Keith G. Provan, PhD

McClelland Professor of Management & Organizations,

Eller College of Management

E-Mail Address: 
kprovan@eller.arizona.edu
Phone Number: 
(520) 621-1950
Fax: 
(520) 626-5549
Short Bio: 
Keith G. Provan, PhD, is McClelland Professor of Management in the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at Tilburg University, in the Netherlands. At the University of Arizona he holds appointments in the Management and Organizations Department and the School of Government and Public Policy, as well as courtesy appointments in the College of Public Health and the Arizona Cancer Center. His teaching has been in organizational theory and behavior, public management, and health care organization. 
 
Professor Provan’s research interests have centered around the study of interorganizational and network relationships, including network structure, evolution, governance and effectiveness. His empirical work on these topics has focused primarily on public and not-for-profit health and human service agencies. Recent projects have included studies of networks of service delivery for individuals with serious mental illness, community-based health and disease prevention networks and collaborative partnerships, the evolution of health care delivery systems for the uninsured, and networks of tobacco control organizations and researchers. Professor Provan’s research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute, National Science Foundation, IBM Endowment, Centers for Disease Control, Aspen Institute, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Human Resources and Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the E.M. Kauffman Foundation. 
 
He has published more than 60 articles on management, organization theory, public administration and health services. Professor Provan has served as an officer in two divisions of the Academy of Management and currently serves on the editorial review boards of the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review and the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. He is one of only 33 members of the Academy of Management’s “Journals Hall of Fame.”
Research Information
Research Program: 
4. Cancer Prevention and Control
Member Status: 
Associate Member
Year of Membership Acceptance: 
2007
College: 
Eller College of Management
Summary of Research Activity: 
  • Organizational networks and interorganizational relations, focusing on issues of governance, evolution, structure, and effectiveness in business, health care, and public/nonprofit networks
  • Organization theory and behavior
  • Management and organization of health care organizations
  • Public and nonprofit management
Selected Publications: 

1. Provan, K.G., Beyer, J.M., & Kruytbosch, C. 1980. Environmental Linkages and Power in Resource Dependence Relations Between Organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 25: 200 225. 2. Provan, K.G. 1984. Interorganizational Cooperation and Decision Making Autonomy in a Consortium Multi Hospital System. Academy of Management Review, 9: 494 504. 3. Provan, K.G. 1988. Organizational and Decision Unit Characteristics and Board Influence in Independent versus Multihospital System Affiliated Hospitals. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 29: 239 252 4. Provan, K.G. and Milward, H.B. 1995. A Preliminary Theory of Interorganizational Network Effectiveness: A Comparative Study of Four Community Mental Health Systems. Administrative Science Quarterly, 40: 1-33. 5. Provan, K.G. and Sebastian, J.G. 1998. Networks Within Networks: Service Link Overlap, Organizational Cliques, and Network Effectiveness. Academy of Management Journal, 41: 453-463. 6. Human, S.E. and Provan, K.G. 2000. Legitimacy Building in the Evolution of Small-Firm Networks: A Comparative Study of Success and Demise. Administrative Science Quarterly, 45: 327-365. 7. Provan, K.G. and Carson, L.M.P. 2000. Behavioral Health Funding for Native Americans in Arizona: Policy Implications for States and Tribes. Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research, 27: 17-28. 8. Provan, K.G. and Milward, H.B. 2001. Do Networks Really Work? A Framework for Evaluating Public-Sector Organizational Networks. Public Administration Review, 61: 414-423 9. Provan, K.G., Milward, H.B., and Isett, K.R. 2002. Collaboration and Integration of Community-Based Health and Human Services in a Nonprofit Managed Care System. Health Care Management Review, 27: 21-32. 10. Provan, K.G., Nakama, L., Veazie, M.A., Teufel-Shone, N.I., and Huddleston, C. 2003. Building Community Capacity Around Chronic Disease Services Through a Collaborative Interorganizational Network. Health Education & Behavior, 30: 646-662. 11. Provan, K.G., Veazie, M.A., Staten, L.K., Teufel-Shone, N.I. 2005. Utilization of Network Analysis for Strengthening Community Partnerships in Health and Human Services. Public Administration Review, 65: 603-613. 12. Provan, K.G., Fish, A., and Sydow, J. 2007. Interorganizational Networks at the Network Level: A Review of the Empirical Literature on Whole Networks. Journal of Management, 33: 479-516. 13. Provan, K.G., Clark, P., and Huerta, T. 2008. Transdisciplinarity Among Tobacco Harm Reduction Researchers: A Network Analytic Approach. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 35: S173-S181. 14. Provan, K.G. and Kenis, P. 2008. Modes of Network Governance: Structure, Management, and Effectiveness. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 18: 229-252. 15. Provan, K.G., Huang, K., and Milward, H.B. 2009. The Evolution of Structural Embeddedness and Organizational Social Outcomes in a Centrally Governed Health and Human Services Network. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 19: 873-893

Collaborative Research: 
Currently working on a NCI-funded grant project with Scott Leischow and others at U of A to study the dissemination, adoption, and implementation of research-based practices to organizations providing tobacco quitline services in the US and Canada. The focus of the research is on network involvement among quitline organizations, as well as their decision making processes.
Bio sketch: 
application/pdf iconProvan_srnt.pdf
Professional Information
Professional Affiliations: 

Professional Associations

Academy of Management
Public Management Research Association
Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action


Editorial Boards

Administrative Science Quarterly
Academy of Management Journal
Administration & Society
Advances in Health Care Management

Honors: 
1999    Awarded Named Professorship – Eller College of Management
2000    Charter member (one of 33 scholars) of the Academy of Management’s Journals Hall of Fame.
2008    Winner of Theodore H. Koff Outstanding Teacher Award (Master’s of Public Admin program, U. AZ)
Academic Information
Doctorate: 
State University of New York at Buffalo, PHD, 1978
Master's Degree: 
Boston University, MBA, 1972
Undergraduate School: 
American University, BS, 1969