24
Consulting Organisational Change Cooperation –
Challenges, Issues and
Solution
s in Theory and PracticeJOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT AND CHANGE
No 29 2012
Abstract
The cooperation capacity of public organiza-
tions and profit companies is an increasingly
valuable resource. Cooperation partners come
from profit and non-profit organizations and
from organizations in the public domain, and
all are subject to a financial and legal context.
Coming from such completely different work-
ing contexts, logics and cultures, the potential
partner organizations provide services paral-
lel to each other (many times in a competitive
relationship).
How can those partners jointly “co-produce”
benefits through cooperation?
Within such an environment, a shared case for
action needs to take place, generating enough
“energy” for the key players to embark on such
a cooperative adventure. How is it possible to
initiate such a process?
At the end of a cooperative change process, it
is vital that the cooperation is fully developed
and established. How should the cooperation
project be designed and implemented so that
cooperation can continue?
This article discusses these issues and chal-
lenges using a case study. From the consultants’
perspective, the article explores the question
of how collaborative change processes can be
successfully managed and consulted through
concrete interventions (e.g. organizational
design, process design, settings, etc.). From a
scientific perspective, the article tries to show
which challenges and issues have to be con-
sidered.
In this interaction between practical action
and theoretical ref lection, the article specifi-
cally describes what happened in the change
process, but also generalizes aspects that offer
theoretical insights into OD change processes
in inter- and trans-organizational cooperation.
Keywords
Collaborative change processes, cooperation,
consulting, different logics, development and
implementation of organizational change
Consulting Organizational Change Cooperation
– Challenges, Issues and
.
1. 24
Consulting Organisational Change Cooperation –
Challenges, Issues and
Solution
s in Theory and PracticeJOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT AND
CHANGE
No 29 2012
Abstract
The cooperation capacity of public organiza-
tions and profit companies is an increasingly
valuable resource. Cooperation partners come
from profit and non-profit organizations and
from organizations in the public domain, and
all are subject to a financial and legal context.
Coming from such completely different work-
ing contexts, logics and cultures, the potential
partner organizations provide services paral-
2. lel to each other (many times in a competitive
relationship).
How can those partners jointly “co-produce”
benefits through cooperation?
Within such an environment, a shared case for
action needs to take place, generating enough
“energy” for the key players to embark on such
a cooperative adventure. How is it possible to
initiate such a process?
At the end of a cooperative change process, it
is vital that the cooperation is fully developed
and established. How should the cooperation
project be designed and implemented so that
cooperation can continue?
This article discusses these issues and chal-
lenges using a case study. From the consultants’
perspective, the article explores the question
of how collaborative change processes can be
successfully managed and consulted through
concrete interventions (e.g. organizational
3. design, process design, settings, etc.). From a
scientific perspective, the article tries to show
which challenges and issues have to be con-
sidered.
In this interaction between practical action
and theoretical ref lection, the article specifi-
cally describes what happened in the change
process, but also generalizes aspects that offer
theoretical insights into OD change processes
in inter- and trans-organizational cooperation.
Keywords
Collaborative change processes, cooperation,
consulting, different logics, development and
implementation of organizational change
Consulting Organizational Change Cooperation
– Challenges, Issues and
