Merging Institutional Logics and Negotiated Culture Perspectives to Help Cross‐Sector Partnerships Solve the World's Most Wicked Problems

Abstract

Showcasing a sixteen-month ethnographic study of a coalition to end homelessness in Western Canada

Negotiating Meaning Systems in Multi-stakeholder Partnerships Addressing Grand Challenges: Homelessness in Western Canada

“…In spite of the appearance of a unified mandate, actors held a variety of perspectives related to homelessness and tactics to end it (Easter & Brannen, 2016 Coalition enacted regular strategic planning process with extensive input from partners; the result was an annual business plan to focus and carry out goals of Coalition. Coalition enacted regular meetings to share information and help ensure partners were on the same page Partners utilized resources at their disposal during formal planning as well as in regular meetings and conversations after strategic priorities were finalized Multiple perspectives of homelessness present in Coalition's annual reporting and ongoing initiatives to address it at any given point in time Partners reflected on how their views about homelessness are shaped by their backgrounds; partners acknowledged that their perspectives have evolved over time due to their involvement in partnership Partners discussed successes related to the partnership working to address homelessness in the region; annual reports document partnership outcomes for each year of operations Variety of partners involved on behalf of organizations and associations from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors; partners continually cycling in and out without a great deal of socialization or formal introduction to partnership Fig.…”

Applying User-Centered Design to Build Trust and Enable Cross-Agency Data Sharing to Better Understand the Prevalence and Context of Human Trafficking in Alberta, Canada

“…Cross-silo collaboration and system-wide innovation success is possible when ethnography is applied to reveal the "cultural rules" and embed new collaborative behaviours (Briody and Erickson 2016, 57). As a result of anthropology's holistic and wide-ranging lens, system and product design projects including cyberinfrastructure, are more likely to be successfully embedded and integrated into organizational practice, address change resistance, and contribute to long-term success including the organization's strategic direction (Briody and Erickson 2016;Easter and Brannen 2016;Ensworth 2013;Hou & Holme 2016;Peinado 2016).…”

“…Boundary objects are a concept first described by Susan Leigh Star and James Gresisemer and described as objects "sustaining multiple meanings for heterogeneous members while also meeting the informational requirements of all" and help to coordinate "activity across disciplinary boundaries" (Ribes and Bowker 2008, 323). Easter andBrannen (2016, 49, citing Manning andRoessler, 2014) Fourth, "agency autonomy and policy and program decision making" can be threatened by data sharing and "can incite self-preservation instincts" (201, citing Salmela and Turunen 2003).…”