Creating and maintaining momentum – relational work in public-private innovation partnerships

ABSTRACT

This study addresses the scantly examined work done by individuals to develop reciprocal relationships and maintain momentum throughout public-private innovation partnerships. We combine insights from the public-private innovation partnership literature with the notion of relational work from economic-sociology to analyse cases of public procurement for innovation (PPI) and pre-commercial procurement (PCP). We identify patterns of relational work stimulating continued interaction across different phases of the PPI and PCP instruments. Contributing to the debate on creativity versus constraints in public-private innovation partnerships, we present relational work as reciprocal and intentional activities to influence the social-symbolic structures in which they are embedded.

KEYWORDS:

• Public-private innovation partnership
• relational work
• momentum
• public procurement for innovation
• pre-commercial procurement

Acknowledgments

We thank our colleagues from The Nordic Network of Public-Private Innovation, supported by NOS-HS, who provided insight and expertise that greatly assisted the research. Thanks, Pauliina Ulkuniemi, Per Ingvar Olsen, Morten Høie Abrahamsen, and Ann Højbjerg Clarke.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2023.2239826

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by The Joint Committee for Nordic research councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NOS-HS).