| Abstract: | This paper investigates the theoretical challenges involved in developing an administrative innovation: managing collaborative quality. The emergence of new collaborative organizational forms has left managers in a quandary: how can they manage quality where several organizations come together to produce a product or deliver a service? In the past most quality definitions and techniques focused exclusively on intra-organizational quality. In strategic alliances, networks, project organizations and other collaborative arrangements, such an intra-organizational focus leads to severe limitations. This paper shows how the current status of collaboration and quality research poses serious challenges for companies that want to develop innovative approaches to managing collaborative quality. |
