Our Research Agenda is a non-exhaustive list of questions for the research community that we believe, if addressed, would significantly advance the practice of collaboration among the government, business, and non-profit sectors.
This Research Agenda is informed by our exposure to recent relevant literature, frequent learning conversations with practitioners and supporters of cross-sector collaboration, and detailed input from 30 scholars and experts in this field. It is intended to serve as a source of inspiration for the research community, including scholars, graduate students, and individuals from research and policy institutes, professional associations, professional service firms, and more, from a variety of disciplines, including organizational studies, urban planning, public policy and administration, economics, non-profit management, health care, education, the natural environment, and more.
“Throughout the United States, communities are struggling to meet the demands of stormwater management requirements. EPA recognizes the need for new and innovative solutions to finance and manage stormwater runoff, especially in urban areas, to achieve and maintain the water quality goals of the Clean…
“Twelve key steps to guide you through the process of building and maintaining a successful, sustainable cross-sector partnership. Starting from understanding the issue, and knowing and respecting one’s partners, and identifying clear partnership objectives, all the way through to building in ongoing review and health…
“This framework identifies the key organisational processes, systems, commitments, and capacities, crucial to an organisation’s ability to partner, and maps them against four organisational areas: Leadership & Strategy, Systems & Processes, Skills & Support, and Partnering Culture. Using this framework can support an understanding of…
“The Partnering Agreement Checklist provides a framework and tips for designing your partnering agreement — a key factor in the creation of successful partnership. Time invested in designing and negotiating a detailed agreement between partners will not only create a more effective framework within which…
“Partnerships play a critical role in inclusive business (IB). However, inevitably they involve risk and can often suffer high transaction costs. This tool is used to help companies assess the value, risks, and implications of a partnership in order that they can confidently go ahead,…
“Moving On addresses the exit aspects of a partnership – a part of the cycle often unplanned or mishandled. The Moving On toolbook focuses on the exit aspects of a partnership a part of the cycle often unplanned or mishandled. It also looks at the…
“The Brokering Guidebook illuminates the critical part played by brokers in multi-sector partnerships as both process managers and behind the scenes leaders. It focuses on partnership brokering — that essential intermediary function that enables partners to work well together and ensure the maximum effectiveness of…
The Wicked Problems Plaza (WPP) … “is a novel and structured way of facilitating dialogue between stakeholders from different backgrounds. In order to come up with creative — but nevertheless realistic — ideas, approaches to wicked problems need to address their complexity and preferably also…
“Partnerships are great — except when they’re not. Partnerships (or strategic alliances) allow us to tackle hard problems together and ‘co-produce’ solutions. … Decision‐makers who want to make better choices about partnerships — those working in the public, private or non‐governmental (non-profit) sector or across…
These questions are intended to help those interested or involved in a particular cross-sector collaboration better understand the complexities and nuances of the program or initiative. Because there are many approaches to partnership, not every question here will be useful for every cross-sector collaboration. Considering…