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Making Matters Worse By Trying To Make Them Better? Exploring Vicious Circles Of Decision In Hybrid Partnerships, Paula Ungureanu, Fabiola Bertolotti, Elisa Mattarelli, Francesca Bellesia

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Our research is concerned with how and why vicious circles of decision occur in hybrid partnerships. The literature reports three types of decision dysfunctions that can alter the trajectory of multi-stakeholder collaborations: escalation of commitment, procrastination and indecision. While previous studies focused on one dysfunction at a time, we inquire about cases in which dysfunctions coexist and interact in the same partnership. Employing multiple sources of qualitative data, we conducted a longitudinal field study in a cross-sector partnership that co-created and managed a science park. We offer an in-depth account of ‘vicious circles of decision’ in which partners’ attempts to …