The Problem of Mismatch in Successful Cross-Sectoral Collaboration

When facing the challenge of new global employment dynamics and the demand for the creation of economic growth and new jobs, joint cross-sectoral efforts to pool market and public sector resources promise to make the most of the complementary strengths, competencies and perspectives of different actors. The topic addressed here is the impact that management rationale—bureaucratic and entrepreneurial—has on cross-sectoral collaboration, and in particular how a mismatch in goals and norms between sectoral actors and the overall management rationale may affect joint efforts in terms of the capacity to recruit relevant actors and establish sustainable collaboration. The empirical findings, which are based on two cases of cross-sectoral co-operation—the EU programme EQUAL and the Swedish VINNVÄXT programme—suggest that management rationale is an important factor in accounting for success of cross-sectoral initiatives and that a mismatch risks undermining smooth co-operation and thereby policy delivery.