Comparing For-Profit and Not-For-Profit Collaboration: Cohered Emergent Theory Application

This chapter applies Cohered Emergent Theory to explain how for-profit and not-for-profit collaborations can manage the challenges facing their collaborative activities, benefit from each other and satisfy the interest of their diverse stakeholders. The structure, scope and governing arrangements of collaborations are shaped by the underlying values and objectives of the organizations and partners forming such collaborative relationships. The complexities therein have influenced the existing understanding of for-profit and not-for-profit collaborations. Yet, the challenges of these collaborations and how they are resolved to give way for the two categories of collaborations to benefit from each other is less studied. Through the discipline of Cohered Emergent Theory, the chapter problematizes the need for cross-fertilizing the literature on for-profit and not-for-profit collaborations to generate a collaborative synergy for partners in both sectors. The findings indicate that Cohered Emergent Theory offers a capability and flexible mechanisms to implement collaborations that can potentially resolve power asymmetry, conflicting interests, mistrust, asset redundancies and uncertainties in collaborative arrangements. The implication of these for for-profit and not-for-profit collaborations is to learn from each other through cross-sector collaborations and safeguard against collaborative failures.