Collaborative Windows and Organizational Governance: Exploring the Formation and Demise of Social Service Partnerships

For collaboratives to form, this article argues that a collaborative window (the confluence of problem, policy, organizational, and social/political/economic streams) must open, and a collaborative entrepreneur must act (recognizing the window and bringing together appropriate partners). This article argues that because collaborations form in response to particular collaborative windows, the initial governance structures developed will correspond to the conditions characterizing the window. Because initial governance structures are difficult to change and the conditions that characterized the collaborative window shift when the window closes, social service partnerships have built into them the seeds for their short-term demise. To illustrate this argument, a case study is presented of three small, community-based organizations that partnered to provide social services for persons living with HIV and AIDS in Orange County, California. The implications of this case study for understanding the potential long-term impacts of collaborations are discussed.