Stakeholdermanagement en de interne legitimiteit en effectiviteit van publieke netwerken.Een casestudy over de invloed van stakeholdermanagement op de relatie tussen interne legitimiteit en de effectiviteit van netwerken.

This thesis is about Stakeholdermanagement and the internal legitimacy and effectiveness of Public Networks. It has been proposed that the way that stakeholders are 'managed' has its influence on the internal legitimacy and the effectiveness of networks and the relationship between them. The research question which is answered in this thesis therefore is: "How does stakeholdermanagement affect the relationship between internal legitimacy and the effectiveness of networks?" This question is answered on the basis of six sub-questions and ten propositions, which are translated in determinants and variables. Network effectiveness especially is considered on two dimensions, namely, the ability to achieve the established objectives and the sustainability and viability of the network. The Networks The networks that are studied are Environment Agencies. These are young network organizations which are imposed by the Dutch Government. This was a result from the Dutch Environmental Law (WABO) in 2008. Theoretical base The theoretical base for the research was founded in former research of networks like the work of Turrini et al., Provan & Lemaire and Human & Provan. And also in former research of stakeholdermanagement in networks, for example the work of Sloan and Spitzeck et al. Contribution to science About the relationship between internal legitimacy and networkeffectiveness little is written. In addition, there has been little research on the impact of stakeholdermanagement on the performance of the network. This study provides insight into four cases in Environment Agencies focused on these issues. The findings in this study contribute to expand the knowledge about network effectiveness and networkmanagement. In addition, this contribution attempts to link networkmanagement and stakeholdermanagement. Internal legitimacy and stakeholdermanagement Internal legitimacy is obtained from stakeholders. This implies that a stakeholder approach is important for networks. It is also important to realize that networks differ from other (complex) organizations, because there is no 1 to 1 relationship, but a 1 to N relationship. So network managers manage across organizations and not only within one organization. This has a major impact on the way that stakeholdermanagement is required. Research and results The study consist of a ‘mixed method’ of qualitative and quantitative research. There have been twelve interviews and also a documentstudy was conducted. In addition, a survey was expanded among 71 potential respondents. 37 respondents (approximately 52%) completed the questionnaire. The empirical study shows that there seems to be a reciprocal relationship between internal legitimacy and the effectiveness of networks, if it is the ability to achieve the established goals. The study also shows that stakeholdermanagement affects both the internal legitimacy, and the network effectiveness (in this case the ability to achieve goals) in a positieve way. In assessing effectiveness and internal legitimacy the perceptions of respondents do play an important role. For those perceptions there can be given some contextual statements, which describe the context in which the assessment takes place. Final conclusion Based on the investigation, the conclusion will be that stakeholdermanagement (in this case the extent to which stakeholders can affect and are involved), seems to have a positive effect on both the internal legitimacy and the ability to achieve goals. Taking into account the reciprocal relationship between internal legitimacy and the ability to achieve goals, this means that while the involvement and affecting capabilities of stakeholders are promoted, the positive influence and the relationship between internal legitimacy and the ability to achieve is further enhanced. Taking into account that the perceptual element plays an important role in the concepts, it can be said that stakeholdermanagement especially seems to have a positive influence on the perception of the partners