Contracting and negotiation: Effective practices of successful human service contract managers

This article identifies effective practices that successful human service contract managers use in the negotiating and contracting process. It is important to identify these practices because modem governments, specifically state and local governments, increasingly contract for social services. Yet, there continue to be barriers to contracting for services, including the manager's approach. Interviews were held with managers in the area offices of Massachusetts' Department of Social Services (DSS). Interview responses were processed and formatted for use in a computer-assisted analysis program. Practices of successful contract managers were compared with those of less successful managers. Analysis identified eight effective practices that successful managers use or use more than less successful managers in the contracting and negotiation process.