collaboration
 

Anyone truley understand it? Is it just a buzz word?

Im writing a MSc article for my dissertation on the risks of collaboration. Has anyone been through such programme with organisations they work for?

I would appreciate any help more for advice and any case studies / experiences. they would be a really big help.

Thank you

Re: collaboration
 

eh? collaboration in what sense? I dislike the word - occasionally. legal agreements involving public bodies describe the parties as collaborators - sounds a bit sinister. Do you mean joint ventures of some sort? If you do I have one story in particular, dunno whether it would be relevant.

Re: collaboration
 

My advice, spellcheck your dissertation! :p

On a serious note, I thought that for a masters dissertation you were supposed to pick a subject that was interesting to you, you already had some understanding in and you develop ideas for how the process / function / whatever could be improved for future applications. If you're having to find out the meaning of the word I'd suggest you pick a different subject. Get the subject right for you and the rest will come a lot easier IMO.

Re: collaboration
 

spell check? What word? collaborations ?

Re: collaboration
 

hth :d

Re: collaboration
 

truley I think.

But what does it mean? If you are talking JVs then I'll PM you.

Re: collaboration
 

I have done a very large amount already (7568 words.) I was looking to derive a little more qualative / quantative data by form of opinions views on the subject.


Pleas dotn maon abuot spleling. Wrod does that fro me on my dissettaion.

Re: collaboration
 

blueto, will you please answer the question...

Re: collaboration
 

Not at work, but I contribute to an open-source web-software project in my spare time. Collaboration is the essence of how things work; there are no paid staff - everyone is a volunteer.

Pros:
Speed
Not reliant on one person
Sharing of expertise
Low cost
Bug reporting/fixing
Community spirit
Keeping up to date with coding standards
Frequent releases
User-feedback to guide future direction
Teamwork

Cons:
Needs lots of communication
Occasional differences of opinion
Needs clear direction and focus
Need to form workgroups/task setting
Delays when contibutors busy with day-jobs
Need to ensure that project isn't reliant on one person

I could go on..... PM me if you want to chat :thumbsup:

Re: collaboration
 

Hi Ed.

Some of the principals I will be covering are

· Highlight how organisations balance the business value of collaboration with the reality of risk management and compliance?
· focus principally on the risks associated with informal collaboration and strategic restructuring activities
· Identify how it can be done in a manner that doesn't sacrifice business value and preserves as much of the egalitarian values of collaboration as possible
· Consider the opportunity costs and, preferably, establish benchmarks which organisations can measure whether the hoped-for outcomes of collaborating are really worth the investment they are making.
· Understanding that risk management in collaboration will not happen unless it is properly resourced. This includes the provision of people, time and in some cases finance to make it happen.
· Illustrate that clear partnership outcomes are essential to ensure risk management is taken seriously and that there must be open communication between partners involved about the key risks that partnerships face in achieving their objectives.


These do fall under Joint ventures, mergers, Informal collaboration or strategic restructure. Id like to know if people had been involved in any such activity. Did it work? And maily what they felt were the risks associated with collaboration.

The sort of definition I am using is “Collaboration is especially valuable for moving beyond the internal boundaries of the corporation and creating integrated and tighter relationships with customers, suppliers, and partners. Collaboration can take many forms, from the most informal agreement to work together on a one-time project, to multi-year joint ventures or full-blown mergers that involve substantial resource shifts and changes in organisational structure”