Critics of the theories of strategic advantage argue that there is no scope for competitive advantage. They further argue that organisations should rather aspire towards a collaborative advantage. Analyse the perspectives of this criticism using any relevant organisational examples to justify your argument.

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Collaborative Advantage Definitions

?Ability to form effective and rewarding partnerships with other organisations, for mutual benefit.

?Building synergy between organizations towards the attainment of common goals.

?Benefit gained by a group of participants as the result of their cooperation rather than their competition.

Basis for Collaborative Advantage

Kanter identified three fundamental characteristics of productive partnerships:

?Living systems

?Involve collaboration

?Cannot be controlled by formal systems

Huxham identifies 6 common bases of collaboration which are set out below:

?Access to resource

?Shared risk

?Efficiency

?Co-ordination and seamlessness?

?Learning

?The moral imperative

Forms of Collaborative Partnership

Cooperative arrangements between organisations exist along a continuum, from weak and distant, to strong and close.

?At one extreme, are mutual service consortia (as in Shared Services). Similar organisations pool their resources to gain a benefit, e.g. through reduced costs, or to gain access to advance technology.

?At the mid-point are joint ventures. This is where organisations pursue an opportunity that requires the combined capabilities of each, e.g. the technology of one and the market access of another.

?The strongest and closest collaborations are value-chain partnerships. This is where organisations in different sectors, but with complementary skills, link their capabilities to produce additional value for their customers.

?Organisations can participate simultaneously in many kinds of partnerships, and partners in any relationship can play a variety of roles.

Levels of Collaborative Integration

?Strategic integration. This involves continuous contact between the top leaders of each organisation. Leaders should not form a partnership and then leave it to others to nurture the relationship;

?Tactical integration. This brings middle managers and professionals together to develop plans for specific projects or joint activities;

?Operational integration. This is the sharing of resources, information and knowledge to accomplish the planned joint projects and activities, e.g. through co-located teams, joint training programmes and data sharing;

?Interpersonal integration. True collaboration will not occur unless a network of interpersonal ties develops between the members of each organisation. Personal relationships are very much the glue that binds the partnership together; and

?Cultural integration. This requires that those involved in the partnership have the necessary communication skills and cultural awareness, to bridge any differences in culture that exist.

INTERNAL Coherence Capability Sutherland's Cumulative C's EXTERNAL Co-creation Collaboration Virtuous Cycle of Symbiotic Participation