Facilitating collaboration with collaborative technology: Prerequisites and evidence from an explanatory mixed-methods study

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Collaboration is widely recognized as essential for mitigating resource dependency and effectively fulfilling public responsibilities. Meanwhile, the use of information technology is expected to enhance communication and strengthen interactions among collaboration participants. Given the substantial annual investments in IT and collaboration initiatives, public managers need to understand how technology, particularly collaborative tools, can be leveraged to achieve better collaboration outcomes. This case study examines the use of collaborative technology in an intraorganizational collaboration context, employing a mixed-methods approach that begins with an experiment followed by semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that the use of collaborative technology alone does not guarantee improvements in the collaboration process or performance. Achieving desired outcomes requires a supportive organizational and technological environment characterized by sustained leadership, thorough planning, active stakeholder engagement, robust communication mechanisms, and a commitment to continuous learning. Most importantly, genuine collaboration and engagement from all parties involved are key to success.