Value-independent Third-party Orchestrators as Catalysts of Business Collaboration

Abstract

Collaboration is recognized by policy-makers as a key element in innovation-led economic growth. Collaborative relationships form organically, but also can be actively facilitated. Studies of business collaboration facilitation typically concentrate on value-appropriating commercial organizations, acting as hub orchestrators or knowledge-brokers. Little attention has been paid to potentially more trustable and effective value-independent facilitators. The attributes and activities of these organizations were empirically investigated using grounded theory and situational analysis. Value-independent, third-party orchestrators (i3POs) are demarcated from related concepts, and are found to vary considerably in capability and motivation as collaboration orchestrators. A reappraisal of these organizations’ drivers, from the perspective of collective action theory, suggests how more i3POs may be encouraged to follow the practices of leading examples, with positive economic outcomes. Membership-based i3POs, such as trade associations, have longer term potential as collaboration orchestrators than transient business-growth programs but are under-exploited in this regard.

Open supply chain innovation: an extended view on supply chain collaboration

“…For instance, commitment to co-innovation can come from as-equal collaboration between the participating entities and more central leadership of the supply chain network, likely fulfilled by the focal company. Additionally, facilitating leadership is outsourced to a neutral external party that does not serve any organization’s interest but fulfills the sole task of maintaining supply chain innovation (Howells, 2006; Pinnington et al , 2020).…”

Orchestrating Knowledge Networks: Alter-Oriented Brokering

“…Different coordination models have sought to tackle these challenges, including bestpractice networks (Hayter, 2016;Jarvenpaa & Majchrzak, 2008), communities and networks of practice (Kalafatis, Lemos, Lo, & Frank, 2015), trade associations (Pinnington, Lyons, & Meehan, 2020), and industry forums and professional associations (Seibert, Kacmar, Kraimer, Downes, & Noble, 2017). An increasingly recognized approach to network coordination emphasizes orchestration, where a hub actor facilitates activities within a loosely coupled network or ecosystem (Dhanaraj & Parkhe, 2006;Gardet & Fraiha, 2012;Giudici, Reinmoeller, & Ravasi, 2018;Hurmelinna-Laukkanen & Nätti, 2018;Pinnington et al, 2020;Thomas & Ritala, 2021).…”

“…Different coordination models have sought to tackle these challenges, including bestpractice networks (Hayter, 2016;Jarvenpaa & Majchrzak, 2008), communities and networks of practice (Kalafatis, Lemos, Lo, & Frank, 2015), trade associations (Pinnington, Lyons, & Meehan, 2020), and industry forums and professional associations (Seibert, Kacmar, Kraimer, Downes, & Noble, 2017). An increasingly recognized approach to network coordination emphasizes orchestration, where a hub actor facilitates activities within a loosely coupled network or ecosystem (Dhanaraj & Parkhe, 2006;Gardet & Fraiha, 2012;Giudici, Reinmoeller, & Ravasi, 2018;Hurmelinna-Laukkanen & Nätti, 2018;Pinnington et al, 2020;Thomas & Ritala, 2021). This approach offers significant benefits because network orchestrators "may play an indispensable role in supporting the ongoing recombination of members' knowledge to explore new opportunities" (Giudici et al, 2018(Giudici et al, : 1396 and address the complexities of coordinating multiple diverse stakeholders (Reypens, Lievens, & Blazevic, 2021).…”

“…From a social network perspective, orchestration can be understood as a form of brokerage (Paquin & Howard-Grenville, 2013;Pinnington et al, 2020), in which one actor (the broker) occupies a particular structural position between other network actors (alters) (Kwon, Rondi, Levin, De Massis, & Brass, 2020). Most studies of orchestration (Dagnino, Levanti, & Mocciaro Li Destri, 2016) and brokerage have focused on the benefits of this central position for the broker (see, e.g., Burt, Kilduff, & Tasselli, 2013).…”

“…By engaging in this prosocial behavior, an orchestrator can influence a network in ways that accommodate alters' aspirations. For instance, a dedicated third-party orchestrator can help actors in venture associations (Giudici et al, 2018) and trade associations (Pinnington et al, 2020) to achieve their business and networking goals. Similarly, the "facilitator-orchestrator" (Hurmelinna-Laukkanen & Nätti, 2018) and "consensus-based orchestration" (Reypens et al, 2021) have proved especially effective in knowledge-and innovation-focused networks.…”