Siv Vangen

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.

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.

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.

Governing Cross-Sector, Inter-Organizational Collaborations

Abstract This article addresses the governance of cross-sector, inter-organizational collaboration in the context of public administration and management. It conceptualizes the governance of collaborations in terms of structures and processes that enable actors to direct, coordinate and allocate resources for the collaboration as a whole and to account for its activities. It argues that the need to pay attention to considerations of ‘collaborative governance’ and ‘governing collaboration’ in cross-sector collaborations gives rise to a number of challenges and tensions that need to be addressed if the governance form is to be sustained and the collaboration is to yield advantage.

Nonprofit–Public Collaborations: Understanding Governance Dynamics

As many of the challenges facing society are too complex to be addressed by single organizations working alone, nonprofit organizations are increasingly working in collaboration with public authorities. The governance of nonprofit–public collaborations is important for their effectiveness, yet it remains poorly understood. Drawing on case study research, this article examines and develops an extant conceptual model developed by Takahashi and Smutny that seeks to explain the formation and demise of nonprofit collaborations in terms of “collaborative windows” and the inability to adapt initial governance structures. The research finds that while initial governance structures are an important constraint on development, they can be adapted and changed. It also suggests that the development of collaborations is not only influenced by changes in the collaborative window but also by how key actors in the collaboration respond to important internal tensions.

Managing Cultural Diversity in Collaborations: A focus on management tensions

Abstract This article explores the management of cultural diversity in public and not-for-profit collaborations spanning organizational, professional and national boundaries. Through the framing of a culture paradox, it identifies three interrelated tensions pertaining to the management of cultural diversity towards collaborative advantage. These tensions address: interactions between organizations within a collaboration; interactions between individual actors and their orientation towards the collaboration and their host organization; and the quantity and extent of cultural diversity within a collaboration. The culture paradox and its inherent management tensions provide theoretical and practical conceptualizations that are relevant to management and governance of collaboration.

Achieving collaborative advantage: understanding the challenge and making it happen

Purpose – This article discuses the challenge of organizations achieving a collaborative advantage.Design/methodology/approach – Gives a brief synopsis of collaborative advantage.Findings – Leadership must involve being both gentle and tough at the same time – being prepared to nurture relationships on the one hand and taking a directive clear line on the other.Originality/value – Gives guidance in terms of how to understand the complexity of collaboration.