The paper discusses the key factors that contribute to the successful „nurturing“ of inter-organizational relationships and evolving partnership activities in a pursuance of social innovations.

In the first section of the paper, the factors influencing inter-organizational collaboration are reviewed. The second section discusses the content of inter-organizational interaction forms and link between maturity of collaboration, sustainability of relationships and partnership’s potential for social innovations. In the third part, the modern shifts in leadership are talked about. The fourth part presents the empirical research made, and a discussion based on the research findings is submitted.

Research was based on the qualitative methods: in-depth interview, case study, participant observation and personal reflection, and analysis of documentary materials. Three cases in two organizations were studied. The analyzed inter-organizational partnerships have shown that in less mature forms of inter-organizational interaction, innovations are unlikely, as compared with the inter-organizational partnership and integrative collaboration. Also found that collaborative leadership is a dominant factor when thinking about innovative joint work results.