ABSTRACT
This chapter reinforces the key contributions of this book: that authority sources are multiple and potentially overlapping and that, in bids for authority, organizational members that drew on multiple sources tended to have the best chance to communicatively influence the collaboration's trajectory. Previous understandings of authority have shifted authority from vertically derived to horizontally created through member knowledge and expertise. Still, this line between vertical and horizontal forms of authority is rarely discrete. Instead, authority is created in the accumulation of various sources of authority that can be deployed in member interactions and accepted by others in everyday conversations. I conclude by suggesting future research areas, inviting researchers to observe firsthand the interactions that develop authority in nontraditional organizations, including collaborations and teams.
