The tangled web: Unraveling the principle of common goals in collaborations

Abstract

This article addresses a "goals paradox" that suggests that both congruence and diversity in organizations' goals influence success in collaboration. Using extensive empirical data, we develop a framework that portrays goals as an entangled, dynamic, and ambiguously hierarchical web of variously perceived, higher-and lower-level goals that can be characterized across six dimensions: level, origin, authenticity, relevance, content, and overtness. We then explore the paradox in terms of the framework and so propose a much elaborated theoretical understanding of it. This provides theoretical and practical understanding relevant to management and governance in and of collaboration. © 2012 The Author.