Resource Development and Use in a Nonprofit Collaboration

Abstract

Collaboration in public and nonprofit sectors enhances organizations’ access to resources, but the very process of collaboration is resource-intensive. Yet to date, the topic of how to develop and use resources for effective collaboration remains underexamined in the literature. We identify this issue as the “resource dilemma,” and examine how resources are developed and used in collaboration, drawing on the resourcing perspective. Based on a longitudinal qualitative case analysis of a collaboration of seven nonprofit organizations over five years, we identify four actions through which collaboration participants develop and use resources—framing, orienting, mobilizing, and structuring. We demonstrate how collaboration participants use these actions to develop and use resources, thus facilitating the process of collaboration. The findings suggest a new way of understanding resources in collaboration and highlight the significance of actions of collaboration participants in creating and enhancing the value of resources in collaboration.

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