Distrust, Identification and Collaboration Effectiveness in Multiparty Systems

Multiparty collaborative systems are created to tackle important societal challenges, yet studies that investigate the relational dynamics of such systems remain scant. Our study explores the role of distrust within and between parties, as well as identification with one’s own party, in the collaborative effectiveness of such multiparty systems (MPS). We use a behavioral simulation context in which distrust, identification, and collaboration effectiveness are assessed at three moments in time: namely, at the onset of the MPS (expectations related to within and between group interactions), during the interactions, and at the end of the simulation. The simulation was played 11 times with different groups, as part of an organization development program for a large organization. We show that high initial expectations of distrust between parties decrease collaboration effectiveness over time, while identification with one’s party has a positive influence on collaboration effectiveness. Moreover, our results show that distrust between parties interacts with distrust within parties in such a way that the highest level of collaboration effectiveness is reported by parties with low within-group distrust and low between-party distrust. The lowest collaboration effectiveness is reported by parties with low within-group distrust and high levels of between-party distrust.

Collaboration

Collaboration is a common strategy for improving TNGO impact and legitimacy. Chapter 10 examines different collaboration types, levels, and approaches, considers the benefits and obstacles to collaborations, and identifies various capacities required to collaborate strategically with a broad range of partners, including “unlike-minded” actors. In general, collaboration requires a greater focus on the external environment and leading without having top-down control. Success is largely driven by the attention given to the alignment of informal expectations, understandings, and behaviors. Cultural factors thus emerge as a common obstacle to collaboration effectiveness. Additional considerations include challenges related to competition, unequal partnerships, and credit-sharing for collective outcomes.

Challenges in Online Collaboration

This chapter describes a multi-year study on how online collaboration could be effective in the design of a research equipment sharing lab with university and industry partners. More specifically, this chapter focuses on the “soft” challenges of how to establish a shared vision of the project goals, trust among diverse partners, most of whom had never collaborated before this project, and the different leadership model that was required for effective online interactions. Internal obstacles included differences between academic and industrial organizational cultures (publication/patent tension) and the difficulty in establishing trust through online interactions. External obstacles included differences in leadership style (commanding vs. collegial agreement). While there were also logistical issues in the actual sharing of resources, the focus was on online interactions that crossed disciplinary boundaries (amongst university partners) and competition (amongst industrial partners). Collaboration models were useful in assessing online collaboration effectiveness.