Relational perspective on collaboration barriers in public service ecosystems

Abstract

Purpose This study addresses barriers to collaboration in the public service ecosystem through the lens of relationality. It asks how barriers to interorganizational collaboration are framed in the analytical context of the public service ecosystem. The empirical context draws from Finnish social and healthcare services and from the collaboration of wellbeing services counties (WSCs) and the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela).

Design/methodology/approach The data in this study consist of interviews with 56 persons (within 12 group and 26 individual interviews) representing either Kela or a WSC. The data were analysed using frame analysis, with the aim of identifying interpretations concerning barriers that emerge across ecosystemic levels.

Findings The study identifies four frames that describe the barriers to collaboration in the public service ecosystem: (1) insufficient knowledge and flow of information, (2) institutional and organizational restrictions and scarcity, (3) immature organizations due to reform and (4) differing modes of action. The results also highlight the relational nature of reform as a social phenomenon that shapes the institutional context of collaboration.

Originality/value This article sheds light on collaboration barriers by using extensive interview data from the Finnish social and healthcare context, which is currently shaped by major reforms. The relational lens and frame analysis provide a fruitful theoretical approach.