The analysis of strategic alliances within and among California ethnic networks for tobacco control: Health policy implications for the new millennium

Collaboration is an emerging management trend and increasingly mandated in public policy. However, few studies have examined efforts to utilize interorganizational relationships formed to improve the public's health.;To address this research gap, four ethnic networks established to advance tobacco education and control in California were studied. Specific aims were to identify forms of interorganizational collaboration within and among the Tobacco Education Ethnic Networks (TENs); to determine the extent to which the TENs met the criteria of strategic alliances, and to test propositions that those TENs most closely fulfilling strategic criteria, compared to less strategic TENs, would at each of two time periods exhibit greater organizational effectiveness, organizational benefits and effectiveness in tobacco control.;Utilizing the embedded multiple case study, replication design, a case study containing both qualitative and quantitative data on network process and outcomes was prepared for each of the four TENs. Within case and cross case analyses were conducted to identify patterns of interorganizational collaboration and their key determinants and then to test study propositions.;This research found that the TENs, as a group, were non-strategic in the beginning but that in response to environmental pressures and community demands, they transformed over time into strategic alliances. However, the Asian Pacific Islander Tobacco Education Network (APITEN) and Hispanic Latino Network (HLTEN) exhibited more strategic behavior mainly because of convenor agency characteristics and competencies. These two networks also exhibited more organizational benefits, organizational effectiveness and effectiveness in tobacco control work than the less strategic TENs. The preponderance of outcome benefits over costs indicated that strategic alliances can be valuable for health promotion and disease prevention.;As the TENs developed, they demonstrated great potential to maximize organizational effectiveness in pursuing their tobacco control missions. These networks therefore provide a model for interorganizational collaboration in public health. However, if such alliances are to be developed, each network must be managed in ways appropriate to its organizational life-cycle stage. Close attention also is needed to the strategic fit between core strategy, operating mechanisms, and network environment. Implications for policy, interorganizational theory and future research are discussed.