A Dynamic Theory of Collaboration: A Structural Approach to Facilitating Intergovernmental Use of Information Technology

This paper explores the dynamics of trust, collaboration, and knowledge sharing in the context of a multigovernmental, interorganizational project to design and implement a new information system. Drawing on research and a case study of a successful project, the authors construct a system dynamics model and simulate a base case scenario. They then explore several scenarios in which trust, knowledge of other agencies’ work, and skill in meeting facilitation are varied, and they theorize about why certain facilitation attributes and objects can effectively build cross-boundary trust and collaboration.