Collaborative research competencies in supply chain management: the role of boundary spanning and reflexivity

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the competencies that researchers need to develop and employ for successful collaborative research.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a reflexive approach built on participant observation of six cases of collaborative research in public procurement and logistics.FindingsThe authors identify and explain two major competencies that are required for successful collaborative research. The first is boundary-spanning competence that represents the researchers' ability to move fluidly from the academic milieu to the practitioner's environment. The second is reflexivity competence that allows the researchers to learn from each collaborative research project they participate in and further improve their boundary-spanning competence.Originality/valueThis study goes beyond the list of skills for collaborative research reported in the literature to describe two major competencies that researchers should develop to perform successful collaborative research. This reflection may serve as a starting point for the development of a sociological understanding of the collaborative research field.