Interorganizational Collaboration and the Preservation of Global Biodiversity

Using grounded theory development research methods, the authors examine collaborative processes in the global biodiversity preservation domain. The processes examined are those initiated and convened by a subgroup of the Swiss-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature known as the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission. The global collaborative initiatives of the group suggest that extant theory on collaboration may not adequately explain collaborative processes in so complex a domain as global biodiversity preservation. Specifically, the authors suggest that in highly complex domains, effective structuring of collaborative initiatives may take different forms. Propositions about structuring of collaborations in complex domains are derived.