Platform evolution in large inter‐organizational collaborative research programs

Abstract

We examine the role of platform sponsors and program managers in evolving a platform to stimulate inter‐organizational collaboration in large research programs. Through a 5‐year longitudinal case study, we analyzed a large inter‐organizational collaborative research program in England, underpinned by the CLAHRC platform, sponsored by the NIHR. The research program attracted clinical academics in universities and clinical practitioners in a range of healthcare providers to collaborate in an ensemble of projects to drive evidence‐based care for patients with long‐term health conditions. Program managers struggled to facilitate collaboration through the platform, despite a highly decentralized governance approach. Our study identifies three mechanisms through which the platform sponsor and program managers revised the platform's governance strategies to enhance collaboration: (i) they instituted “interruptive events,” which routinely stopped projects, and analyzed if and why organizations struggle to collaborate; (ii) they expanded, rather than restricted, access rules for collaboration through “platform renting”; (iii) they re‐distributed, rather than re‐centralized, governance, to reduce unnecessary interdependences across collaborators attracted by the platform.

Large interorganizational projects (LIPs): Toward an integrative perspective and research agenda on interorganizational governance

“…The contributions to this SI address one or more of the four governance challenges that we have outlined. The work of Radaelli et al (2023) examines how sponsors and program managers developed a platform to stimulate collaboration, both cooperation/coopetition and coordination, in a LIP. Specifically, in their study, parties expanded access rules for "platform renting" and created a "distributed governance" approach to The authors also contribute to research on the dynamics of governance in LIPs by illustrating how governance mechanisms and coopetition co-evolve over time.…”