Why Managers Don't Collaborate

In capital-intensive, high-risk industries, collaboration is not a slogan; it is a capability. This book strips away the comforting myths that too often undermine alliances and replaces them with clear, practical principles rooted in experience, evidence, and common sense. What distinguishes this work is its honesty. It acknowledges why collaboration fails in the real world, short-termism, weak leadership, misplaced governance, and cultural blindness, and shows how organizations that confront these realities can unlock extraordinary value. I have seen firsthand how projects succeed or fail based not on contracts or technology, but on how leaders design relationships, empower people, and manage complexity across organizational boundaries.

For executives, project leaders, and boards, this book is a call to action. Apply its lessons, and you move beyond transactional thinking toward resilient partnerships that deliver better outcomes for shareholders, clients, and the people doing the work. Ignore them, and the myths will continue to quietly erode performance. This is not a book about being idealistic. It is a book about being effective.

-- Ed Humphries, VP Minerals and Metals Global Capabilities, Atkins Realis, Montreal, Canada

With deep evidence and unmatched practitioner insight, the authors reveal why collaboration fails—and provide leaders with practical tools to make it succeed where it matters.

-- Dr. Richard Gibbs, Senior Lecturer in Business and Management, Faculty of Business, Law and Digital Technologies, Southampton Solent University, Southampton, UK

In an era marked by global volatility and escalating supply chain challenges, collaboration is a requirement to enable resilience — but only when it is actively designed, governed, and led. Too often, organizational relationships are left to chance and rhetoric replaces disciplined practice. Drawing on decades of evidence-based research into collaborative networks, risk and strategic performance, this book cuts through the myths that prevent collaboration from delivering value. The authors offer thoughtful, challenging insights that enable managers to take action and manage collaborative relationships more effectively, turning them into a genuine source of resilience and adaptability, thus sustaining performance.

-- Professor Richard Wilding, OBE. Emeritus Professor of Supply Chain Strategy, Author and Presenter of LinkedIn Learning: Supply Chain Foundations: Risk and Resilience

Linda McComie and Andrew Humphries, leading experts in collaborative performance, present the definitive roadmap for managers worldwide, an essential guide to unlocking collaborative value. This groundbreaking book confronts the myths and excuses that prevent effective collaboration. Drawing on over two decades of research and thousands of manager interviews, it reveals why collaboration so often fails and provides a clear, evidence-based framework and practical principles to finally make it succeed. Move beyond empty rhetoric. This provocative, pragmatic guide shows senior executives and decision-makers how to transform their alliances into a disciplined practice that delivers lasting, measurable results.

-- Dr. Carlos Mena, Associate Dean of Graduate Programs, Daimler Endowed Professor of Supply Chain Management, Portland State University, USA

This book should be essential reading for every senior manager. As a CEO running two UK-based SMEs, I find that in-depth collaboration is essential for my companies to compete with much larger competitors, some of whom are MNCs. We have at least 16 medium and long-term Partnerships that extend well beyond routine vendor, trading, or distribution arrangements. The relationships must be grounded in mutual trust and disclosure. Therefore, avoiding the common pitfalls that prevent selecting the "right" partner is essential because long experience and a few failures en route make this a perfectly attainable goal. Benefits to my companies include increased market share, a broader technology portfolio, and reduced costs through shared planning and product design.

-- Mike Reilly, MBE, CEO of Ether NDE Ltd, Baugh & Weedon Ltd, Alban NDE LLC

Are you one of those people who view collaboration as a weakness and compromise? If so, you’re definitely missing out on opportunities. Read this book to discover hidden strength.

-- Prof. Tim Cummins, President and Head of Research & Learning, World Commerce & Contracting Association