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A little about the mystery: process learning as collaboration evolves
Author(s) -
Hibbert Paul,
Huxham Chris
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
european management review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.784
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1740-4762
pISSN - 1740-4754
DOI - 10.1057/palgrave.emr.1500025
Subject(s) - extant taxon , general partnership , process (computing) , principal (computer security) , knowledge management , collaborative learning , relation (database) , focus (optics) , psychology , sociology , computer science , business , physics , finance , database , evolutionary biology , optics , biology , operating system
In the complex, usually problematic situation of interorganizational collaboration the need for managerial learning in the pursuit of collaborative advantage is high. Two particular characterizations of learning, in relation to interorganizational collaboration, are well described in the extant literature. We characterize these as transferable process learning and substantive (goal oriented) learning and introduce a third mode, the principal focus and contribution of this paper: local collaborative process learning. It is focused on understandings of the particular collaborative situation – including an appreciation of such elements as purpose, partners and processes – which participants gain as they progress the collaboration. Through research in four specific partnership development programmes, we develop an initial characterization of the notion and suggest additional layers of complexity that are implicitly involved in such learning. Inter‐relationships between the three modes of learning in collaborations are then explored, to suggest some initial, broad, practice implications.