A mesolevel communicative model of collaboration


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Publication Details

Output typeOther

Author listKeyton J, Ford DJ, Smith FI

PublisherOxford University Press

Publication year2008

JournalCommunication Theory (1050-3293)

Volume number18

Issue number3

Start page376

End page406

Number of pages31

ISSN1050-3293

eISSN1468-2885

LanguagesEnglish-Great Britain (EN-GB)


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Open access statusclosed


Abstract

Generally theorized and empirically examined as an organization phenomenon, collaboration may be more productively explored from a mesolevel model that simultaneously addresses group, organizational, and public frames. Examining how individuals communicate in those frames revealed four discursive productions of collaboration, which were previously undertheorized. Thus, we propose a communicative model that details the simultaneously occurring communication at multiple levels that gives rise to the emergence and effectiveness of collaborating talk. In this model, communication is no longer described as one of the component(s) of collaboration; communication is elevated to the essence of collaboration. Working from observations and records of a 9-month interorganizational collaboration, this article develops a mesolevel communicative model of collaboration and demonstrates that the bulk of collaborative communication occurs at the team level-indeed, the level where relationships among individuals and organizations is revealed and acted upon.


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Last updated on 2025-01-07 at 00:50