In research into interorganizational collaboration (IOC), the number of contributions highlighting the constitutive role of communication constantly seems to increase. However, surprisingly few contributions are devoted to communication studies that concentrate on the use of different media. An advanced “mediatedness” perspective is increasingly required, not least in terms of theory, focusing on how different media, as objects, tools and agents altogether constitute collaboration through complex combinations and asymmetric usage patterns. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to develop a theoretical framework for analyzing IOCs as media-driven processes and practices, which is highly relational. Of particular importance are the diachronic transformations of meaning-making when discursive content (sketchy notes, brainstorming, digital threads, presentation program slides, etc.) is transferred and materialized into stable ideas, proposals or solutions; moving from one media context to another; and its impact on the collaborations’ outcome.

Samverkan har kanske aldrig varit så förekommande som det är idag. Samverkan används av både offentliga och privata organisationer för att utbyta erfarenheter och uppmuntra innovativa projekt, men också för att adressera problem som ingen organisation kan lösa på egen hand. Samverkan har kommit att bli självklart för dagens organisationer. En anledning till att samverkan har ökat är på grund av de organisatoriska men också tekniska möjligheterna som idag finns att binda ihop organisationer över geografiska, institutionella och tidsmässiga avstånd. Samhället är idag avsevärt mycket mer kommunikativt ihopkopplat än bara för några decennier sedan genom den mångfald av digitala medier som tillkommit, från epost och ordbehandlingsprogram till digitala möten, samarbetsplattformar, sociala medier, och mycket mer. De utökade möjligheterna att kommunicera över tid och rum har bidragit med möjligheter att utan större ansträngning börja samverka. Med dessa ökade kontaktmöjligheter kommer också ökade förhoppningar om utsikter att hitta gemensamma riktningar, samordna resurser och finna gemensamma ageranden. Något som erfarenheter visar är lättare sagt än gjort. 

Interorganizational collaboration (IOC) is considered a democratic and efficient way to address some of our time’s most urgent societal issues, and the method is increasingly used. IOC is encouraged by the possibilities, expectations, and responsibilities to collaborate, but also by the communicative potential in today’s rich media environment. Using media, such as emails, interactive collaborative software, websites, and more, is today standard communication practice to organize across organizational boundaries. However, despite media’s promises of greater collaborative capabilities and efficiency, the overall perception is that IOCs should make a greater difference.

In this dissertation, I examine how today’s media-driven encouragement of IOC shapes collaboration by analyzing how the collaborative use of media shape collaborative agency. Instead of the dominating functionalistic understanding of media as circuits for information, the dissertation explores media use in IOC from a relational perspective, i.e., as meaning-making practices that shape collaboration. The dissertation focuses on the media use of an IOC dedicated to climate change mitigation in the digital transition during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a case—in particular, how the co-orientation of member perceptions and possibilities about how and why to collaborate through media form certain ideas about collaboration and contribute to certain forms of agency.

By means of qualitative methods and combining theories from media studies and organizational communication, the results show how media use has relational implications that contribute to the agency of IOCs. The studies illustrate how member negotiations about media-related issues, such as technological malfunctions and conflicting media perceptions, are part of processes that shape overarching ideas about how to address the societal problem together. By synthesizing the empirical results, the dissertation indicates three ways in which IOCs’ use of media contributes Swedish climate change mitigation: assembling, netting, and mobilizing. Among its many insights, the study reveals and expands our understanding of the potentials and pitfalls in our taken-for-granted ways of responding to today’s complex societal problems.

Cross-sector partnerships (XSP) that address complex societal issues tend to struggle to achieve a substantial impact. To attain successful collaboration, the way in which these XSPs balance participation and efficiency in collaborative practice is vital. While it is commonly examined in a face-to-face environment, this study investigates the practice in a digital context. Based on observations of virtual meetings in an XSP on climate change mitigation, a multimodal discourse analysis presents how affordances of communicative channels influenced the relationship of participation and efficiency, with consequences of increased centralization, virtual methods of governance and difficulties of dealing with complexity.

Interorganisational collaboration is often proposed as an ambitious and democratic method to address complex societal problems, yet it faces criticism for its perceived inefficiency. While this critique questions the effectiveness of interorganisational collaborations to achieve collective goals, little attention is awarded to the variety of impacts brought by members' possibilities to communicate. With this study, I aim to enhance the understanding of interorganisational collaboration by exploring their members' perceptions of how communication practices influence their ability to generate collaboration value. Eleven members of a Swedish interorganisational collaboration were interviewed, and the material was subjected to thematic analysis. The analysis revealed three overarching collaboration values: monitoring, networking, and empowering. By highlighting the communicational support, constraints, and interconnections of these values, the study offers insights into the communicational challenges and potentials of generating societal impact in fair and effective manners. These insights are valuable for practitioners involved in interorganisational collaborations and for guiding future research inquiries.