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HORIZONTALITY AND …
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HORIZONTALITY AND
PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
Final Report to the
Canadian Centre for Management
Development, the Leadership Network,
the Federal Regional Council - Quebec and
the École nationale d'administration publique
Jacques Bourgault and René Lapierre
December 2000
CANADIAN CENTRE CENTRE
FOR MANAGEMENT CANADIEN DE
DEVELOPMENT GESTION
For more information or copies, please contact the
Strategic Research and Planning Group of the
Canadian Centre for Management Development
Telephone: (613) 947-3682 / 943-8370
Facsimile: (613) 995-0286
Internet: micheler@ccmd-ccg.gc.ca
The opinions expressed in this publication are those
of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the
Canadian Centre for Management Development
© Canadian Centre for Management Development, 2000
National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data
Bourgault, Jacques, 1945-
Horizontality and Public Management
Text in English and French on inverted pages.
Title on added t.p.: Horizontalité et Gestion publique.
"Final report to the Canadian Centre for Management Development,
the Leadership Network, the Federal Regional Council - Quebec and
the École nationale d'administration publique."
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-662-65464-1
Cat. No. SC94-80/2001
1. Interactive management.
2. Partnership.
3. Decentralization in management.
4. Public administration -- Canada.
I. Lapierre, René.
II. Canadian Centre for Management Development.
III. Titre.
IV. Title: Horizontalité et Gestion publique.
JL75.B78 2001 352.3 C2001-980028-2E
Table of Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1. Horizontality A Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. An Increasingly Obvious Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3. A Reversal of Acquired Logics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
4. An Emerging and Diversified Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4.1 Typological Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4.2 Samples of Horizontality Project Samples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5. Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
6. Difficulties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
7. An Empirical Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
8. Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
8.1 Difficulties to be Overcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
8.2 Success Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
8.3 Management Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
8.4 Leadership Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
8.5 Ideal Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
8.6 Implementation Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
8.7 Group Animation and Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
8.8 Accountability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
8.9 Types of Horizontal Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
8.10 A Natural Life Cycle for Structures? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
8.11 Exportability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
8.12 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
9. Overall Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Appendix I - Group Working Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Appendix II - Case Sudy and Witing Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Appendix III - Working Groups: Participating Scholars and Coordinators . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
CANADIAN CENTRE FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
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CANADIAN CENTRE FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
Table of Acronyms
AGORA Academy of Management, Professional Orientation, Skill Renewal and
Learning
ATA Area Tourist Associations
CCMD Canadian Centre for Management Development
CORE Conseils des organismes régionaux en Estrie
ENAP École nationale d'administration publique
FN First Nations
FORD Federal Office of Regional Development
FRCQ Federal Regional Council - Quebec
HRDC Human Resources Development Canada
INAC Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
LSSS Locally-shared Support Service
NPM New Public Management
NPO Non-profit Organizations
PSC Public Service Commission of Canada
PWGSC Public Works and Government Services Canada
RCM Regional County Municipality
SLAP St. Lawrence Action Plan
TB Treasury Board of Canada
UQ Université du Québec
UQAM Université du Québec à Montréal
Table of Appendices
Appendix 1 Group Working Methods
Appendix 2 Case Study and Writing Protocol
Appendix 3 Working Groups: Participating Scholars and Coordinators
Appendix 4 Project Description
CANADIAN CENTRE FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
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CANADIAN CENTRE FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
Foreword
In the winter of 1999, the president of the Canadian Centre for Management Development
(CCMD) invited Québec Council of Senior Federal Officials (QCSFO) to work with the CCMD
in order to perform research in the fields of training and management.
As recommended by Board members and following a consultation led by Serge Bastien, it
was suggested that research on one of the common priorities of the Council and the CCMD be
conducted, namely horizontal management. Nine projects were put forward by Council members,
and two were selected, among which was the present project. Between April and June 1999,
discussions with representatives of the QCSFO, led by André Gladu and then by Serge Bastien,
and consultations with André Gladu, Michel Cailloux and Jean-Pierre Gauthier allowed us to
identify a problem and some research themes. In the month of June 1999, a project was presented
to the CCMD that basically accepted the research proposal and contributed part of its financing.
Project development then continued during the summer of 1999.
In September 1999, the ENAP and the CCMD agreed to maintain their collaboration at
several levels, among which was research, and in October 1999, this project was accepted as an
opportunity to collaborate.
In October 1999, René Lapierre is being given by the QCSFO the mandate to co-manage
the project together with Jacques Bourgault; the QCSFO reviews the project, defines research
areas and accepts the intervention protocol. In November 1999, it qualifies 14 projects among
the 31 submitted by its members from 18 departments. The original sample consists of fourteen
cases selected by the Quebec Council on the basis of the following criteria: project relevance,
duration, progression diversity, diversity in terms of departments and regions, and diversity as to
nature: horizontality of design, in operations and support for action. A common grid is then
applied to all of them. The Council also designated the group coordinator who selected members
on the basis of their diversity and their involvement in the project. The responsible scholar
selected his colleagues on the basis of their past and present interest in the issue and of their
geographical location. The Leadership Network accepts to take part in the project and to make a
financial contribution. In the middle on November 1999, relevant agreements are being signed by
institutions and the project can then begin.
In December 1999, Jacques Bourgault writes detailed specifications with René Lapierre,
elaborates a conceptual framework for analysis and undertakes to interest 14 scholars in selected
cases, while René Lapierre organizes all 14 research grounds. Scholars come from 8 regions in
Quebec and from 7 universities, among which 6 are from the UQ and 5 have relations with
ENAP. Projects apply to 7 sub-regions in Quebec (Abitibi, Saguenay, lower St. Lawrence
district, Quebec, Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke and Montreal) while some apply to the whole
province. At least 16 federal departments and one agency are directly involved.
CANADIAN CENTRE FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
vi / HORIZONTALITY AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
Research starts in January and lasts until the beginning of March 2000. Reports prepared
according to specs are completed toward mid-February and mid-March 2000. Only one of the 14
projects had to be abandoned due to availability problems with participating civil servants during
the timeframe selected.
As planned, a pooling seminar was organized by René Lapierre and participants met in
Montreal on March 17, 2000. A total of 29 persons were present, among which representatives
from the CCMD, the Leadership Network, the QCSFO, 10 scholars and 12 civil servants involved
in the projects under study. Deliberations are being recorded in order to allow the production of a
summary.
Project openings continue to be:
· a continuous learning opportunity for civil servants;
· an opportunity for reflection and learning by organizations involved in the cases or their
study;
· an opportunity to exhibit the administration and work of civil servants;
· an opportunity to update the knowledge of scholars;
· an opportunity to create contacts and develop a relationship between scholars and civil
servants;
· the production of a report on CCMD efforts;
· the development of research useful to the CCMD, the Leadership Network, the QCSFO
and the ENAP;
· the production of a work by scholars.
Authors wish to thank for their essential support the CCMD, the QCSFO, the Leadership
Network, the ENAP, every department and agency involved, as well as every civil servant who
attended meetings, supplied information and revised texts. Without the efforts of all these people,
results of such a quality would have been impossible, especially in such a limited time span.
Very special thanks go to scholars and civil servants who so generously accepted to work
on such a curious project surrounded with such particular constraints.
Authors wish to thank Evelyne Morrisseau who acted as research assistant and especially
Carole Garand who, in her role as executive assistant, was involved in the production of this
report and in the the problem-free conclusion of the project.
CANADIAN CENTRE FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
Frontiers between public organizations appear more and more formalistic and a symbol due to
interdependency, intersectoriality and especially interdisciplinarity. Nevertheless, organizations
always structure themselves based on their fields of preoccupation classified according to the law,
and communication processes of those organizations remain mostly vertical and hierarchical. As a
result, public employees and managers are being accused of using the silo approach to design and
manage policies and programs, whereas the reality is more complex, diversified and based on an
interdependency of problematics.
Managers with silo vision are accused of seeing other organizations or even their
colleagues of the same organization as enemies or competitors, while in some cases they could
create with them collaborations, partnerships or alliances in order to produce and deliver public
goods that are better adapted to the needs of citizens, of a superior quality and at a lower cost.
They could do so through horizontal management. Several fields are objectively horizontal, but
they are still managed as silos due, in particular, to organizational cultures and the constraints of
traditional forms of management.
Horizontality A Definition
Horizontality essentially exists when one or several managers of one or several organizations
address a question no longer based exclusively on preoccupations for which they are responsible,
but on a wider approach aiming at including interests, resources and constraints of other
stakeholders of this field. They can be, for example, people designing an intervention in a field or
a region, others pooling their resources, others jointly managing the complementarity of their
actions or finally, managers choosing simply to share expertise, information or an opportunity.
Horizontal management takes different shapes all under the same name but with
constantly evolving forms. It is called sometimes interdepartmental actions, alliances, joint
ventures, co-actions but especially partnerships, a term often used by the Government of Canada
and the Treasury Board Secretariat.
In its most authentic expression, horizontal management implies that anyone or any
organization, upon reflecting on a case, formally asks itself who else has interests in such a case
and tries to associate that organization or that person with its development in an overall
perspective. This approach differs radically from the traditional silo approach where the interest
tracking drill was used to identify threats, obstacles, opponents even enemies: horizontal
management differs from the traditional approach since it considers "others" no longer as potential
enemies but as partners. This approach will obviously amaze by its candor and innocence due to
its actors who give priority to general interest over particular recognition.
Partnership is one type of horizontal management: actors identify, individually and
vertically, their interests in a deal and the possibility to take part on a contract basis in a common
project as partners; the expected benefits of each partner and its contributions are then carefully
CANADIAN CENTRE FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
2 / HORIZONTALITY AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
evaluated in order to typify the behaviour of each of them.
This experience can involve only managers of a given department, or a given level of
government, or it can include specialized pressure groups or citizens mobilized around an issue.
Horizontal management is intended to be very broad in order to encompass segments of a single
department or of the commercial corporation as we saw in several cases that we studied. Some
people differentiated between horizontal management and the partnership that would include
groups from the commercial corporation and that would have a more contractualized and
legalized basis; our experience does not allow us to concur with that definition since several forms
of involvement by the commercial corporation did not have a contractualized basis at first
although various types of formalization appeared during the life cycle and development of some
long-term projects. Therefore, formalized partnership appears as one of the possible
manifestations of horizontal management. In fact, projects can be supported by approaches
involving several degrees of formalization ranging from the designation of a "note taker" that
changes for each meeting up to a permanent secretariat within an organization newly created for
the sole purpose of completing this project.
2. An Increasingly Obvious Need
Although the term "horizontal management" sounds modern, the reality of the preoccupations
with which it deals is far from new: interdepartmental issues, and consultation and co-ordination
committees have been in existence for a long time.
Transition to a joint-action process, the size of consortiums and the involvement of diverse
partners are typical of this new concept application.
Of course, this need is being perceived more clearly than ever; the benefits of synergies are
better recognized, the multidimensional side of thematics is admitted, together with the
intersectoriality of actions. Issues being the object of public debates involve increasingly
diversified actors; the actions of some stakeholders influence the agendas of others; and finally,
the new public finance management framework and citizen expectations invite us to replace
competitions and redundancies with complementarity and synergy.
3. A Reversal of Acquired Logics
Horizontal management models deal with organizational cultures and agent behaviours, whether
from the private, public or non-profit sector: one must cooperate rather than fight and once in a
while allow the other to receive recognition or symbols of power (jurisdiction, budget, employees,
media or political recognition) that would have been coveted some time ago.
In the past, organizational reflexes led us to try to overcome difficulties by modifying
structures (reorganizations), employees (find more confrontational people) or power areas
(acquire more qualifications). These approaches all share the monopolistic vision of action and
CANADIAN CENTRE FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
/3
lead to a sterile and costly reinforcement of confrontations. In such a context, horizontal
management reverses the logics of bureaucratic empires isolated from customer service. It
appears as a durable alternative to flowcharts and conflicting cultures; it provides the organization
with positive, economic and constructive mechanisms allowing to solve problems. Finally, the
new public management somewhat encourages such a reversal of logics acquired through
decentralization and partnership approaches.
4. An Emerging and Diversified Practice
Horizontal management seems to be taking an unlimited number of forms: whenever
organizations pool information, analyses, powers or resources, or they decide or act together, we
have horizontal management.
Studied cases belonged to one of three categories based on their intended goal: in four
cases, exclusive departmental resources were pooled to save means and increase impacts; in four
cases, resources were pooled in order to better reach their clientele; in five cases, resources were
pooled with those of other groups of the society in order to improve the quality and impact of
their action.
The analysis of the 13 cases under study demonstrates that several typologies could be
responsible as shown in the list below:
4.1 Typological Formulas
4.1.1 Based on Mandate:
· Design (First Nations, Development Montreal, PSL)
· Support (LSSS, LSSS, continuous training)
· Operations (Marine Park, Model Forest, Québec maritime, Visibility,
Museomobiles, Youth Café, Team Canada)
4.1.2 Based on the Extent of Formalization:
· working group
· joint group
· joint committee made up of civilians and public servants
· interdepartmental committee without a secretariat
· interdepartmental committee with a permanent secretariat
· interdepartmental committee with full-time coordinator but without secretariat
· responsible administrative team
4.1.3 Based on Who Participates:
· call to the civil partnership: rather general but especially PSL, Marine Park, Québec
CANADIAN CENTRE FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
4 / HORIZONTALITY AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
maritime;
· targeted group: PN, Museumobiles, Forest
· targeted customers: PN, Museumobiles, Youth Café, Forest
· Federal departments only: LSSS, Development, Visibility
4.1.4 Based on Project Objective:
· develop a policy (PN)
· harness the resources of a region (Marine Park, Québec maritime, model Forest)
· protect a resource (LSSS, Marine Park)
· put in common administrative or technical means (Visibility, Team Canada,
Montreal Economic Development)
· access citizens (Youth Café)
· facilitate access for citizens (Museumobiles)
4.1.5 Based on the Policy Management Step:
· design/elaborate (PN, model Forest)
· decide (Montreal Economic Development, Québec Maritime)
· implement (Marine Park, Visibility)
· manage (Youth Café, Museumobiles, Team Canada, LSSS)
4.2 Samples of Horizontality Project
4.2.1 That Benefit the Civil Partnership:
· financial association to help elements of the society
· technical association to help elements of the civil partnership
4.2.2 Mutual Benefit:
· technical or financial associations with the civil partnership to promote mutual help
4.2.3 Between Departments:
· simple departmental agreements
· sharing of information and reflections between departments
· sharing of support services
· sharing of production services
· sharing of dissemination services
· sharing of access services
· single-window concept
· regional consensus of departments to general purposes
· action-based consensus of departments to specific purposes
CANADIAN CENTRE FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
/5
4.2.4 Associations, Government and Civil Partnership Having a Global Purpose
· integration into a Plan of diversified action from all horizons
4.2.5 Government Encouraging Civil Partnerships
· groupings of civil partners
4.2.6 Between Governments
· agreements between two or more government levels in order to design or offer
a service
5. Benefits
One can easily imagine the benefits of horizontal management: reduction of conflicts, therefore
dormant costs; sharing of costs and expertise; economies of scale; increase in efficiency through
synergy, cost sharing and complementarity; adventist confrontation of approaches and interests,
objection to prejudices through the diversity of protagonists; flow increase and information
crossroads; user service prioritized as a common denominator of mobilization; increased
efficiency through more complete analyses and the reduction of mutual neutralization conflicts;
legitimization of the public image among citizens through the reduction of redundancies and
conflicts and through a better involvement of groups from the civil partnership; increased
employee motivation.
6. Difficulties
Horizontal management, of course, is not presented as a universal remedy to every problem
experienced by organizations and we do not pretend that it can replace vertical management. Our
purpose simply consists of accepting it as a complement to the limits of vertical management and
especially to recognize that the added value of this complement, when properly used, far exceeds
the costs of putting it into practice.
Horizontal management will encounter several stumbling blocks due to its nature, its
counter-cultural character, its being new in terms of action and the opposed interests it often
brings together.
As a matter of fact, how can we manage the multiple loyalty of participants? Project team
members must be governed by what rules of ethics regarding information disclosure? How can we
build trust within the group without losing the trust of members from the original organization?
To whom do the group members report? Will this project be included in the members'
performance evaluation? Who will make this evaluation? On what basis? How can we help a
CANADIAN CENTRE FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
6 / HORIZONTALITY AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
unique and innovative project involving actors from the civil partnership make progress, in due
conformity with national standards by which public administrations must abide?
7. An Empirical Research
Our study of the horizontal management practice is based on an analysis of 13 horizontal
management cases realized in Quebec during the past years by the federal administration (see case
list in Appendix III).
The original sampling consists of fourteen cases selected by the Council of Senior Officials
on the basis of the following criteria: sufficient duration, diversity in the completion status,
diversity of departments and regions, diversity of nature: horizontality in the design, operations
and support for action. A common grid is applied to them.
For each case, a researcher and an official in charge were selected. The discussion team of
each case also included between four and eight persons who participated in project design or
operations. In general, they came from the federal civil service but also from partnership groups
that were involved in the project.
Each case was the object of some twelve hours of group discussions that took place
during two to four meetings. Discussions had to allow to identify the project chronology with its
triggering factors and highlights and we then had to describe difficulties and obstacles and, where
applicable, how those obstacles had been overcome. Finally, the group discussed management
and leadership abilities, enhancing factors and the exportability of this formula.
The civil servant in charge was organizing and conducting group meetings while the
researcher noted the answers, invited the participants to examine some questions more in depth,
ensured compliance with the research protocol and presented us with a summary record of each
case.
Summarized Description of Studied Projects:
· First Nations
The project consists in jointly elaborating an overall policy on income security for the 31
First Nations of Quebec and Labrador. The said policy must be acceptable both to the
Chiefs of First Nations and to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern
Development. We wish to have a policy jointly designed by basic stakeholders rather than
consulting with First Nations once the policy has reached an irreversible stage. This policy
takes into account interfaces with some dimensions of other policies such as health.
Horizontality comes from the joint group that includes two representatives from each
party; those of the First Nations represent the Commission reporting to the Assembly of
Quebec Chiefs, while representatives of the INAC report to the regional office that reports
to INAC headquarters. The Commission is financed by Health Canada and by the
CANADIAN CENTRE FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
/7
province of Quebec (ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux).
· Federal Visibility in Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Through the impetus of the Canada Information Office, this project consisted in pooling
resources, energy and expertise in order to produce and broadcast a corporate message
more efficiently. Eight departments were involved and the CIO contributed special funds
to this operation that allowed the integrated participation of federal departments in two
information fairs and that now aims at producing a regional television broadcast.
· Federal Action Strategy of Greater Montreal
In 1995, Paul Martin, then Economic Development Minister, retained the idea to group
within a single strategy the federal interventions of some ten departments in the Greater
Montreal area in order to make them more visible, more cohesive and more efficient. An
interdepartmental committee was created and held 18 meetings between 1996 and
February 1998; five intervention axes are selected by this committee chaired by the federal
deputy minister outside of the Capital who manages the FORD in Montreal, supports
committee efforts and furthers the exchange of information between departments that
remain responsible for their programs.
· Youth Café
In order to prevent squandering of the federal government's youth programs, a table
consisting of 13 federal departments and organizations proceeded, based on the initiative
and under the management of HRDC, to set up a single window adapted to the
preferences of young people. This Youth Café, a pilot project, opened its doors in
Montreal in April 2000 and will also be used for conferences, information sessions, and as
a location giving access to information technologies.
· St. Lawrence Action Plan
The deterioration of the St. Lawrence, its shores, its fauna and its flora was the object of
an ambitious concerted plan of action which Environment Canada, together with several
other federal, provincial, regional partners and others from the private sector and civil
partnership, implemented in the month of February 1988 in order to reduce pollution
sources, restore the waterfront and enhance access to it while promoting the regeneration
of the aquatic flora and fauna. The next phase consists of the appropriation of these
locations by communities.
· Team Canada Inc.
An integrated service table was created in 1996 in order to avoid redundancies and to
meet new needs in the field of services offered by the Canadian government to further
exports by companies of the Quebec area. This table involves 15 federal departments and
CANADIAN CENTRE FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
8 / HORIZONTALITY AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
organizations, although Industry Canada, Agriculture Canada and Canada Economic
Development (acting as coordinators) are the main promoters. From a virtual agency, the
creation of a formal agency is now being contemplated.
· Québec Maritime
Created in 1997 after informal experiences conducted since the end of the 1980's, the
Québec Maritime group combines Parks Canada, Canada Economic Development,
Quebec departments and organizations, local associations, RCM's together with
companies and organizations working in the tourism sector. This group is intended to
further the growth of the tourism sector in the area by developing new tourist products
with a national interest and by reinforcing the presence of the Québec maritime sector in
these markets. The group allows economies of scale, continuous presence during
international shows, fairs and exhibitions; it also leads to strategic investments resulting
from the consensus of partners rather than simple piecemeal projects that have no
significant impact. This project is coordinated by an executive committee involving
directors of participating regional tourism associations.
· Health Canada Development Centre
In 1993, within the framework of reengineering activities, the Québec regional directorate
created a self-learning centre for employees. This centre develops its expertise and its
notoriety in order to offer later on, together with four other departments and
organizations, career management, employability development and continuous training
activities to some 20 federal departments and organizations. In 1999, it became AGORA,
a meeting place allowing to create contacts and partnerships.
· Museumobiles
Beginning in June 1998, eleven departments pooled their resources in order to create
Museumobiles, a travelling museum aiming first of all at promoting federal programs and
services to senior citizens. A departmental working group, piloted jointly by two
departments (Health and Veteran Affairs), designed and organized the project that was
implemented during the summer of 1999 and in which the private sector is also involved
(museology company) together with non-profit organizations (senior associations).
· Model Forest
The Lower St. Lawrence Model Forest, launched in June 1992, led in 1993 to a
cooperative agreement under the guidance of Forestry Canada. Some forty partners such
as companies, unions, departments of both levels of government and universities are
among the promoters. Twelve of them play a more active role and manage capital facility
interventions and operations for renewable resources, such as the experimentation of new
forest management methods in inhabited locations, interventions in revitalization areas,
and the sharing of capabilities. A corporation was eventually created, namely the
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Corporation of the Lower St. Lawrence Model Forest.
· Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park
Responding to the idea of creating a Marine Park expressed by two researchers during the
1970's and to the awareness for protecting the beluga whale, Parks Canada undertook
studies in 1984. In 1990, the Canadian and Quebec governments signed an agreement
leading to the creation of such a park and of a harmonization committee comprised of
representatives of several departments from both governments. In 1995, a master plan
was adopted and a coordination committee was created involving public partners (Quebec
government, municipalities, regional county municipalities, First Nation reserves), near-
public partners (regional tourism associations and related organizations), private partners
(interpretation centres, museums) and non-profit partners (researchers, associations) in
order to ensure compliance with the plan by integrating actions to preserve and promote
park land and maritime tourist routes.
· Locally-shared Support Services (LSSS) Shawinigan
During the Spring of 1994, a meeting involving ten federal departments of the Shawinigan
region examined the possibility of pooling their services in order to, like the public service
Council on Renewal, improve services and reduce overhead costs and corporate expenses.
Four working groups were created and they presented a report to recommend initiatives
allowing savings of 2.5 million dollars that were reinjected into operations in order to
improve the quality of services. These initiatives allowed the pooling of specialized
services in the field of human resources, equipment and premises, customer service tools,
studies and expertise.
· LSSS Estrie
The Conseil des organismes régionaux en Estrie (CORE), created in the 1990's includes
six departments and organizations and allows the organization of single-service points, the
pooling of resources and services and an exchange concerning day-to-day problems
between managers who are relatively isolated from the central nervous centre of their
department. In the fall of 1999, CORE repositioned itself around three targets, namely
visibility in regions, interdepartmental mobility and the development of executives and
managers.
8. Observations
A pooling seminar was held on March 17 with civil servants, scholars and sponsors. Scholars
responsible for cases began by summarizing the case under study. Five discussions then followed
on research thematics: difficulties, benefits, management abilities, leadership abilities, success
factors, exportability. Participants could intervene at will during each of these discussions and
some took the floor more than once during a single discussion. A summary was written on the
basis of the consensus reached and then submitted to participants for additional comments. The
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10 / HORIZONTALITY AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
purpose of this section is to reflect the consensus that was reached during the seminar. Due to the
method used for discussion (nominal group), the following ideas came from all participants and
none of them in particular could, in a fair or reliable manner, be held responsible for any of these
observations. In order to guarantee debate quality, participants were ensured that their
comments, although they were registered, would be combined and presented in a non-nominative
fashion. For those reasons, they all come with the masculine gender. Some participants could
relatively disagree (not to a major extent) with some of the comments that follow.
Therefore, we wish to thank the true authors of this section, namely (according to their
position in the room) Pierre Kyer, Michel Charland, Jules Léger, René Reid, Pierre Bertrand,
André Gagné, Éric Noël Bouchard, Éric Montpetit, Christian Rouillard, Luc Bernier, Daniel
Maltais, Gilles Corriveau, Sylvie Lefebvre, Ronald Beaudoin, Louise Kane, Francine Préfontaine,
Guy Crépault, Mario Roy, Monique Papineau-Couture, Serge Tessier and Serge Bastien. Patrick
Boisvert of the CCMD acted as observer.
8.1 Difficulties to be Overcome
The earliest difficulty encountered resulted from truly understanding and accepting the procedure
within participating organizations, since some of them, some of their directors can be content with
"pretending" to participate because they feel pressure from upper levels or from fashionable
currents. They do not want to be seen as old fashioned, carried by change or closed to
innovation. Horizontal management forces us to give up our interventions guided by the sole
limited interests of the source organization. We are therefore confronted with the fragilization of
participants who can be led to take positions that are more beneficial to the project than to their
organization. In addition, a given group can serve as a vehicle for several different
understandings of a partnership and expectations will then vary accordingly. The past can also
affect the present when past frustrations eat up the mutual trust that now prevails. However, trust
will eventually be restored through practice.
Then comes the real involvement of member organizations of this project: politically
speaking, the horizontal involvement must be identical to what is seen in the field. Members are
sometimes interested to various degrees and some do not translate their words into action, while
some try to limit their financial contribution and others omit to designate participants to some
sensitive meetings. The group must clarify its rules of operation from the very beginning, if
possible, or as soon as a problem appears.
Once the project is in motion, the traditional organization culture is challenged by the
formula; this model goes against the culture: an executive is punished for having played the game
by allowing a budget deficit leading to savings of ten times that amount in other departments (he
should have negotiated his strategy in order to get transfers); "the true life remains vertical and
this kind of business is considered marginal!"; the actors' contribution to this formula is not yet
valued by the organization and one must be convinced in order to participate; organizations are
still sending a double message in that regard: "Go ahead, but stop bothering us with that!". Time
and any success will take care of everything.
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Another difficulty can result from participants themselves, while some of them remain too
close to their organization and interests. Insecurity appears if we fear that part of an organization
will disappear or if conflicts happen within transversal issues and vertical organizations. Problems
occur when participants lack expertise, influence or relationships in their environment.
Group interaction is another challenge. All members must be given significant
responsibilities. We must avoid too fast a rotation (variation) of members. Group momentum
must be maintained as well as the intensity of the external support to the group. All members
must agree from the very beginning on a common plan to communicate the appreciation of
contributions, actions and results.
National standards constitute another difficulty that can hinder the project throughout its
execution: the budgetary formula must adapt to the organizational formula that was selected;
standards of the Canadian government (bilingualism, legality, expenses, publicity, administrative
procedures) differ from those of other levels of government, from methods of private partners and
from NPO's. Finally, when the horizontal project takes the form of a small virtual organization
and includes members from different horizons such as citizens, representatives from pressure
groups and other levels of government, the project team sometimes finds it difficult to understand
and accept complicated processes as well as having to suffer those long delays resulting from its
belonging to a wider system within the Capital. Out of the 13 projects that were studied, only
four involved exclusively agents from the federal level and they were all created in order to lighten
the system!
We finally come to the difficulty of project duration perspectives: one must contemplate
project continuity or development within the framework of a more stable and formalized formula.
If it has been working experimentally, punctually or informally, could it also work according to a
more permanent formula? The commitment of participants must be supported during those shady
times of questioning and transitions when we speculate and negotiate on coming structures, future
budgets, business plans, recovery costs, etc.
8.2 Success Factors
Five different reasons can make the difference between project success and failure. First of all,
the nature of the project can play a key role. Some projects are more developmental in nature
due to being in the centre of a national crisis (ice storm crisis) or to being associated with a noble
cause (protection of animal species, development of a region) or because they meet a well-defined
social and political demand (depollution of the St. Lawrence).
The framework of the mandate given to the project seems to be fundamental: a clear
contract is required between partners, suppliers, users or correspondents, and sufficient means are
required in terms of financial resources, political and administrative support, human resources and
time. Precise, visible and concrete results must be contemplated and the timeframe must be
clearly defined. It is also very important for the project to be part of an initiative that enjoys the
support of a high moral authority such as the QCSFO.
The management of expectations is also important. If immediate consequences are not
seen or felt, some impatience or cynicism might be demonstrated. One must therefore ensure and
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diffuse a realistic dosage of expectations while taking into account the livelihood of the model and
vertical interests. Expectations should focus on the problem to be solved and not on the symptom
or its symbols: participation must not degenerate into demagogy where anything is done under
that pretext. People who succeed in such projects are realistic. They accept a marriage of reason
from which they expect interesting results even if they realize that their interests are not totally
identical. Expectations are all the more important when participants know how terrible the
consequences will be in case of failure.
Participants often make the difference between success and failure. Their implication
must be authentic and their characteristics must be those of "good" participants (cf. infra). Such
formulas require ingenious people who will do whatever the legal system allows them to do. This
is working thanks to employees who take risks and who go forward even when things are not
totally clear and comforting. When participants have much expertise in their field, they are less
defensive and more prone to change. They must know how to strike a balance between
enthusiasm and patience.
The table conduct is crucial. It must begin with a definition of dominating values common
to all group members. One must clarify the functions and role of coordinators or moderators,
especially if there are many. One must define a procedure where minorities are perfectly
comfortable to present their "real" point of view: this is a special group where the full contribution
of everyone is a factor of success. One must avoid creating subcommittees that will
sectorize/verticalize problems even more and take the accountability from group members who do
not belong to any subcommittee. Everybody must be forced to take over all aspects of a problem.
Besides, too great a number of committees and an excessively formalistic operation would create
delays and slow down momentum. The group must have an accelerated action schedule and
avoid getting bogged down in details during group discussions. The moderator must ensure a
strategic management of sensitive issues: in one case, he avoided discussing the finances issue that
would have caused the project to fail. This issue was covered later on when the group was ready.
The group capacity for self-criticism and collective learning is also important. No witch's brew or
management model could automatically lead to success because each situation requires some
adaptation.
Success often depends on how important a problem is perceived and on its sufficiently
critical character. The number and complexity of interest owners does not seem to be an
important factor due to the diversity of situations.
8.3 Management Skills
For the purpose of this exercise and in order to avoid repetitions in the sections that follow,
management skills have been divided into three groups: those related to analysis, those related to
organization and those applying to relationships.
Management abilities in terms of strategic analysis have been described as 1) having the
"feel" of the macro analysis of environments and their evolution and 2) as having an interest in
continuously repeating its analyses. Such a manager has a strategic vision of his environment, a
project, and he knows how to get everyone to adhere. He is indisputably open-minded. He
thinks about the long term. He does not underestimate impending difficulties and knows how to
address them in advance. He has an obvious political skill (in the tactical sense) to help case files
progress within his department.
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One could not minimize the organizational capacities of this manager. First of all, he has
the mentality of a public entrepreneur. He knows how to prioritize results. He is comfortable
when managing ambiguity; he accepts risks and is comfortable with it. He adapts to evolving
changes in his environment and works in an organized fashion within a constantly-evolving
organization. He manages the sharing of responsibilities of his group. He facilitates the work of
others.
In terms of relationships, this manager is most respectful of his partners. Open-minded,
he combats prejudice and received ideas; he is capable of gaining support from outcasts to make
the group interested in all its members; he enjoys a great deal of credibility among members and in
his environment due to the positive relationship he has with people. He is a good negotiator,
more reasonable than ferocious because he knows that short-term victories build systems that do
not last. He shows much transparency with group members. He can reveal his limits to anyone.
8.4 Leadership Abilities
This horizontal manager bases his leadership on influence and expertise, because he will seldom
enjoy authority in the traditional sense of this word. In terms of being, this leader incarnates and
embodies project benefits, he energizes the project and does group maintenance. He has a modest
ego, a good team spirit and a great listening capacity, even for what is left unsaid. He is highly
responsive and knows how to make words more coherent. He is frank and does not play games.
He knows how to create a collective vision, to come up with gathering objectives from
which everyone benefits. He knows how to communicate this vision and to mobilize people
around it. He knows how to recognize and reveal the power of the concept that he manages and
how to use it in order to mobilize people. He incarnates the project without taking the full
benefit of it, and as a leader, he lends himself as a target to critics but knows how to place
emphasis on his collaborators when he is being praised.
His sense of humour is gathering and generates pleasure within the project. He does not
take himself seriously and knows how to create a user-friendly climate at work. He builds
personal relationships with members rather than acting with them on a "role-to-role" basis. He
never hesitates to make decisions of overall interest that will bring him no personal credit.
Because of his good judgement, he avoids agonizing questions when the group is not
ready to live through them. He works by consensus and generates discussions where everyone
feels free to positively express his deepest thoughts and his limits.
8.5 Ideal Members
The ideal members of horizontal management project teams could very well live comfortably
within organizations that work strictly on vertical projects... provided that their projects are
innovative and motivating and that they restrict their propensity to question well-established
processes. On the contrary, agents of vertical organizations who feel secure with the help of a
clear definition of their lines of authority, field of jurisdiction and tasks to perform, risk to suffer
frustration within the framework of horizontal management projects. On the other hand, several
of the characteristics mentioned above are the prerogative of employees working in vertical
organizations... incidentally, are horizontal team members not the result of vertical organizations?
However, not all the employees of vertical organizations can perform well in horizontal projects.
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Members must first of all prove their aptitude for team work. These people are flexible
and open to change.
They feel a need for self-fulfillment through professional work filled with challenges and
achievements considered as being useful (Maslow model).
They know how to join a common project because their commitment is real. These
members are capable of being frank and of carrying out positive exchanges concerning
controversial issues. They have ambition for mutual aid and are aware of the impact of their
actions and attitudes on others. They are curious about others and behave patiently and openly
with them. They personally adjust to the level of others' progress.
They do not suffer from personal insecurity and are courageous enough to get involved
when converting their words into action: they commit themselves before the group/project and do
not fear to face the music later on within their home organization.
8.6 Implementation Dynamics
The project will be executed even better if everything remains simple. Therefore, the ideal
solution consists in having few people around the table and few managers demanding periodical
accounts.
Each person involved in the project must adequately measure the organizational colour he
wishes to preserve. He must also ensure its transcendence when adding it to the group. He must
be simultaneously conscious and distant in order to play with others. He must manage some
perspective and break with the culture of his home organization.
The leader must create and maintain a corporate memory because people representing
their organization are sometimes replaced as their career evolves. We do not always want to start
over and the group should not suffer any delay every time the representative is replaced.
People sitting at the issue table must feel that they have some real power, otherwise they
soon run out of steam. This power and its achievements must be identified and constantly
remembered.
These groups must be supported, more than usually, since they are simultaneously on the
fringe of structures and lines of authority: meetings must have agendas/minutes/rooms/
punctuality/follow-ups. Otherwise, the group will soon disintegrate.
The more this formula is seen as being efficient by others (executives, central jurisdiction,
the environment), the more they will support it. Incidentally, in order to get any support, the
rewarding aspects of the formula must be sold properly and nothing can be taken for granted in
that respect.
Members must be capable of making a mutual adjustment based on the nature of the
project and the context and of accepting that adjustments to objective changes of other partners
or stakeholders in the area affect project objectives and, to a certain extent, their degree of effect.
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8.7 Group Animation and Maintenance
Such a group being innovative, non-standard and fragile, group animation and maintenance efforts
play an important role in its success.
Several types of group management have been observed from the lesser formal to the best
organized ones: ad hoc secretary/rotating secretary/secretary changing each time/persons jointly
responsible/pivot support/coordinator/structured incumbent. Each type of management implies
different costs: for example, better organized modes imply a salary to a full-time person in charge,
maybe to an assistant, but in all cases to a relatively sophisticated secretariat. On the other hand,
less organized management methods demand greater operational involvement by members (to
compensate for the lack of a secretariat) and everybody must be vigilant with regard to
management, team and project issues in order to compensate for the lack of formal leadership. In
such a case, the quality of life of the group will have a deciding effect on the project capacity to
succeed: expectations that are usually entertained with regard to the traditional leader now apply
to the group capacity to manage itself.
The horizontal management group is a "high maintenance" group (for its members and
their original organizations), because it is not supported naturally, but it is rather "opposed" by
traditional bodies which it confronts (don't we pretend to be thus completing projects which
vertical structures, to which we are speaking, could not successfully complete?). We must
therefore invest in order to create and preserve a community spirit within the group. The "high
maintenance" of a group implies special investments by its formal and natural leaders in order to
maintain both its dynamism and cohesion: dynamism refers to enthusiasm and motivation, while
coherence applies to stringency and to targeting reflection and action. This "high maintenance"
becomes possible when giving more importance to mutual watch by members in order to detect
group members showing relationship-related maladjustments, a decreasing motivation and
discomfort regarding the development of their work agenda. "Maintenance" then translates into
actions leading to the voicing of difficulties, to group sharing and to the consolidation of the
group agenda. Finally, the purpose of this "maintenance" is to improve group cohesion by
celebrating and organizing common activities that are both professional and social, and the
elaboration of common points to combat.
The overall challenge consists of maintaining the momentum both within and around the
group since it can wear out and fall into sullenness. However, unfortunate experiences of the
past, combined with failures due to precipitation, can help people become more patient.
Special resources are required to preserve the group and it is up to the leader to find or
create them.
The person in charge of the group must constantly mobilize and remobilize its members,
their source organizations and the environments surrounding the project. For example, member
mobilization is made possible through documentation, by viewing the positive impacts of their
project, that of source organizations and of surrounding locations, by reminding them of the
concrete benefits they will enjoy when seeing project objectives become a reality and by
continually communicating project results and positive impacts already observed with each and
everyone. A public reminder of supports to vertical structures is also part of the maintenance
rules.
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The moderator must systematically organize celebration-events around important moments
in the group and project lifetime, and this is even more important since the group enjoys no
natural or traditional organizational support.
8.8 Accountability
Accountability implies reporting on the use of resources, on attained results and on compliance
with constraints. It can take several forms depending on project nature, object and organization:
it can be done individually (performance evaluation), through the corporation (loyalty to the
source organization), on a functional basis (loyalty to the project group), politically
(accountability of political leaders or their representatives), hierarchically (by giving reports to the
immediate supervisor) and centrally (by conforming to operating rules governing the delegation of
authority in central organizations: TB, PSC, [MTPESG], etc.).
In some cases, organizations really react to these projects: "My project was part of my key
commitments based on which I was evaluated". In other cases, they are still very far from
classical organizations... except when they lead to complications in the classical way of operation.
To those who regret this irrefutable fact, we say: "Talk to people around you and lobby if you
want it to be recognized!"
Accountability implies a characterized and quantified description of results and a certain
measure of performed actions, results and observed impacts. Therefore, participants of a
horizontal management project sometimes pursue different, although similar objectives; the
performance and evaluation follow-up form must account for this diversity of objectives of actors
involved in the project.
It seems that evaluation forms given to private contractors are often too costly compared
to total project cost. They are sometimes improperly synchronized with project progression and
rather artificial since they are ordered in advance and designed by a cell that is located too far
from the project.
We must accept that project objectives might change while the project is under way,
especially when such a project is being carried out for the first time or it takes place in an evolving
and diversified environment over which we have no control.
Accountability continues to be a problem if the source organization and the horizontal
group keep on seeing members as "representatives-agents" of vertical organizations. We must not
underestimate vertical resistance as problems avoided at the group table will reappear later when
each vertical entity will have to validate the project.
An accountability problem happens when group members cease to belong to their source
organization in order to belong to the group. By identifying themselves as being too close to the
group, they lose track of the power of logics, of constraints and of the reality of the power
relationship within their source organization; and for that reason, they give erroneous opinions to
the horizontal group which then selects action strategies that are doomed to failure. By
identifying themselves as being too close to the horizontal group, they modify the image projected
within their source organization: they used to belong to "them", but they now belong to the
"others" and they lose all collaboration assets with their colleagues as well as any credibility and
conviction before them. As members of the horizontal group, they feel entrusted with a mission
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of trust with regard to their source organization that they must convince to collaborate however
they can. They feel like traitors or incompetent if vertical resistances cause substantial
modifications to the project. Here is why they simultaneously tend to identify themselves with the
horizontal group and to depart from it while trying to use organizational life opportunities within
the vertical organization in order to hook up the horizontal project to it without ever confronting
face to face the resistances of their source organization. Rather than denying his identity, the
participant is interested in laying out all constraints on the table and in discussing them openly
with others in order to find a solution.
8.9 Types of Horizontal Management
Typologies can be very simple: small short-term projects without many partners, or large and
complex long-term projects involving several partners with very diversified characteristics and
even with rather opposing interests.
According to a member, there would be two types of horizontal management: one based
on activities and one based on customers. Others add a type based on projects and another based
on purpose.
There are projects to design policies and programs, others to support operations, and
finally, others to perform operational activities.
One can find experiences that apply to each of the seven main steps of public management:
1) pooling of information; 2) common definition of a problem; 3) common elaboration of
solutions; 4) decision-making; 5) joint implementation; 6) common management; 7) common
evaluation.
Three types of resources are pooled for a horizontal project, namely information, means of
action and the decision-making authority; information is being pooled during each of the main
seven steps of public management; con