Collaborative advantage and collaborative inertia

A couple of important terms to remember:

Collaborative advantage is achieved when companies form collaborative alliances, when industry networks are helpful in building an industry, when partnerships between organisations tackle common issues that would otherwise fall through the gaps.

The B325 website describes it as:

Collaborative advantage
Something is achieved that could not have been achieved without the collaboration.

Collaborative inertia is a phenomenon that describes collaborative efforts that make slow progress, or those that do not succeed in achieving anything.

The B325 website says:

Collaborative inertia
The rate of output is slow, even successful outcomes involve frustrations and hard work.

So why do so many collaborative projects seek to achieve collaborative advantage, but only result in collaborative inertia? Is there any way to manage collaboration to increase the chances of gaining collaborative advantage?

These are the questions I’m hoping B325 will answer!

One interesting argument I’ve picked up on so far is that collaboration is something should be avoided unless the stakes are genuinely worth the effort.

Collaboration … don’t do it unless you have to!
(Huxham and Vangen, 2005).

(Source: The Open University, 2012).

One thought on “Collaborative advantage and collaborative inertia

  1. collaborative learning is apart from competition it is learning together to reach to consensual and every one is trying to help to other not because of himself/herself but because of group.

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