In order to deal with on-going environmental pressures and uncertainty, organizations
have established linkages with other organizations as one strategy to deal with these new
challenges (Fenell, Ross & Warnecke, 1987; Oliver, 1990; 1991; Thibault, Frisby &
Kikulis, 1997). The establishment of partnerships is viewed by organizations as a new
way of operating to control and minimize environmental pressures.
The purpose of this study was to identify and understand issues of interorganizational
relations between local governments, specifically departments of Parks and Recreation
and community organizations providing recreation and sport services. Specifically,
reasons for being involved in partnerships as well as advantages and challenges of
partnerships were investigated as part of this research.
The City of Surrey was selected as the research site for this study on the analysis of
interorganizational relationships between its Parks and Recreation department and three
community organizations providing recreation services and programs: Surrey Knights
Swim Club, Surrey Youth Soccer Association, and Surrey Minor Hockey Association.
The City of Surrey was chosen given its large territory, its population growth, its
decreasing funds for recreation services, and its limited number of recreation facilities.
Through semi-structured interviews with key informants, issues on interorganizational
relations were discussed. The main reasons for involvement were described as access to
financial and facility resources. With the economic pressures that local governments are
facing, the establishment of partnerships represents an appealing option to meet these
challenges. Furthermore, the Surrey Parks and Recreation department is linking with
community organizations in order to gain credibility within the community. By
establishing working partnerships with one another, community organizations and Surrey
Parks and Recreation department are able to provide the same level of services to the
community, consequently leading to the welfare of the community.
The final topic that was discussed during this research was the levels of intensity of the
partnerships and its relation to loss of autonomy. Using Oliver's (1990) model, it was
found that all levels of intensity were evident at one point or another in the partnerships
and that these levels varied according to the environmental context. However, the loss of
autonomy, as described by Oliver (1990) did not appear to be a factor influencing the
partnerships. This might be due to the fact that all partners were involved in these
partnerships for the same goals and purposes and not to compete against each other.
Interorganizational relationships were an intricate and important dimension of the
organizations studied. It is essential for organizations to better understand issues
surrounding partnerships in order to effectively engage in linkages that are beneficial to
all partners involved in this process and to the public.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/10469 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Gagnon, Caroline |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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