The preliminary model allowed us to capture adequate information about the structure of the individual organizations involved and about the formal agreements among them about roles and responsibilities. However, the model did not always lead us to a coherent picture of the structure of the collaboration efforts themselves. While some of the cases had clearly delineated organizational structures (generally those with fewer partners), most tended to be combinations of formal and informal arrangements that changed over time. These combinations would be quite difficult to describe in an organization chart depicting structure, or a process diagram that outlines the key interactions. The model represents formal agreements well, but not the informal relationships and interactions. We regard this as a serious weakness in the preliminary model because the case data show that these informal factors often influenced the performance of the collaboration as much as, or more than, the formal ones.

For example, Cadastre Quebec was initiated as a second attempt with the same partner to create a provincial tax map system. The Ministry began its renewed relationship with DMR with the express agreement that the project goals would be achieved without any up front government funding. However, the emergence of unexpected technological and managerial problems made it clear that their project could not succeed on a pay-on-receipt basis. On the verge of failure, the government agreed to pay some of the funds during development. This change in the formal agreement was accompanied by significant changes in resource commitments, working relationships and communication methods. These combined changes in authority, structure, and process kept the project on schedule and on budget.

FirstGov began life with the personal endorsement of President Bill Clinton and a very unusual gift of technology from the private sector that was essential to quick implementation, but also a target of criticism from government watch dogs and would-be competitors. After two years of very intense effort, and politically savvy and creative management, the public-private partnership dissolved into a traditional set of contracts. However, at the same time a robust and long-lasting public-public collaboration emerged among federal agencies which brought about immense improvements in FirstGov coverage and content. In short, projects did not assume a fixed structure, but evolved in an ongoing series of adjustments that are not contemplated by the preliminary model.