CONCEPTUALIZING and MEASURING COLLABORATION

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CONCEPTUALIZING and MEASURING COLLABORATION

• Collaborative Public Management Conference
• Maxwell School and Program on the Analysis and
  Resolutions of Conflicts (PARC)
• Syracuse University Greenberg House
• Washington, D.C.
• September 28-30, 2006

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AUTHORS

• Ann Marie Thomson, IUB
• James Perry, IUPUI
• Theodore K. Miller, IUB

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PREVIEW

• PROPOSE A STRUCTURAL MODEL OF COLLABORATION
• TEST MEASUREMENT MODELS
• TEST STRUCTURAL MODEL
• CROSS-VALIDATE STRUCTURAL MODEL

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COLLABORATION DEFINED

• Collaboration is a process in which autonomous
  actors interact through formal and informal
  negotiation, jointly creating rules and
  structures governing their relationships and ways
  to act or decide on the issues that brought them
  together it is a process involving shared norms
  and mutually beneficial interactions.

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FIVE PROCESS DIMENSIONS

• GOVERNANCE
• ADMINISTRATION
• MUTUALITY
• NORMS
• ORGANIZATIONAL AUTONOMY

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METHODS

• Mail survey to 1382 AmeriCorps directors
• 440 returns 32 response rate
• 56 survey items for five dimensions

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RESULTS Measurement Model

• Can Each of the Five Unobserved Dimensions be
  Derived From Observed Indicators?
• Support for Five Distinct Dimensions
• 17 Indicators

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RESULTS Structural Model

• Expectation Five Dimensions Influenced by a
  Higher-Order Factor, Collaboration
• Component indices significant, large relative to
  standard errors, and in hypothesized direction
• High r-squares for structural relationships
• Support for close fit is strong.

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RESULTS Cross-Validation

• Comparison of correlation matrices for Chen
  (2004) and our resultseach used the same
  17-indicator scale
• Akaike Information Coefficient (AIC)
• Governance, mutuality, and trust dimensions are
  similar in the two studies
• Autonomy represents the greatest difference

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FINDINGS SUMMARY

• Support for the Structural Model
• 17 Indicators Representing the Five Dimensions of
  the Model
• Expectations Regarding Reciprocity as a Norm Not
  Met
• Further research on Multi-dimensional Scale
• Autonomy Dimension
• Research on collaborations across structures,
  context and time