Thousand plateaus: A rhizomatic approach of collaborations among organizations

Collaborations among organizations may happen through a variety of inter-organizational arrangements, such as alliances, supply networks, industrial districts, policy networks or meta-organizations. We join recent efforts in analysing this plurality and diversity of organizations by drawing on the concept of rhizome to study inter-organizational arrangements. We aim to provide tools which can help analysis, comparison and cumulating knowledge about inter-organizational collaborations by moving beyond categories (which are often specific to one field, theory, sector, and so forth). To do so, we build on Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of rhizome and develop an analytical rhizomatic framework focusing on connections among members, heterogeneity of members, multiplicity of interactions and connections, asignifying rupture in the connections, cartography of interactions, and decalcomania in the adoption of knowledge. On this basis, we develop an inter-organizational web approach of collaborations among organizations and outline possible applications and research venues.