Decision Support Tool Overview
This online book resource outlines the Decision Support Tool. You can use the navigation to access the different chapters.
3. Background to Collaboration
3.1. Collaboration
Collaboration is usually the most stable and long-term relationship and is characterised by high levels of interdependency and denser relationships (Gray, 1989; Mandell, 1999; Cigler, 2001). Although all forms of working together require some degree of interdependence, collaborations require reciprocal interdependence. This means that although the actors in a collaboration represent independent entities, they must recognize at the outset that they are dependent on each other other in such a way that for the actions of one to be effective they must rely on the actions of another. There is an understanding that “they cannot meet their interests working alone and that they share with others a common problem” (Innes and Booher, 2000: 7). This goes beyond just resource dependence, data needs, common clients or geographic issues, although these may be involved. It involves a need to make a collective commitment to change the way in which they are operating (Mandell, 1994).
The risks in collaborative networks are very high. Participants must be willing to develop new ways of thinking and behaving, form new types of relationships and be willing to make changes in existing systems of operation and service delivery. This means that the members can no longer only make changes at the margins in how they operate. Instead they will be involved in actions requiring major changes in their operations.
A key characteristic of a collaborative network is therefore that the purpose is not to develop strategies to solve problems per se but rather to achieve the strategic synergies between participants that will eventually lead to finding innovative solutions. In this way collaborating is not about accomplishing tasks but rather finding new ways for developing new systems and/or designing new institutional arrangements to get tasks accomplished. Tasks are still accomplished in collaborations; however the focus is on the processes and institutional arrangement as used to accomplish tasks (Keast, et al, 2007; Mandell, 1994, 2001; Steelman and Carmin, 2002).