TY - JOUR
T1 - Process-based temporal coordination in multiparty collaboration for societal challenges
AU - Hilbolling, Susan
AU - Deken, Fleur
AU - Berends, Hans
AU - Tuertscher, Philipp
PY - 2022/2
Y1 - 2022/2
N2 - Solving complex societal challenges requires innovation processes that involve heterogeneous organizations collaborating for sustained periods of time. These multiparty collaborations are confronted with incongruent temporal structures, creating temporal complexities that hamper joint action. We draw on an in-depth longitudinal field study of a multiparty collaboration in a “living lab” initiative that aimed to develop innovative solutions to enhance a city’s nightlife area’s safety and economic viability. We unpack the process of temporal coordination by identifying three temporal coordination mechanisms that enabled parties to address temporal complexities: leveraging serendipitous alignment, temporary exclusion, and aligning on the future. Whereas, prior research has stressed synchronization as a dominant approach to coordination, rooted in a clock-time orientation, these three mechanisms for temporal coordination are rooted in process-time. With a process-time orientation, temporal coordination becomes inherently partial and transient, meaning that temporal complexities may resurface over time and require re-initiation of joint action, building upon emerging outcomes of previous episodes. We discuss implications for the literature on interorganizational collaboration and temporal coordination.
AB - Solving complex societal challenges requires innovation processes that involve heterogeneous organizations collaborating for sustained periods of time. These multiparty collaborations are confronted with incongruent temporal structures, creating temporal complexities that hamper joint action. We draw on an in-depth longitudinal field study of a multiparty collaboration in a “living lab” initiative that aimed to develop innovative solutions to enhance a city’s nightlife area’s safety and economic viability. We unpack the process of temporal coordination by identifying three temporal coordination mechanisms that enabled parties to address temporal complexities: leveraging serendipitous alignment, temporary exclusion, and aligning on the future. Whereas, prior research has stressed synchronization as a dominant approach to coordination, rooted in a clock-time orientation, these three mechanisms for temporal coordination are rooted in process-time. With a process-time orientation, temporal coordination becomes inherently partial and transient, meaning that temporal complexities may resurface over time and require re-initiation of joint action, building upon emerging outcomes of previous episodes. We discuss implications for the literature on interorganizational collaboration and temporal coordination.
KW - collaboration
KW - innovation management
KW - interorganizational coordination
KW - process research
KW - qualitative methods
KW - time horizon/pacing/temporality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85102680032&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1476127021992705
DO - 10.1177/1476127021992705
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1476-1270
VL - 20
SP - 135
EP - 163
JO - Strategic Organization
JF - Strategic Organization
IS - 1
ER -