Consolidated Framework for Collaboration Research derived from a systematic review of theories, models, frameworks and principles for cross-sector collaboration
Fig 3
Causal loop diagram showing how several constructs identified in the review may relate to each other over time.
In a CLD, a change in a variable at the tail end of an arrow is said to cause a change in the variable at the head end of that same variable, all else equal (e.g., an increase in the number of patrons at a popular restaurant leads to an increase in the wait time for a table, all else being equal). The direction of change is indicated by polarity symbol on the arrowhead. If a change in one variable (e.g., an increase) causes a change in the same direction for the other variable (e.g., it also increases), the polarity is positive (+), or said to be in the “same” direction (s). If a change in once variable causes a change in the opposite direction (e.g., an increase in one variable leads to a decrease in another variable), the polarity is negative (-) or said to be in the “opposite” direction (o). An important feature of CLDs is their ability to show feedback loops, or connections between variables where a chain of variables end up “feeding back” to the starting variable, and thus changing it. A critical CLD symbol is the nature of feedback loops, designated as either reinforcing (R) if the polarity within a feedback loops indicates that a change in one direction will be perpetuated throughout the loop, or as balancing (B) if changes within variables counteract each other, leading to a steady state or oscillation between states.