Communication Networks Among Municipal Administrators

Abstract

To whom do municipal administrators turn for information and advice on a new management technology? Why do administrators seek out certain information sources to the exclusion of others? Can change agents who are active in the development and dissemination of innovative management technologies benefit in tangible and practical ways from a better understanding of professional and interpersonal communication networks? This article addresses these and other questions by documenting and inter preting patterns of interpersonal communication among administrators in 127 communities in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The findings have practical relevance because interpersonal networking among municipal administrators is an important but heretofore undocumented form of intergovernmental cooperation and resource sharing. The findings also have implications for the testing and refinement of theoretical models of information access, diffusion, and utilization.