Authors: Martin Williams; Sergio Biggemann; Zsofia Toth
The purpose of this study is to examine contagion in an inter-organisational context and conceptualise its core conditions. Contagion is the transmission of unanticipated shocks as well as positive/negative emotions between network actors that often occurs inadvertently and can have both short- and long-term effects. In an inter-organisational network context the understanding of contagion is vital in order to manage risks more efficiently, and to facilitate information flow as well as learning. Interesting unintended effects of the collaboration between the museums involved in this arts touring case where building a bridge between aboriginal communities led to the unintended effects and the acceleration of the international bilateral process of Maori head – spiritual artefacts – repatriation to New Zealand. The accumulated effects of interaction lead to contagion at a network level that helped create an attitude change and willingness to engage with others and mobilise specific resources (artefacts). Various effects of these interactions can be examined within the organisation or the dyad, such as perceived similarities and adoption norms. There are, however, some complex processes where the scope of the observation can barely be limited to a dyadic level. Examples for such conditions are environmental uncertainty and social proximity. We investigate the case of the Whales international touring exhibition organised by the Te Papa Museum in New Zealand that has already travelled to various museums in the United States and Canada over the last eight years that (unintendedly) supported the international repatriation process of Maori heads. By identifying conditions of contagion as well as unintended and intended effects in this network context, the study intends to contribute towards a conceptual framework of contagion between organisations.
Journal: n.a. (n.a. – n.a.)
Web Address: n.a.
Publish Year: 2016
Conference: Poznan, Poland (2016)