Overcoming the Barriers to Effective Collaboration

Abstract

Achieving organizational objectives requires more than good intentions. It calls for effective collaboration. This is especially critical when the organization is a result of a business takeover and the new management team comprises senior managers from two organizations that previously had been competitors. When senior team members' perceptions of organizational goals and how best to achieve them conflict, the highly adversarial decision-making environment that results could prevent the new organization from ever realizing its potential. The only solution in such a situation is to help the team acknowledge and understand the individual and collective mental models driving their decision-making behavior. ©2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.