Network in progress

The Freigh Ccorridors Programme (FCP) is a network programme aimed at enhancing freight transport in the Netherlands. It consists of several acties (projects). This qualitative research is aimed at answering the question ‘Which factors influence progress in network collaborations?’ This question emerged from the FCP because the different acties vary in the degree to which they are making progress, and it would be useful for the acties that have made little progress to learn from the successes of other acties. To create an extensive answer to this question, three subquestions have been developed. The first is ‘Which factors emerge from literature as having influence on progress?’ This question is answered in the second chapter, the literature review. The second question is ‘To what extent are the factors that follow from subquestion 1 experienced in the FCP?’ This question mainly serves to test the existing theories and will be answered using interviews, participative observation and document analysis. The third and final question is ‘Which explanation for progress can be deduced?’. This serves as the theory building part of the research. Theoretically, this research contributes to the existing literature on progress in network collaborations by testing whether the factors that emerge from literature occur in a similar way in the FCP. Socially, the research should help the FCP reach its goals faster, which has beneficial effects for both people in the transport business as people who have nothing to do with freight transport since some of the acties are aimed at relieving congestion on highways that are also used for passenger transport.