Organizational Collaboration: Themes and Issues

Many organizations today operate across boundaries - both internal and external to the organization. Exploring concepts and theories about different organizational, inter-organizational and international contexts, this student reader aids understanding of the individual’s experience of working within and across such boundaries. The book adopts a critical approach to individual experience and highlights the complexities inherent in these different layers and levels of organizing.

Comprising a collection of key articles and extracts presented in a readable accessible way, this book also features an introductory chapter which provides an overall critique of the book. Each part features a brief introduction before analyzing the following key themes:

• managing aims
• power and politics
• cultural diversity
• international management perspectives
• the darker side of collaborative arrangements

Some of the readings will specifically address collaboration ‘head on’ whilst others will provide an important context or highlight significant theoretical and practical issues that are considered relevant and interesting within the framework of the themes presented. As such, this book differs from existing titles as it sits bestride collaboration and organizational behaviour / theory in order to inform learning of exchange relationships on inter-personal, intra-organizational, and inter-organizational levels. The articles included are selected as critical in approach, straddling and addressing the central contexts described above, and highlighting the experience-centred nature of learning that can be derived from the content presented.

This comprehensive reference will be useful supplementary reading for organizational behaviour courses as well as core reading for those students undertaking research on collaboration.

MariaLaura Di Domenico is Reader in Organizational Behaviour at the University of Surrey School of Management, UK. Prior to this she was Lecturer in Organizational Behaviour at The Open University Business School, UK

Siv Vangen is Senior Lecturer of Management at The Open University, UK. She is co-author, with Chris Huxham, of Managing to Collaborate (also published by Routledge)

Nik Winchester is Lecturer in Management at The Open University Business School, UK

Dev Kumar Boojihawon is Lecturer in Strategic Management at The Open University Business School, UK

Jill Mordaunt is Senior Lecturer in Social Enterprise at The Open University, UK. She is co-editor of Thoughtful Fundraising (also published by Routledge)