. Barriers to adopting and sustaining participative systems are described; among them are dispositions against cooperating with prior adversaries, the costs of collaboration in complex social and political systems, the difficulties of engaging deep conflicts, and leadership incentives favoring control. These conditions, the authors maintain, undermine fragile participative systems. Newcombe, T. (1996 May). "Tying the Knot: Intergovernmental IT Projects Unfold." Government Technology http://www.govtech.net/1996/gt/may/html

There is an ingrained culture of separatism among government agencies at different levels. The article explores cases where federal, state, and local governments are working together to develop new ways to use technology on an intergovernmental basis.

New York State Association of County Health Officials. (1997 March). NYSACHO Automation Committee Policy Paper.

The New York State Association of County Health Officials formed an Automation Committee in order to discuss their objectives and experiences and to air their concerns about information systems that link the New York State Department of Health and local health agencies. The discussions are summarized in this policy paper. The paper outlines key problems the committee identified and it calls for a plan of action to address them.