Abstract
AbstractBoth small- and medium-size entrepreneurial firms face liabilities such as resource scarcity and scale diseconomies, making it difficult for them to innovate on a continuous basis. In response, experimentation with new ways of organizing for innovation has increased. One successful result is an organizational model called the collaborative community of firms. This chapter addresses an important organizational role in a collaborative community that of the shared services provider (SSP). The SSP acts as a facilitator in the community, helping member firms collaborate with one another and developing strategic initiatives that aid the community as a whole. We discuss the facilitator role of the SSP, contrasting it with the coordinator role found in other multi-firm organizations, and we show how SSPs function by describing three examples of collaborative communities of firms from different sectors: the US-based Blade.org and two Denmark-based communities, the Kalundborg Industrial Symbiosis and MG50. Implications for the theory and practice of organization design are discussed.KeywordsNetwork orchestrationCollaborative community of firmsCollaborative innovationOrganization designNew organizational forms
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