Collaborative Process Research Articles

This work was motivated by the premise that new competitive advantages in the international economy are increasingly enabled by the collaborative industrial system rather than working alone. Construction firms are transforming from contractors to integration service providers. However, existing studies on collaborative processes ignore the value attributes of the firm. This study aims to explore a comprehensive framework by complementing the value attribute perspective and empirically reveals the impact of six necessary collaboration factors on competitive advantage. Data of 192 respondents from seven leading Chinese construction Groups based in China are collected. The results show that the two macro elements (i.e., Value Reconfiguration and Strategy Congruence) act together on the remaining four endogenous variables of Resource Sharing, Information Sharing, Organizational Integration and External Integration. The realization of enterprise collaboration has a significant positive impact on the improvement of its competitive advantage, and 13 critical paths are identified in this paper. This paper provides a new perspective on the theoretical system of collaboration and practical guidance for enterprise to provide a higher-quality package of services.

This study aims to describe the collaboration undertaken by the Dinas Kepemudaan, Olahraga dan Pariwisata (Disporapar), with various stakeholders in supporting a healthy lifestyle through the Pelayanan Instruktur Senam Gratis(PING) program. The research uses a qualitative descriptive approach, with data collected through observation and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, including local government officials, aerobics instructors, partner sub-districts, and community members as service recipients. The findings reveal that the PING program is implemented through a collaborative governance approach involving public, private, and community actors. The collaboration process includes principal engagement, shared motivation, and capacity for joint action. The program has shown effective collaboration; however, there are still challenges related to information dissemination and administrative systems. The study recommends improving outreach strategies and administrative processes.

Advancing sociotechnical systems theory: New principles for human-robot team design and development.

Multi-scale and collaborative photon processing for 3D imaging through atmospheric obscurants using an array Gm-APD LiDAR

BackgroundDeaf individuals face barriers in accessing healthcare for dementia and Alzheimer's disease and are often overlooked in research. Deaf-friendly scales in German Sign Language (DGS) are urgently needed to ensure inclusive and equitable dementia care for Deaf individuals.ObjectiveThe aim of the study is the linguistic and cultural adaptation/validation of the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale (DKAS-D), the Dementia Attitude Scale (DAS-D), and the Confidence in Dementia Care Scale (CODE-D) into DGS.MethodThe three scales were adapted into DGS using a collaborative translation process involving Deaf and hearing bilingual signers. A convenience sample of 205 Deaf participants answered the DKAS-DGS and DAS-DGS; a subsample answered the CODE-DGS (n = 160) online via Google Forms or as a pencil-and-paper version in person. Psychometric validation included internal consistency, structural and construct validity. For the DKAS-DGS an item analysis was conducted.ResultsInternal consistency was acceptable to good for all scales. The removal of five items from the DKAS-DGS and four from the DAS-DGS led to improvements in structural validity for both. The CODE-DGS one-factor structure showed good model fit. Construct validity was confirmed, with participants with practical or professional experience with people living with dementia scoring higher on all scales. Item analysis of the DKAS-DGS revealed challenges in translation, as well as the need for accessible, tailored dementia education for the Deaf community.ConclusionsThe three scales are valuable tools for measuring dementia knowledge, attitudes, and confidence in care among DGS-signers and may be used in future research settings.

This study proposes the Knowledge Building (KB) pedagogy as a collaborative method for climate change education. Few studies have explored how teachers new to KB have used the approach involving students who are also new to KB in classrooms. This study explores how a grade seven science teacher used the KB approach for the first time to support student learning about climate change, specifically focusing on facilitating idea generation and the revision and refinement of ideas. The teacher implemented KB in two rounds with her class of 20 students. A qualitative case study design was employed to collect the data. Data was collected from classroom observations, teacher interviews, student interviews, and teacher reflections; it was coded, and categories were derived from the emergent data. The results show that the teacher attempted to facilitate the students’ idea generation, revision and refinement of those ideas as a collaborative process. While brainstorming and reflective comparisons fostered the idea-generation process, structural guidance facilitated revising and refining ideas. This educational method is essential for teaching about complex issues like climate change because it enables students to apply their existing knowledge to explore better solutions. While this research contributes to the ongoing research works on understanding how teachers new to the approach apply knowledge building in practice, particularly in facilitating idea generation and idea improvement, teachers should assume the role of facilitators, work together with students as partners, and provide extra guidance required during the process, especially when they are unfamiliar with KB or similar approaches.

This article explores how interdisciplinary teams work when developing environmentally conscious materials. Based on nine interviews with founders, researchers, and practitioners, it identifies what makes collaboration across design, science, engineering and art effective. Respondents emphasized the importance of shared and well-equipped spaces, open communication, and personal qualities such as empathy, openness, and adaptability. They also pointed to challenges of different time perceptions, the need to overcome hierarchical habits, and the decisive role of great leadership in providing vision and cohesion. While the study reflects a limited and design-oriented sample, it provides fresh insights into how collaborative teams navigate challenges of time, language, and organization. The article contributes to growing debates on material innovation as an interdisciplinary practice and seeks to inspire designers, students, and researchers to engage more openly in collaborative processes.

This article focuses on online collaborative learning in the Chinese higher education environment. Through a comprehensive analysis of multiple relevant literature, it aims to explore the phenomenon of "absent presence" that occurs during the online collaborative learning process of Chinese college students, as well as the resulting issues such as attention distraction and insufficient participation. Based on this, effective improvement strategies are proposed. The main research method employed is literature analysis, systematically reviewing and commenting on existing studies on online collaborative learning, student participation, media influence, and teaching strategies. The analysis shows that the effectiveness of online collaborative learning is significantly influenced by environmental interference, media selection, and teaching design. To address the problems of low participation and low efficiency, this article proposes three strategies: Firstly, strengthen the guiding and motivating role of teachers or teaching assistants in discussions to stimulate interaction; Secondly, suggest that students choose environments with less interference and use less entertaining professional platforms to reduce distraction; Finally, through the formulation of clear online management strategies (such as content segmentation, integration of online and offline, and scheduling breaks), to enhance the flow experience and concentration of learning. The final conclusion is that although these strategies help improve the quality of online collaborative learning and bring it closer to the "real presence" of offline learning, their effects are still constrained by individual student factors, and the strategies themselves still require more empirical research support.

ABSTRACT This study analyzes the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of the coupling of enterprise resilience and digital economy in Jiangsu Province, China, using the modified Ellison–Glaeser index, coupling coordination degree, and the Tobit regression model. The internal mechanism of coupling is discussed from the aspects of human capital, research and development (R&D) investment, industrial cooperation, economic foundation, foreign capital support, and structural rationalization. The study found that enterprise resilience and the complementarity of the digital economy reflect a gradual collaborative and orderly upgrading process in Jiangsu Province. The spatial linkage pattern is significant, showing an imbalanced and polarized pattern of the synergy being low in the north and high in the south. With respect to the industry sector, the coupling between the enterprise resilience of the tertiary industry and the digital economy is more significant compared to other industries. Furthermore, the absolute difference of the coupling has increased between cities, the interaction between systems has not yet reached the ideal state of cooperation, and a benign interactive model has not yet formed. R&D investment, industrial collaboration, economic foundation, and industrial structure rationalization play a significant role in coupling, while human capital, foreign investment, and industrial structure rationalization show a lag in coupling progress.

This study examines the development of guidelines for the use of AI-based machine translation (MT) and generative AI (GenAI) within the Project-based English Program (PEP) at a Japanese university. While these AI tools provide opportunities for translation, writing support, and idea generation, they also raise concerns about overreliance, plagiarism, and the loss of critical thinking. Unlike existing institutional guidelines that tend to be top-down rules and regulations, this study highlights guideline development as a collaborative and participatory process. Drawing on a faculty survey, draft guidelines, faculty feedback, and the final version, we trace how the guidelines developed within PEP evolved from the rule-oriented policies of the draft to the emphasis on encouragement and responsibility in the final version, to better align with the program's educational philosophy. The study demonstrates that such documents are not static sets of rules but mirrors that reflect the educational culture and values of the programs that develop them, remaining open to adaptation as contexts change.

Intelligent product design significantly enhances daily convenience and improves work efficiency. Within intelligent product design, the conceptual phase serves as a critical foundational stage. Existing conceptual design methods typically require substantial time investment and human resources. Human–large language model (LLM) collaborative design offers a more efficient and cost-effective alternative by reducing reliance on human efforts. Meanwhile, it introduces potential design conflicts among multiple agents involved in the collaborative design process. To address these challenges, we propose an innovative framework called design Coco-pilot that integrates quality function deployment (QFD) into human–LLM collaborative conceptual design. The framework consists of three modules: interactive empathising through LLM-guided dialogue, automated and traceable construction of the QFD matrix, and QFD-guided multi-agent collaborative design. We apply the framework to develop the concept of the intelligent flight assistant. A multi-metric evaluation involving licensed pilots and aviation experts demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed design. Our design Coco-pilot presents a novel approach that redefines user-centered design, facilitates intelligent product development, and explores new directions in human–LLM collaborative design.

Introduction Agile methodologies are ubiquitous in software development, yet their measurement remains challenging due to a lack of validated instruments. This paper details the development and initial validation of the Agile Team Practice Inventory for Software Development (ATPI-SD), a new questionnaire measuring team-level agility based on core agile values and practices. Methods Starting from a comprehensive literature review (258 items) and expert consultations ( n = 7), five dimensions were initially identified, leading to 67 generated items. Expert feedback refined this to 37 items across 4 dimensions, which were tested in Study 1 ( n = 199). Further analysis resulted in a final 20-item scale with four dimensions: Customer Involvement (CI), Team Collaboration (TC), Iterative and Incremental Development Processes (IIDP), and Continuous Development Process Improvement (CDPI). Results Data from our study (n = 237) showed good internal consistency for the total scale (α = 0.89) and subscales (ranging from 0.69 to 0.84). Confirmatory Factor Analysis indicated a moderate-to-acceptable model fit (e.g., CFI = 0.88, TLI = 0.86). Moderate convergent validity was supported by a significant correlation with a single-item self-rating of team agility ( p = 0.404, p < 0.001). Discussion While suggesting potential for refinement, the ATPI-SD provides a systematically developed and initially validated instrument for researchers and practitioners assessing agility in software development teams.

Aims: This paper examines how toy-making activities foster creative problem solving among middle school students, focusing on how varying levels of instructional guidance influence their exploration, collaboration, and construction processes. Study Design: A qualitative, comparative workshop study was conducted in which two groups of students made a Jigging Puppet – one with detailed instructions and the other without detailed instructions. The analysis explored how semiotic processes, i.e. the materials and tools available in the making activity itself, shaped students’ creative and collaborative actions. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in four middle schools across urban and semi-urban regions of Kurukshetra, Haryana, India over a six-month period, including workshop implementation, documentation, and post-activity reflections. Methodology: Data were collected through classroom observations, photographs, and field notes during hands-on toy-making sessions. The analysis followed an inductive approach with a particular focus on the creative process of toy-making informed by the concept of creative problem solving addressing how learners engage with creative challenges, and the concept of affordances investigating how they shape learners’ interpretation of materials – what they can do with them – and how such material possibilities are shared, and negotiated in collaboration. These dimensions were analyzed to understand how having detailed instructions or no detailed instructions shaped students’ engagement in creative problem solving. Results: Students without detailed instructions demonstrated higher levels of exploration, experimentation, and adaptive use of materials, though their products often lacked precision or full functionality. Conversely, students with detailed instructions achieved technically refined and functional toys but showed reduced instances of creative divergence. The analysis revealed that linking and framing operated as mediating semiotic resources through which instruction influenced the balance between creativity and precision. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that toy-making can serve as a structured yet flexible medium to cultivate creative problem solving in middle school education. While minimal instruction fosters curiosity and innovation, structured guidance supports skill development and functional precision. These findings highlight the value of alternating between open-ended and guided making activities to balance creativity, collaboration, and craftsmanship in learning environments.

The sudden changes in light and slope at the entrance of mountain tunnels can easily lead to unstable traffic flow, especially in mixed traffic flow containing ICV. The existing control methods are difficult to simultaneously address three challenges: dynamically changing lighting and slope environments, vehicle data privacy protection requirements, and insufficient adaptability to different tunnel scenarios. This study developed the MF3DQN-TF control framework to address these issues by integrating environmental perception and vehicle control. The framework first establishes a correlation model between light gradient and slope resistance, converting environmental risks into quantifiable control signals; Secondly, design an intelligent weight allocation mechanism to automatically increase the decision-making priority of environmental factors in strong light areas; Finally, a distributed training architecture is adopted to achieve knowledge sharing in multi tunnel scenarios while protecting vehicle data privacy. The verification results show that in typical tunnel testing scenarios, this framework significantly improves performance compared to traditional methods: the amplitude of speed fluctuations is reduced by about 40% compared to conventional control methods, the risk of rear end collisions is reduced to one-third of that of traditional reinforcement learning schemes, and the communication transmission volume is only half of that of typical federated learning methods. The verification results show that in typical tunnel testing scenarios, this framework reduces speed standard deviation by 41.4% (vs. PID control), cuts high-risk TTC < 2 s events by 62.5% (vs. centralized DQN), and nearly halves communication volume (46.2% reduction vs. FedProx). These improvements stem from the collaborative processing mechanism of the framework for environmental risks and vehicle status, providing a new technological path for safety control in complex tunnel environments.

BackgroundAutistic adults experience disproportionately high rates of mental health challenges and encounter substantial barriers to care. While initiatives aimed at improving mental health literacy (MHL) offer one strategy for addressing these disparities, the processes through which such initiatives are co-produced with autistic adults and caregivers remain underexplored. Co-production – the collaborative development of resources or knowledge between researchers and community members – can enhance the relevance, authenticity, and impact of health initiatives. The central aim of this study was to understand how autistic adults and caregivers experienced their involvement in the co-production of an applied health research initiative. To inform future initiatives, there is a need to understand stakeholder experiences of the co-production process.MethodsThis study examined the experiences of stakeholders engaged in the co-production of a Canadian MHL resource for autistic adults and their families. Although the context of the project focused on MHL, the central aim was to understand how autistic adults and caregivers experienced their involvement in the co-production process. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 autistic adults and caregivers who served as advisors in the Autism Mental Health Literacy Project (AM-HeLP). A reflexive thematic analysis approach was used to identify key experiential themes related to their involvement.ResultsA thematic analysis identified four main stakeholder experience themes: (1) the elements of co-production, (2) the collaboration process, (3) insights gained and (4) emotional impact of involvement.ConclusionsThese findings highlight the critical importance of intentional, inclusive and trauma-informed co-production practices in applied health research. They offer practical guidance for researchers, service providers and policymakers seeking to authentically engage autistic adults and families in the development of health-related resources. Supporting equitable partnerships with autistic adults and caregivers is essential to advancing responsive and person-centred health policy and practice.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12961-025-01403-y.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) asserts that Collaborative Problem-Solving (CPS) is an essential skill for students, also assessed in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Yet, research on how factors influence student discussion participation in the Mathematical Collaborative Problem-Solving Process remains limited. This paper integrates the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to explore factors that are related to student discussion participation during mathematical collaborative problem solving. The study collected data from 406 respondents from Guangxi, China, which has implemented collaborative problem-solving processes in recent years. The data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) approaches. The SEM results indicate that 11 out of 13 factors significantly influence discussion participation in discussions during mathematical collaborative problem solving. The fsQCA identified three solutions consisting of various combinations of elements that can lead to high student discussion participation in CPS. These fsQCA results complement the SEM findings by offering an asymmetric perspective. Together, these findings offer practical implications for mathematics teachers and school leaders. Specifically, they underscore the importance of cultivating positive attitudes, supporting students’ sense of autonomy and competence, and creating classroom environments that encourage peer interaction and collective problem-solving. By applying these insights, educators can design more effective CPS activities that actively engage students and improve learning outcomes.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-21086-3.

Accurate detection of pomegranate maturity plays a crucial role in optimizing harvesting decisions and enhancing economic benefits. Conventional approaches encounter significant challenges in complex agricultural scenarios, including limited feature representation capabilities, singular attention mechanisms, and insufficient multi-scale information fusion. This study presents the DFMA-DETR algorithm, which establishes an end-to-end detection framework through dual-domain feature modulation and enhanced attention mechanisms. The core contributions include: (1) Development of the DFMB-Net backbone network that employs spatial-frequency collaborative processing to model pomegranate surface textures, color variations, and morphological characteristics. (2) Construction of the EAFF enhanced attention feature fusion module that integrates adaptive sparse attention mechanisms with multi-scale feature adapters, effectively addressing feature representation challenges under complex background interference; (3) Introduction of the AIUP adaptive interpolation upsampling processor and MFCM multi-branch feature convolution module, substantially improving feature alignment accuracy and multi-scale representation performance. Experimental validation on the constructed PGSD-5K dataset demonstrates that DFMA-DETR achieves detection accuracies of 90.23% mAP@50 and 76.40% mAP@50-95, representing improvements of 3.13% and 3.06% respectively over the baseline RT-DETR model, while maintaining relatively low model complexity. Cross-dataset validation further confirms the superior generalization performance of the proposed approach. This research provides an effective solution for advancing intelligent detection technologies in precision agriculture.

Across the Cascadia bioregion, salmon and steelhead are ecological and cultural keystone species that contribute to and illustrate riverine health. Due to complex social, economic, and ecological relations over the past 150 years, many Columbia River Basin salmon and steelhead populations are now listed as threatened or endangered in the United States. This research uses the 2017–2020 Columbia Basin Partnership Task Force as a case study to understand how this collaborative governance effort of sovereign entities and nonsovereign stakeholders navigated competing water claims to reach consensus on aspirational qualitative and quantitative goals for salmon and steelhead restoration. Using semistructured interviews and a review of meeting minutes, reports, and other documents produced by the group, we found that parts of the collaborative process, in particular the pairing of Indigenous knowledge and science with Western science for decision-making, unsettled long-standing territorial claims and changed the span and durability of hydrosocial networks in the Columbia River Basin.

In May 2023, the G7 Science and Technology Ministers emphasized the need for a shared framework for monitoring Open Science. While Open Science policies and practices have seen growing international support, monitoring efforts remain fragmented across national and institutional levels. Various dashboards and tools - such as the French Open Science Monitor, Germany’s Open Access Monitor, the COKI Dashboard in Australia, and the Open Access Monitor in Korea… - showcase both innovative thinking and varied approaches, but lack a unified global framework. Despite multiple important guidelines, such as the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, the POSI, or the recent PathOS Indicator Handbook, no shared, global framework exists. Our proposed Principles aim to fill that gap by offering guidance that supports comparability, interoperability, and responsible reuse of monitoring indicators. To co-create and refine the first draft, an international workshop was held at UNESCO in December 2023, gathering over 50 experts from institutions, including CERN, NASA and CWTS. Following intensive collaborative drafting, a global consultation process amplified by UNESCO was a success, with an open call for participation that received contributions from more than 150 people from 40 countries across the world. This first collaborative effort was the spark for the creation of OSMI. The Principles of Open Science Monitoring are organised around three core pillars: Relevance and significance: all open science monitoring initiatives should be well-defined, relevant, and adaptable to diverse research contexts. They should support evidence-based policies and decisions, be developed through inclusive and participatory collaborative processes, and reflect the diversity of disciplines and stakeholders. Ensuring modularity, transparency, and consistency allows for reliable assessment while accommodating different needs and practices. Transparency and reproducibility: open science monitoring should, wherever possible, prioritize the use of open, transparent, and reproducible information, including metadata. It should further draw on infrastructures and methodologies that adhere to shared, agreed-upon principles and rely on publicly accessible data sources. Self-Assessment and responsible use: open science monitoring initiatives should aim for continuous improvement through regular self-assessments and alignment with these Principles of Open Science Monitoring. Importantly, open science monitoring should be used to understand and incentivise open science practices. It should not be used in isolation to evaluate individual researchers but instead as part of a multifaceted approach to assist institutions, stakeholders, academic and non-academic communities in understanding and improving their research practices. We believe that common monitoring Principles, which consider the variety of approaches on a global scale, are essential to advance our knowledge of the prevalence and impact of Open Science. This presentation will introduce OSMI and the Principles of Open Science Monitoring.

Abstract How do legal and medical professionals construct patients’ legal status and mental states in courtrooms, and how do patients themselves shape those constructions? This paper analyzes 300 hearings in Paris and New York City where people who have been involuntarily hospitalized in psychiatric facilities ask to be released. In both cities, courts reject the vast majority of requests. They do so by drawing on the two systems’ distinctive legal repertoires and control capacity to make patients into different kinds of serviceable subjects: people whose rights are given nominal consideration in the courtroom, but who are nonetheless classified as needing the forced interventions that the psychiatric system has the resources to provide. In Paris, legal professionals emphasize procedural rights while deferring to medical evaluations of patients’ consent, defined as their underlying willingness to accept long-term treatment. In New York, lawyers challenge psychiatric expertise but bargain with doctors and patients over compliance, understood as a short-term acceptance of medication. This paper reorients attention from the self-governing subjects that hybrid medical-legal-welfare interventions claim to ultimately produce toward the more contingent and situational serviceable subjects that allow for ongoing professional collaboration and institutional processing in contexts of diminished resources and expanded patients’ rights.