Managing “Wicked” Problems: Revisiting the Coordination Dilemma

This paper contributes to the scholarly debate within public administration around ways of dealing with complex and “wicked problems” (Rittel and Webber 1973). Based on the assumption that complex problem-solving require particular attention with regard to organizational design, the paper aims at developing a conceptual framework for analyzing problems, which run across sectors, as well as national borders and levels of governance. The paper’s conceptual framework draws the attention towards 1) horizontal coordination across relevant policy sectors, and 2) vertical coordination across jurisdictions of governance (subnational, national, international). Previous research seems to suggest that strong horizontal and vertical coordination is “difficult” (Peters 1998: 302) or even “impossible” to combine (Egeberg and Trondal 2015). This problem of coordination is referred to as the “coordination dilemma” (ibid.). Based on a review of coordination literature and anecdotal empirical evidence from the management of major global health threats, the paper challenges the assertion that the combination of strong coordination vertically is necessarily incompatible with strong coordination horizontally. The paper concludes by first, arguing that for some types of problems the combination of strong vertical and horizontal coordination is not only possible, but even a necessary condition for effective problem-solving. Second, the paper generates a set of hypotheses on the relevant conditions for effectively combining horizontal and vertical lines of coordination. Issue characteristics, timing of events, and the allocation of authority, i.e. coordination under the “shadow of hierarchy”, are key factors here. The basic argument is that established approaches to coordination fails to take into account key contextual determinants, which are crucial for dealing with the “coordination dilemma”.