Originally published as International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Volume 28, Issue 1 & 2, 2008
ISBN: 978 1 84663 788 9
E-ISBN: 978 1 84663 789 6
Guest edited by:Dr Nick Ellis and Dr Paul Hibbert
This e-book aims to explore the uses of stories as data by researchers into inter-organizational collaboration and the kinds of insights gained in such “storied” approaches. It is generally agreed that, at their most foundational, stories are a way of sense-making, a way of understanding a present, preserving or changing a past and dreaming a future. Inter-organizational collaborations, and the relationships they engender, are also enacted along temporal dimensions and as such, provide a promising space for researching the emergence, use and role that stories and storytelling plays in creating “promising” (or less promising) collaborative practices. The papers provide a greater understanding of issues crucial to collaboration, integrating aspects of research, issues of research and implications for practice.
Contents:
Collecting collaboration: understanding collaboration through stories
Nick Ellis and Paul Hibbert
The purpose of this editorial is to provide an overview of content and process of development of the five papers collected in this special issue on collaboration and storying.
Telling stories and the practice of collaboration
Lucia Garcia-Lorenzo, Sevasti-Melissa Nolas and Gerard de Zeeuw
Stories and the telling of stories constitute a major part of our daily life, yet how this happens is not clearly understood. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the ways in which stories challenge the notions of knowledge that are common in the “classical” scientific tradition. It also aims to focus on the function of stories in the collaborative, interpersonal and inter-organisational dynamics of the way knowledge is built up in daily life.
A democratic story: collaboration in the use of public budget
Evandro Bocatto, Eloisa Perez de Toledo
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how the notion of “storying collaboration” can benefit democratic participation, collaboration among different social actors, and local development.
Discursive tensions in collaboration: stories of the marketplace
Nick Ellis
If stories can create promising practices, what does talk of “collaboration” mean in the context of what would appear to be market-based inter-firm relationships (IFRs)? How do managers trying to cope in industrial sectors make sense of supply chain relationships? This empirically driven paper attempts to shed some light on these issues.
Competing interests: the challenge to collaboration in the public sector
Louise Young and Sara Denize
Managers working within organizations that are part of public–private collaborations comment on their “diabolical” nature and seek guidance as to their administration. Set in an organization involved in a public–private “service delivery contract”, the purpose of this paper is to report research into the collaboration and challenges experienced within the organization. It also seeks to consider to the significance of narrative and story-telling in understanding these complexities.
Characters in stories of collaboration
Paul Hibbert, Peter McInnes, Chris Huxham and Nic Beech
The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which narratives of collaborations tagged as successful may be constructed around common characterizations of participants, in order to provide insights to the ways in which stories may be constructed as vehicles for the adoption or adaptation of good or promising practices.
About the International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy
The International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy provides an interdisciplinary forum for research and debate in all branches of sociology and social policy.The journal reflects current thought and practice, presenting comprehensive coverage of issues of international importance, in a lively and informative way.
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