"External Boundary Management in Cross-Sectoral, Interorganizational Collaboration"

Research on boundary management in interorganizational collaboration has focused on the internal boundaries among partner organizations. Conversely, the management of partnerships’ external boundaries has been less studied, even if the partners often need resources which they do not possess. When the partners cannot internally develop or purchase such resources, they may engage in an alliance with external organizations or, alternatively, add a new partner to the partnership (co-opt). As research on this unique alternative is scarce, we offer a systematic analysis for the ally vs co-opt choice. We illustrate the particularities of this external boundary management choice in the context of cross-sectoral, interorganizational collaboration and develop propositions about how existing partners’ different sector logics and organizational interests might lead them to different boundary/governance preferences. Overall, the analysis uncovers how hybrid collaboration’s internal complexities may impact the partners...