Chris Huxham

Leadership In The Shaping And Implementation Of Collaboration Agendas: How Things Happen In A (Not Quite) Joined-Up World

This article contributes to the theory of collaboration in social settings and is based on data collected during action research interventions in a number of public and community interorganizationa...

Nurturing Collaborative Relations Building Trust in Interorganizational Collaboration

Many organizations aspire to gain collaborative advantage by working in partnerships across organizational, sectoral, and even national boundaries. Such collaborations, however, are difficult to manage, and the likelihood of disappointing outputs is high. To create advantage, practitioners need to engage in a continuous process of nurturing the collaborative processes. One issue that appears significant in the nurturing process is trust. This article incorporates a synthesis of research on trust with research on other aspects of collaboration. It develops a trust-building loop and examines its validity to inform practice. It argues that trust building is problematic and that management of trust implies both the ability to cope in situations where trust is lacking and the ability to build trust in situations where this is possible. It summarizes pragmatic implications in a tool for thinking about and addressing trust management in different collaborative situations.

Theorizing collaboration practice

This article provides an overview of the theory of collaborative advantage. This is a practice-oriented theory concerned with enhancing practical understanding of the management isssues involved in joint working across organizations. Two contrasting concepts are central to it: collaborative advantage which is concerned with the potential for synergy from working collaboratively; and, collaborative inertia which relates to the often disappointing output in reality. The theory is structured as a set of overlapping themes, which are predominantly issues that practitioners see as causing pain and reward in collaborative situations. Five example themes are discussed: common aims; power; trust; membership structures; and, leadership. It is argued that the theory captures the complexity that underlies collaborative situations and conveys it in a way that seems real to those involved. It aims to empower those involved through legitimising experienced frustration and providing conceptual handles to help address the practical issues involved.

Ambiguity, Complexity and Dynamics in the Membership of Collaboration

This paper is concerned with the role that membership structures of inter-organizational collaborations have on the achievement of collaborative advantage in the context of tackling social issues. Based on action research involving participants in a wide variety of collaborative situations, the paper aims to explore the nature of the membership of collaborations in practice. A picture of membership is built up from two perspectives. The first considers the structure of collaboration, and argues that ambiguity and complexity in structure may be demonstrated over many dimensions. The second adds another layer of complication through exploring the dynamics of the way in which membership structures change over time. The paper concludes by examining the implications for practitioners and policy makers of this picture in terms of its effect on the design of collaborations and on the factors which tend to lead to colloborative inertia instead of collaborative advantage.

The Challenge of Collaborative Governance

Partnerships increasingly play a major role in determining and implementing major policy drives in localities. Under-standing how they may provide value is therefore essential to understanding modern governance principles. This article describes action research aiming to develop a conceptualization of fac-tors inherent in collaborative forms and, hence, about their practicality as governance tools. Different interpreta-tions of what collaborative governance is intended to achieve are first reviewed. Two areas that seriously affect the ability of collaborations to deliver their potential, structural complexity and diversity are then reviewed. The article concludes by considering what is needed to make collaborative governance work.

The Oxford handbook of inter-organizational relations

SECTION I: INTRODUCTION SECTION II: MANIFESTATIONS OF INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONS SECTION III: THEORETICAL AND DISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES ON THE STUDY OF INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONS SECTION IV: KEY TOPICS IN INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH SECTION V: CONCLUSION

Working together: Key themes in the management of relationships between public and non‐profit organizations

Describes some of the good practices and some of the problems connected with inter‐organizational working, focusing on arrangements involving voluntary, community sector and public sector organizations. Discusses six themes raised by the groups. Identifies a number of implications for collaborative practice.

Researching Organizational Practice Through Action Research: Case Studies and Design Choices

This article contributes to an understanding of action research as a phenomenological methodological paradigm for carrying out research into management and organizations. Two case studies of action research are presented. Three areas of choice—overtness, visibility, and riskiness—that emerge out of the cases and that are significant issues in designing action research projects are discussed. Highlighting and explicating these provides a basis for greater rigor and reflexivity in action research.

Contrary Prescriptions: Recognizing Good Practice Tensions in Management

This paper is concerned with rethinking the notion of ‘good management practice’. It explicates a way of framing management theory in terms of tensions between apparently contradictory pieces of good practice advice. The relevance of this, as a practical conceptualization that could usefully inform managers about the kinds of considerations they might take account of in both their day to day and longer term management thinking, is explored. The emerging theoretical framework is elaborated in terms of some characteristics of, and language about, tensions together with possible levels of use of the concept to inform practice. It is suggested that the use of the approach necessarily implies a view of the user as a reflective practitioner.

Theory in action research

In this prologue to the special issue on theory in action research we provide a context and an introduction for the articles that follow. We begin by sketching in some of our shared ideas on theory in action research and some of the differences between our own approaches. Then, after briefly describing the process of preparing this issue, we provide a succinct pointer to each article in the issue.