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With governance networks as the critical emerging feature of public administration, this article examines the structure, governance and challenges of networks in the public sector. Using complexity theory, this article explains that control-based relations do not hold much relevance to govern the complex systems of networks.

Case study research design is employed taking the power network in Pakistan as the unit of analysis. Data were collected through eleven semi-structured interviews, companies' websites, government policy reports and other companies' reports. The structure of the power network was examined through the technique of social network analysis using UCINET. Thematic analysis of interviews was conducted with the help of NVivo 13 to identify the mode of governance and challenges.

The study found that five central public sector actors have a high degree centrality and betweenness centrality. Thematic analysis further revealed that these actors are controlling most of the decisions in the network in a hierarchical mode of governance. Other actors face multiple challenges including lack of autonomy, overlapping authorities, conflicting rules and complex decision processes.

The findings imply that instead of top-down and control-based relations, networks require self-governance mechanisms where actors independently participate and interact with other actors to generate common solutions to problems.

The authorities should use network management strategies, participatory approaches and consensus-building methods to reach decisions.

The study explores the network structure and network governance challenges in the context of a developing country that is barely addressed in the public management literature.

Based on the arguments of conservation of resource theory (COR), this study aims to investigate the mechanism underlying the linkage of COVID fear, work-family conflict (W-FC) and family-work conflict (F-WC) while investigating the mediating role of COVID stress and social distancing. The study also tests the moderating role of religiosity in these relationships.

In total, 401 survey responses from doctors and university teachers are collected through online and personally administrated questionnaires. Partial least square-based structural equation modeling technique is applied using Smart PLS software.

This study finds that COVID fear has a positive and significant impact on COVID stress and social distancing while religiosity negatively impacts COVID fear. Further, COVID stress and social distancing mediates the relationships between COVID fear and W-FC/ F-WC. However, the study found that COVID stress is a more effective mechanism as compared to social distancing in explaining the mediation process. It is also found that religiosity significantly moderates the nexus between COVID stress and both W-FC and F-WC negatively.

Findings imply that the teachers, as well as doctors, must be immediately be provided with the proper facilitation to maintain their work from home operations with the best of the institutional facilities. Moreover, the recruitment policy in such professions can also consider religious practices to be the indicators of problem-solving and stress management in such a challenging context.

This study provides timely and novel insight into the interplay between the domains of work and family during the period of stressful COVID outbreak. By distinguishing W-FC and F-WC, it provides a detailed understanding of the process during the COVID period. The groundbreaking finding in the research is with the moderation of religiosity.

This article aims to empirically investigate the influence of socio-cultural and political factors and actors on the perceived autonomy and control of state agencies in Pakistan. Taking an institutional perspective, which envisages a diverse course of agency reforms, owed to varied national cultures, historical paths and traditional mindsets, the authors argue that the institutional theory provides an explanation to the autonomy and control status of the agencies.

Data were collected from 39 senior public officials and governing board members in federal agencies by conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was performed using NVivo-12 for data analysis.

The results disclose that the agencies operate within an overriding politico-administrative culture of intervention and supremacy of the central government. There is a close relationship between the political actors and actors' implementing agents, the bureaucrats. Although the disaggregated public agencies are created under the agency model, a culture of political influence and control still prevails within them. Among the socio-cultural factors, corruption is reported as a critical influencing factor for agency autonomy.

The study emphasizes the need to adapt and modify agencification practices in developing countries based on the political, socio-cultural and administrative contextual factors and actors and the varying degrees of influence the practices exercise over the Government machinery.

This study unveils the implications of the new public management (NPM)-led agency model in Pakistan, which was primarily adopted as a part of the structural adjustment program (SAP) under loan conditionality from international donor agencies and explores the indigenous doctrines that govern agencies functioning under ministries.