Definitions Do Make a Difference: County Managers and Their Conceptions of Collaboration

ABSTRACT

Although the academic literature reveals great variety in definitions of collaboration, little research has examined the conceptions of practitioners. Because the literature encourages collaboration, and foundations often insist on this arrangement for funding, these views are consequential. This article elaborates the definitions of collaboration offered by county managers in a growing U.S. state who have responsibility for service delivery in their jurisdictions. Like academic researchers, these practitioners have widely differing conceptions of collaboration, and their responses suggest a “collaboration halo,”—that is, a tendency to see collaboration in a positive light. The article discusses the implications of these results.

KEYWORDS:

• Collaboration
• contracting
• county government
• partnership