Getting what you want from your transorganizational partners: “Social-sharedness” and decision-making within a transorganizational system

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the group decision-making process unfolds over time in a transorganizational system (TS) planning change.

Design/methodology/approach

A longitudinal qualitative case study was designed to enable researchers to identify different stages in the group decision-making process.

Findings

The findings from this case study indicated that the group decision-making process in a TS planning change could be conceptualized to include five distinct steps: working in solitude; starting a dialogue; finding a common goal; suggesting decision alternatives; and deciding among alternatives. The group proceeded through these steps sequentially over time.

Practical implications

The paper offers TS practitioners a framework to follow when making group decisions within TSs.

Originality/value

The study develops a conceptual framework that describes how the group decision-making process unfolds over time in a TS planning change. This framework can be tested in other contexts and advance theory in both the TS and group decision-making areas.

Citation

Halinski, M. and Duxbury, L. (2015), "Getting what you want from your transorganizational partners: “Social-sharedness” and decision-making within a transorganizational system", Management Decision, Vol. 53 No. 9, pp. 2017-2035. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-09-2014-0556