Coping with the Inclusiveness-effciency Paradox in Cross-sector Partnerships

This paper discusses how cross-sector partnerships (CSPs) for sustainability manage the paradoxical tension between stakeholder inclusiveness and administrative efficiency. Drawing on evidence from a case study of a CSP focused on urban sustainability, we show how the inclusiveness-efficiency paradox unfolded throughout the studied collaboration. We uncover three practices of paradox management that occurred, “customized inviting” (during the formation phase), “sequential including” (during the preparation phase), and “tailored instructing” (during the implementation phase) and theorize these practices as instances of boundary work. Based on these findings, we argue that: (1) practices of boundary work provide a powerful response to paradoxes in CSPs and (2) that there is a reciprocal relationship between paradox and boundary work practices, providing illustration of how this relationship unfolded over time."