More or less than give and take: Manifested attitudes to inter-partner learning in collaboration

Within the general context of the theory of collaborative advantage, this paper focuses on one aspect of a theme of research relating to the issue of learning in collaborative settings. The broad question that this research is addressing is whether conceptualizations of issues relating to learning that face practitioners can be useful in helping them to reflect on, and so address, the achievement of collaborative advantage in their practical collaborative settings. The particular focus of this article is on attitudes to inter-partner learning (that is, to exchange of knowledge between collaborating partners). The theoretical conceptualizations derived are based upon action research within partnership development programmes in both private and public sector settings. Basic attitudes to learning - "selfish", "shared" and "sidelined" - are identified and through an analysis of the data collected during the programmes, these are unpacked to reveal stances that are subtle and varied manifestations of these. The findings suggest that the distinction between selfish and shared learning in collaborations is fuzzy and that many stances have an element of both basic attitudes. For practitioners, they suggest that learning attitudes may have an effect on collaboration outcomes whether learning is a focal concern or not. The findings also contribute to debates on the possibilities for "knowledge transfer" in such settings and the nature and usefulness of the knowledge that obtains.