When Average Joe met the Inexperienced Superstar—a case study of the consequences for a university of a partnership with IKEA

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore how consequences from a university-wide partnership unfolded at various levels within a university and induced intra-organizational dynamics. This was achieved via an in-depth investigation of "The Bridge," a collaborative partnership between the young mid-range Swedish Linnaeus University ("Average Joe") and the home furnishing retail giant IKEA, which despite its global reach has only limited research capacity (the "Inexperienced Superstar"). Based on previous research that conceptualizes consequences of collaborations as changes in wide-ranging resource categories over time, this article develops a conceptual framework that advances the understanding of the consequences of collaborative efforts at both the level of faculty individuals and groups, as well as on a university-wide level. The study identified both differences and similarities between the two levels related to material, knowledge, and social resource mobilization, and revealed consequent tensions within the university due to an imbalance in material resource mobilization and social resource mobilization. The resource-based multi-level perspective that this study puts forward enables a more finegrained and dynamic understanding of the conditions for undertaking and organizing university-wide long-term collaborative efforts.

Initiating and Anchoring an Academic Course on Societal Collaboration:

“…The information continuously seemed to either get stuck at different levels in the organisation or end up in silos. These observations indicate that the degree of decoupling (Ramirez and Christensen 2013) when organising for collaboration is exceptionally high, which echoes other stories of organising for collaboration (Broström, Feldmann and Kaulio 2019;Perez Vico 2021).…”

“…HEIs have produced strategic plans and developed different ways of organising for collaboration, such as collaboration councils, special strategic units and coordinators (Grafström, Jonsson and Klintman 2020). However, recent research indicates that these strategic topdown initiatives often meet faculty resistance, especially from those sceptical of efforts to steer and manage HEIs (Broström, Feldmann and Kaulio 2019;Perez Vico 2021). These developments reflect general challenges facing European HEIs due to centralisation that has redistributed power from the bottom of the organisation towards management and strategic actors that often hold values and aspirations dissimilar to those of academia (Pinheiro, Geschwind and Aarrevaara 2014).…”

“…Wedlin and Pallas, 2017). Although this is a general issue highlighted by numerous scholars, it has been identified as particularly significant in terms of the organisation of societal collaboration (Broström, Feldmann and Kaulio, 2019;Perez Vico, 2021).…”