Developing Practice‐Oriented Theory on Collaboration: A Paradox Lens

• Author: Siv Vangen
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12683
• Published date: 01 March 2017
• Date: 01 March 2017

Developing Practice-Oriented Theory on Collaboration: A Paradox Lens 263

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 77, Iss. 2, pp. 263–272. © 2016 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.12683.

Developing Practice-Oriented Theory on Collaboration:

A Paradox Lens

Siv Vangen is professor of collaborative

leadership, associate dean for research, and

director of the Centre for Voluntary Sector

Leadership at Open University, Faculty of

Business and Law, Milton Keynes, United

Kingdom. Her research, for which she has

won several awards, focuses on the theory

and practice of governing, leading, and

managing interorganizational collaboration.

She is coauthor (with Chris Huxham) of

Managing to Collaborate: The Theory

and Practice of Collaborative Advantage

(Routledge, 2005).

E-mail: siv.vangen@open.ac.uk

Research

Synthesis

Abstract : Collaboration is present throughout public administration as a means to address social issues that sit in the

interorganizational domain. Yet research carried out over the last three decades has concluded that collaborations are

complex, slow to produce outputs, and by no means guaranteed to deliver synergies and advantage. This article explores

whether a “paradox lens” can aid the development of practice-oriented theory to help those who govern, lead, and man-

age collaborations in practice. It draws on a long-standing research program on collaboration and a synthesis of relevant

literature on paradox and collaboration. The article develops five propositions on the application of a paradox lens that

explicitly recognizes the context of collaboration as inherently paradoxical; acknowledges the limitations of mainstream

theory in capturing adequately the complex nature of and tensions embedded in collaborative contexts; and uses the

principles of paradox to develop practice-oriented theory on governing, leading, and managing collaborations.

Practitioner Points

• Collaboration is present throughout public management as a means to address social issues that sit in

the interorganizational domain. Yet research carried out over the last three decades has concluded that

collaborations are complex and prone to failure.

• Collaborations that have the potential to achieve collaborative advantage are inherently paradoxical in nature.

The paradoxical nature arises because gaining advantage requires the simultaneous protection and integration

of partners’ uniquely different resources, experiences, and expertise in complex, dynamic organizing contexts.

• A paradox construct detected and named through research has the potential to aid understanding and

sensemaking. It can reduce managers’ anxiety by emphasizing why there cannot be one optimal solution to

aid action in practice.

• The theoretical concepts should go beyond simple labeling to elaborate on the kinds of tensions that arise for

governing, leading, and managing collaboration in practice.

• The theoretical concepts should help managers recognize and accept the strengths and weaknesses associated

with contradictory, equally valid, but opposing solutions to governing, leading, and managing collaborations.

It should do so in ways that are transparent, thus enabling effective reflection in practice.

Michael McGuire, Editor

Siv Vangen

Open University Business School, United Kingdom

S ociety ’ s most challenging issues are complex

and multifaceted beyond the reach of any

single organization to tackle effectively on its

own. Regardless of problem domain—be it poverty,

health, education, terrorism, migration, or climate

change—the boundaries between states, markets,

and civil society in addressing challenging social

issues are increasingly blurred. Collaborations, in

the shape of formalized joint working arrangements

between independent public, private, and nonprofit

organizations, are thus seen as necessary means of

addressing major issues facing society today (e.g.,

Agranoff and McGuire 2001 ; Br yson, Crosby, and

Stone 2015 ; Heinrich, Hill, and Lynn 2004 ; Huxham

and Vangen 2005 ; Ospina and Foldy 2015 ; Quick

and Feldman 2014 ; Thomson and Perry 2006 ; Weber

and Khademian 2008 ). Yet research over the last three

decades has concluded that collaborations are complex,

slow to produce outputs, and by no means guaranteed

to deliver synergies and advantage (Huxham and

Vangen 2005 ; McGuire and Agranoff 2011 ; O ’ Leary

and Bingham 2009 ; Saz-Carranza 2012 ).

While a number of factors contribute to the challenge

of collaboration, research increasingly points to inherent

paradoxes and associated governance, leadership, and

management tensions (e.g., Clarke-Hill, Li, and Davies

2003 ; Connelly, Zhang, and Faerman 2006 ; Das and

Teng 2000 ; Huxham and Beech 2003 ; Huxham and

Vangen 2005 ; Provan and Kenis 2008 ; Saz-Carranza

2007 ; Saz-Carranza and Ospina 2010 ; Tschirhart,

Christensen, and Perry 2005 ; Vangen and Huxham

2003 , 2012 ; Zeng and Chen 2003 ). These studies

usually draw on definitions of paradox put forth by