Research: Research Findings

Research Findings

Program Information Management System (PIMS)

"...collaborations work best when meaningful integration between members occurs at five levels: the strategic, the tactical, the operational, the interpersonal, and cultural." - Rosa Beth Kanter, Collaborative Advantage: The Art of Alliances¹

Collaborations bring the imperative for a comprehensive risk analysis into sharp focus. Some of these risks will be common to all proposals, while others are unique to collaborations. Only a careful inventory will identify research risks inherent in the money, capital equipment, personnel, and process to be committed to an alliance.²

In assessing and prioritizing risks here are some questions worth asking:

• Which core competencies will be involved in the alliance and how can they be protected?
  
  
• What types and degrees of dependence on others in the collaboration are acceptable?
  
  
• How can opportunism by our partners in the consortium be contained?
  
  
• How would additional institutional members or research teams affect the risk potentials?
  
  
• Why, how, and when will the collaboration dissolve?
  
  
• What are the chances that unique values will be created?
  
  
• Will the foregone opportunities make them worthwhile?
  
  
• Will the team be able to do what they promise?
  
  
• How likely is it that competition will be able to do the work faster, cheaper, or better and will this threaten the collaboration?