COLLABORATION WITH STATUS ASYMMETRY: EVIDENCE FROM HIV/AIDS DISEASE CONTROL IN CHINA

Studies on organization and management theory use status to explain intra-organizational behaviors such as developing alliances and partnerships by drawing on the practices of the private sector. We extend the concept of status to the public sector to study how the different status of partners influences their collaboration. Through studying collaboration in the field of HIV/AIDS disease control in China from 2015 to 2017, we assess how status asymmetry (different-status partners) affects collaboration by comparing several dimensions of different-status organizations, including their structure, funding distribution, target population, and service category. We find that, through structure design, a collaboration between high- and low-status organizations improves health service delivery in the epidemic disease control process by providing more integrated health schemes. This article contributes to the body of knowledge on collaboration by studying the dynamic role of status, thereby helping practitioners better understand how to effectively manage collaboration with status asymmetry.