Collaboration

According to MetaCollab [1], Collaboration differs from cooperation:

URL = http://collaboration.wikia.com/wiki/Collaboration

Dave Pollard has an extensive graphic outlining the differences between coordination, cooperation, and collaboration.

Differentiation 1

"* Cooperation: Obtain mutual benefit by sharing or partitioning work

• Collaboration: Achieve collective results that the participants

would be incapable of accomplishing working alone

"Optimal application

• Coordination: Harmonizing tasks, roles and schedules in simple

environments and systems

• Cooperation: Solving problems in complicated environments and

systems

• Collaboration: Enabling the emergence of shared understandings

and realization of shared visions in complex environments and systems" (http://collaboration.wikia.com/wiki/Collaboration)

Differentiation 2

From the CommunityWiki at http://www.communitywiki.org/CwordProblem

"Cooperative: working together, but through adherence to a set of shared rules or norms. Communication or coordination is not required. A market, or the way people appropriate goods from a commons are examples of such cooperation.

Collaborative: Implies that people are making efforts to work together and with purpose, usually around a mutual-agreed upon outcome or project." (http://www.communitywiki.org/CwordProblem)

More Information

Expanded treatment at http://collaboration.wikia.com/wiki/Collaboration

Dave Pollard on collaboration at http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2005/03/25.html#a1090