Toward an Instrument for Measuring the Performance of Collaboration across Organisational and Professional Boundaries

In this paper, we present an initial effort in the creation of a generic instrument for measuring the performance of collaboration across organisational and professional boundaries. Based on the literature and previous research on collaboration, a three-dimensional instrument for measuring the preconditions for and the performance of collaboration has been constructed. Validity and reliability have been tested, and the instrument has been used in more than 100 projects. It has been demonstrated that the instrument can serve a number of purposes: to consecutively measure and assess the performance of collaboration; to identify weak parts of the collaboration; to reveal if there are different preconditions for the involved partners’ full engagement in the collaboration; and to relate the performance to other similar collaboration projects. The outcome of the use of the instrument indicates that it can serve as an interactive tool for promoting a learning organisation in the context of collaboration and for building innovative network structures.