Accomplishment of Interorganizational Collaboration: An Ethnomethodological Study of the Communicative Practices of an International Body

Abstract

This study looks into the communicative practices of an international body in the accomplishment of interorganizational collaboration or IOC. It aligns with the Montreal School of the communicative constitution of organization or CCO approach, wherein conversations reflect the collective experience of individual members and become authored into text that shapes the collective organization. An ethnomethodological approach was used in carrying out the data collection and analysis. This includes transcribing and coding conversations from meeting workshops of a consortium established by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).

Results from this study show that contextualizing, consensus building, and confirming commitment (3Cs) are accomplished through communicative practices. These 3Cs constitute IOC through co-orientation and formation of authoritative text. The 3Cs demonstrate an authoritative text that enables individual members of an interorganizational network to act in consonance as a collective organization. This study also explains how the 3Cs could help gain a better appreciation for communication as well as recommendations for future research.