Key issues in management and leadership of interorganisational coordination

This chapter explores the management and leadership of interorganisational coordination as distributed relational practice. I start by discussing what “management of interorganisational coordination” consists of in health care systems, and why it matters, by drawing on research into health care work, interorganisational coordination, and relational, practice-based approaches to leadership. Drawing on my work into Danish public hospitals, I show how a focus on the practice of this work provides insights into why management and leadership of interorganisational coordination remains challenging and at the same time point to ways forward for managers and staff. This work practice-centered approach addresses the need for focusing on how management and leadership of interorganisational coordination is achieved to advance both theory and practice, an aspect so far inadequately addressed relative to its potential implications. The main contribution of the chapter is that it unpacks and discusses management and leadership of interorganisational coordination from a practice-oriented, “micro-level” approach that draws on research into the nature of healthcare work and considers the impact of different contexts. I end the chapter by pointing to next steps for practice, theory, and research.