Collaborative Advantage by Hallmark

Does the framework presented in the collaborative advantage article suggest anything useful for the Hallmark Cards' knowledge community? Explain your answer.

In the collaborative advantage article, Hallmark could have taken the five major categories; cost saving through the transfer of best practices, better decisions making as a result of advice obtained from colleagues in other subsidiaries, increased revenue through the sharing of expertise and products among subsidiaries, innovation though the combination and cross-pollination of ideas, and enhanced capacity for collective action that involves dispersed units; into consideration upon starting a new community. Hallmark definitely could have taken a closer look into cross-pollination to get a better understanding of what exactly they wanted to achieve in the community. I think that Hallmark could have took the four boundaries from the collaborative advantage article. If Hallmark could implement this in their communities like choosing the right facilitators, evoking discussions, drawing attention to a subject, creating new discussions, and reducing useless information this could have broken those boundaries. There are four main obstacles to be overcome in order for a company to really benefit from the mass collaboration network. The first obstacle is “unwillingness to seek input and learn from others”. Employees in one unit may close themselves off to hel from those in others. The second obstacle to collaboration is an “inability to seek and find expertise”. Even when employees are willing to seek help in other business units or country subsidiaries, they may not be able to find it or to search efficiently so that the benefits outweigh the costs of searching. The third obstacle is an “unwillingness to help”. In some cases, the problem lies with the potential provider of help. Some employees are reluctant to share what they know or refuse to help outright. The final obstacle is the “inability to work together and transfer knowledge”. Sometimes people are willing to work together but can not easily transfer what they know to others. While collaboration can create substantial value, it also has a downside that executives need to manage.