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The purpose of this paper is to draw on the theory of institutional isomorphism to investigate how Mississippi’s centralized cash management policy affects the cash management practices in the state’s rural and urban counties.

The study uses a sequential exploratory mixed methods design involving a qualitative documentary analysis and a quantitative analysis of a survey of Mississippi counties.

The study finds that institutional isomorphism drives cash management practices in the counties by influencing how they follow state and agency mandates. Moreover, while urban counties have superior socio-economic indicators compared to their rural counterparts, no differences exist regarding standardized financial indicators, which suggest that local governments in the state may be imitating the practices of one another.

First, states should consider the different financial and economic conditions of their local governments when prescribing cash management policies because uniform policies could stifle local innovation and reduce efficiency in cash management. Second, when there is pressure from a higher-level government or a state agency, local governments may end up imitating one another rather than exploring opportunities for innovation within state policies. Third, state policies should consider requiring education and training in cash management practices that help identify strategies to add value to public funds within the scope of local fiscal capabilities.

The study uses one state to investigate a unique case of centralized cash management practices. The lessons learned can apply to other states seeking to develop a policy for their small local governments without placing the larger ones at a disadvantage.

The study investigates the perceived network effectiveness of the Florida Benchmarking Consortium (FBC). It also examines the impact of network coordination, longevity of membership and environmental support on perceived network effectiveness.

It uses a cross-sectional, nonexperimental research design and an ordinary least squares (OLS) multiple regression that employed data from an online survey administered to local government employees from FBC member governments.

The results show that the FBC moderately meets the expectation of network participants to serve as a platform for exchanging experiences and increasing performance knowledge. However, the network's effectiveness is not dependent on the frequency of interactions among network members, but depends on their interactions with focal egos such as the FBC Executive Director. Contrary to expectations, the longevity of involvement with the network is not associated with perceived network effectiveness. Moreover, network members who perceive the environment as supportive are more likely to positively evaluate the network's effectiveness.

Because perceived network effectiveness may be improved if the members interact with the right “focal” players, managers should proactively pursue closer connections with knowledgeable network members using additional and more frequent communication. Also, research efforts at identifying the characteristics of the right focal players that contribute to network effectiveness should be pursued.

While there is extensive attention to the participation of public organizations in networks, less research focuses on network effectiveness examined at the network level. This study addresses this research gap by investigating if the FBC is effective in meeting its network goals.