Making sense of power in social innovation collaborations: A case study.

Abstract: A shift in the Swedish welfare state and diminishing resources has prompted new ways to address social and welfare provision issues. It is here that cross-sectoral social innovation collaborations have surfaced as an answer. Previous research shows that working with collaboration and social innovation has similar challenges and that there is a lack of studies about power and organisational issues within these fields. The aim of this study was to explore the Sopact case, an extra-preneurial actor in a cross-sectoral collaboration setting, to understand how individuals make sense of collaboration and how power affects their sensemaking of the project. 20 participants interviews were analysed and a theoretical framework of power in sensemaking processes was used. The analysis shows that Sopact as an extra-prenurial space provides room for reflective sensemaking processin for both social entrepreneurs and for municipal departments’ needs owners. Intermediaries aid these processes by inducing sensebreaking and sensegiving mechanisms that question systemic power from conservative influences and algorithmic sensemaking. In general, social entrepreneurs and needs owners use different sensemaking processes. These are affected by different power influences and shaping mechanisms, a product of different backgrounds and organisational settings. Epsiodic power is also often affected by systemic power and conservative organisational influences, leading to less action-oriented collaborations. Lastly, a theme indicating a plausible shift from service developer and provider to facilitator within the public sector was found, a potential question for future research.