“This systematic review synthesizes knowledge on multi-sector partnerships for sustainability. The review set out to address one major research question and four sub-questions:
What best practices enable firms to collaborate with other organizations to advance sustainable business?
- What different forms do collaborative partnerships take, and how do these forms affect the possible outcomes achieved?
- What practices help to reconcile stakeholders’ conflicting views about sustainability and promote consensus within partnerships?
- How should partnership success be evaluated?
- What is the role of the broader societal context (e.g. institutional environment) in shaping the formation, operation, and success of these partnerships for sustainability?
To address these questions, we reviewed and coded the key content of more than 275 articles published in a subset of management and public policy academic journals between 2000 and 2012 along with some books and recent practitioner-oriented reports. The report’s key findings provide a synthesis of this extensive literature on partnerships for sustainability, which has grown significantly during the review period.”