ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the problem of interorganizational authority and begins with a brief case related to emergency management and authority. I draw on the idea that communication constitutes organizations (CCO) to introduce scholarly conversations that have recast authority, not as given by organizational position, but as the ability to influence organizational trajectory through interaction. This shift toward authority as created in interaction is in large part a response to modern, horizontal forms of organizing—organizing is now often more team-based and less structured than in traditional bureaucracies. Of the many horizontal forms of organizing that have emerged, interorganizational collaboration has been a highly valued solution to organizational problems. However, interorganizational collaborations are not spaces of horizontal authority alone—instead, institutional texts, convening, and oversight organizations play a role in collaborations. I introduce the schematic of cumulative authority to note the ways that vertical and horizontal authority interact and are translated in member talk that determines the collaborations' priorities.
