In Search for a Common Ground: An Empirical Derived Model of the Formation of Common Ground among Voluntary Exchange Relation

Abstract

Knowledge generation is one of the main forces in collaboration, because people connect to each other in such a process under the spell of the collective knowledge constructed through conversation. The process of collective knowledge construction itself becomes a conversational process. We argue that such a process transforms underorganized exchange relations into organized group action when a common ground is built upon a shared meaning. To illustrate this, we present two cases of collaborative processes: the strategic planning process of Ankara in Turkey and the inter-firm network formation of electronics and software industries in Vestfold County in Norway.