Creating public value through collaborative governance? Organization and management of shared services centers in the metropolitan cities in Poland

Collaborative management means creating organizational structures based on cooperation, and thus creating more effectiveness in the area of management and economic calculation. This article presents the assessment of shared service centers (SSCs) operating the 12 largest Polish cities. The purpose of this article is to attempt to evaluate the effects of implementing a tool characteristic of business into the public sector. The conducted research allowed to define the goals that local governments associate with the creation of SSCs, gave the answer to the questions to what extent the above objectives were achieved, what were the threats to the process of putting in place organizational changes and what competences of the management staff of the serviced entities were crucial in the process. The final conclusion is that changing location of back-office service provides quick success in terms of operational actions, but demands additional skills of managers in order to receive public value.