Although difficult, complicated, and sometimes discouraging, collaboration is recognized as a viable approach for addressing uncertain, complex and wicked problems. Collaborations can attract resources, increase efficiency, and facilitate visions of mutual benefit that can ignite common desires of partners to work across and within sectors. An important question remains: How to enable successful collaboration? Inter-Organizational Collaboration by Design examines how these types of collaborations can overcome barriers to innovate and rejuvenate communities outlining the factors and antecedents that influence successful collaboration. The book proposes a theoretical perspective for collaborators to adopt design science (a solution finding approach utilizing end-user-centered research, prototyping, and collective creativity to strengthen individuals, teams, and organizations), the language of designers, and a design attitude as an empirically informed pathway for better managing the complexities inherent in collaboration. Through an integrated framework, evidence-based tools and strategies for building successful collaboration is articulated where successful collaboration performance facilitates innovation and rejuvenation. This volume will be essential reading for academics, researchers, leaders and managers in nonprofit, private, and government sectors interested in building better collaborations.

This volume contains two Open Access chapters. Volume 64 of Research in the Sociology of Organizations takes stock of research on processes of inter-organizational collaboration and explores new topics that call for inquiry.

Inter-organizational relations (IOR), the study of Strategic Alliances, Joint Ventures, Partnerships, Networks and other forms of relationship between organizations, is a field of study that has burgeoned over the last four decades, but is fragemented, drawing contributions from a wide variety of disciplines, theoretical bases, and sectoral interests. The Oxford Handbook of Inter-Organizational Relations provides a structured overview of the field. With contributions from leading international experts on their particular areas of expertise, it is an authoritative introduction to its research findings. The material is organized in three main sections. The first relates to research that focuses on particular manifestations of IORs such as industry, supply, policy and project networks, public and voluntary sector partnerships, strategic alliances, and so on. The second section relates to research that stems from distinct disciplinary or theoretical bases, including, institutional theory, social networks, evolutionary theory, transaction cost economics, management process, psychology, critical theory political theory, economic geography, and the legal perspective. The third section focuses on key topics in contemporary IOR topics--or those that will become so in the future. These include, trust, power, development interventions, social capital, learning and knowledge, dynamics and change, and evaluation. About the Series Oxford Handbooks in Business & Management bring together the world's leading scholars on the subject to discuss current research and the latest thinking in a range of interrelated topics including Strategy, Organizational Behavior, Public Management, International Business, and many others. Containing completely new essays with extensive referencing to further reading and key ideas, the volumes, in hardback or paperback, serve as both a thorough introduction to a topic and a useful desk reference for scholars and advanced students alike.

​Using the domain of crisis management, Christian Reuter explores challenges and opportunities for technology design in emergent environments. He therefore empirically analyzes collaborative work in inter-organizational crisis – such as the police, fire departments, energy network operators and citizens – in order to identify collaboration practices that reveal work infrastructure limitations. He also designs, implements and evaluates novel concepts and ICT artifacts towards the support of emergent collaboration. Besides the discovery of potential organizational effects on the ability to deal with emergence he presents methodological implications for technology design.

Interorganizational cooperation between partners, markets, and business leaders is an important facet of business and maintaining organizational competitiveness. Understanding how to effectively collaborate with partners in other organizations is an important skill for the success of all parties. Information Acquisitions and Sharing through Inter-Organizational Collaboration: Impacts of Business Performance in China discusses the effectiveness and impact of trust, e-business diffusion, and organizational processes on business performance in cooperative scenarios. Incorporating data from over 500 organizations in China’s manufacturing sector, this book is an essential reference for business leaders, CEOs, senior managers, and all other members of organizations seeking to better collaborate with their partners.

Unique in their approach to unraveling the complexity of collaboration, Heath & Isbell introduce novice readers to foundational concepts centered around three key assertions: Interorganizational collaboration is complex and warrants study as a specific type of leadership and communication Successful collaborative relationships are grounded in a principled ethic of democratic and egalitarian participation Interorganizational collaboration requires a specific communication language of practice From a constructionist stance, the authors delineate interorganizational collaboration as influenced by increased interconnectedness, shifting organizational needs, and a changing workforce. Unlike group and organizational texts that approach collaboration from a functional or strategic perspective, this insightful text anchors collaboration in the assumption that democratic and principled communication fosters creative and accountable outcomes. Readers will cultivate their ability to recognize and validate the needs of others, separate people's positions from underlying interests, listen for things never quite said, identify overlapping commonalities, build trust while respecting difference, navigate conflict, and plan for contingencies. They will be ready to participate in constructive collaborations and make the best decisions based on specific circumstances.

Interorganizational Collaboration: Complexity, Ethics, and Communication centers around three key assertions: (1) interorganizational collaboration is complex and warrants study as a specific type of leadership and communication; (2) successful collaborative relationships are grounded in a principled ethic of democratic and egalitarian participation; and (3) interorganizational collaboration requires a specific communication language of practice. Interorganizational collaboration is influenced by increased interconnectedness, shifting organizational needs, and a changing workforce. Collaboration invokes ethical questions and ethical responsibilities that must be considered in communication practices and structures. Although there are many popular books and practitioner materials on collaboration, most are not focused on introducing foundational concepts to a novice audience. In addition, the subject of communication in collaboration has been somewhat underdeveloped. The authors focus on communication from a social constructionist stance. One of their primary goals is to develop a collaboration pedagogy based on existing communication scholarship. The authors present communicative practices vital to interorganizational participation, and they view collaboration as something beyond an exchange of resources and knowledge. Unlike group and organizational texts that approach collaboration from a functional or strategic perspective, this text anchors collaboration in the assumption that democratic and principled communication will foster creative and accountable outcomes for participants in collaborative problem solving. The authors articulate a collaborative ethic useful in all communicative contexts. Micropractices of communication are fundamental not only to collaborating across organizations but also to fostering just and trusting relationships. The book discusses the cornerstone assumptions and principled practices necessary for stakeholders to address problems—for example, recognizing and validating the needs of fellow stakeholders; separating people’s positions from underlying interests; listening for things that are never quite said; identifying overlapping commonalities; building trust while respecting difference; and constructively navigating conflict. The book also focuses on building collaborative praxis based on the assumption of contingency. Praxis cultivates knowledge and ethical understanding of a situation so participants in collaborations can make the best decision based on specific circumstances.