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A planet of partnerships
By bringing together their respective competencies and resources for the greater good, people in governments, business, civil-society and multilateral agencies have been seeking innovative ways to respond to many of the key development challenges of our time: the impact of climate change; human security; the prevention, management and treatment of HIV/AIDS and other major diseases; the generation of new investment, entrepreneurship and employment; and financing for development. The appetite for partnerships appears strong. Over 90% of corporate executives responding to a World Economic Forum survey felt that future âpartnerships between business, government, and civil society would play either a major role or some role in addressing key development challengesâ.1 These forms of societal partnership are the focus of this guidebook (see Box 2).
One initiative in particular demonstrates the important role of these innovative relations with the private sector. In 1999 UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for a âglobal compactâ with the private sector to promote UN goals.2 A year later the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) was launched
Box 2 Defining partnership
One definition of partnership is the âstate of being a partnerâ. The dictionary refers to âpartnerâ as âa person you are closely involved with in some wayâ. When described in the traditional context of business incorporation, the partner, according to the dictionary, can be âone of the owners of a companyâ. In an organisation considered as a partnership, the âpartnersâ share ownership and liability.
Since the late 1980s the term âpartnershipâ has become more widely used in describing both relations between organisations (often from different sectors) and new forms of organisation beyond the traditional business partnership model. Therefore, a useful distinction can be made between an âinter-organisational partnershipâ and a âpartnership organisationâ.
An inter-organisational partnership is an arrangement between two or more separate organisations to pursue a common activity or interest where risks and benefits are shared. Such partnerships may or may not involve formal agreements or financial exchange. They can be based on legally binding contracts or purely voluntary arrangements. The partners may have different activities that could serve a common interest, or may agree to work together and undertake a set of activities for different interests.
Partnership organisations, on the other hand, can involve either partners from a single sector, such as companies engaged in strategic alliances with other companies, or from different sectors, which include traditionally distinct ones like government agencies, civil-society organisations and private-sector businesses. The latterâs cross-sector approach is sometimes referred to as a publicâprivate partnership or PPP. However, many PPPs are essentially service delivery contracts where public-sector bodies engage with private-sector partners for the delivery of certain services such as waste management.a
This guidebook focuses on cross-sector collaborations between the private sector and organisations in the public or civil sectors that explicitly address a matter of public interest. For coming from different parts of society and for aiming to address issues of concern to society at large, these partnerships are considered âsocietalâ. These âsocietal partnershipsâ are collaborations between organisations in two or more societal sectors that commit to share resources, risks and rewards to achieve agreed objectives for improving society.
Examples of cross-sector societal partnerships include Benetton and the United Nations Volunteers Programme, for the 2001 International Year of Volunteers, and the World Bank-initiated Business as Partners for Development and the PublicâPrivate Partnership 2000 for national disaster reduction in the United States. For the most part, such partnerships are time-limited, while others may evolve into a partnership organisation when a new organisation is created with its own board and secretariat. Examples include the Forest Stewardship Council and the Global Alliance to Improve Nutrition.
In this guidebook I describe three generations of cross-sector partnership to emphasise an evolving focus on the scale of a partnershipâs impact on a public-interest matter.
and ten years later it had reached over 6,000 businesses in 120 countries, many of whom collaborate on practical projects with the UN system, government development agencies and civil society. For example, Daimler-Chrysler in South Africa works with the German Development Agency GTZ to help address HIV/AIDS. The partnership helps the company reach not only its own workers, but their families and the community as well, through an HIV/AIDS prevention and care programme. Another example highlighted by the UNGC is the comprehensive labour agreement signed between the oil firm Statoil and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workersâ Unions.3 The agreement between the Norwegian oil firm and the trade union group covers 16,000 employees in 23 countries. Hundreds of other innovative collaborations are described on the UNGCâs website and in the reports from their participant companies.4 At the UNGCâs Tenth Anniversary Summit in New York the emphasis was on working with business towards a âtipping pointâ that would make business responsibility and sustainability the norm. Such a goal requires more than increasing the number of partners or partnerships; it will involve transforming those relations into catalysts of wider social change. This guidebook provides one tool for reaching âthe tipping pointâ.
Although I offer a definition of partnership, the concept of partnership means different things in both form and function to different people. To clarify your perspectives and those of your colleagues, try Exercise A on understanding partnerships (see Box 3).
Box 3 Understanding partnerships (Exercise A)
This four-part exercise helps you to consider the concept of partnership and the reasons for and against partnering.
- Exploring the term
- Write down at least three words that describe something similar to a partnership or partner
- Ask a colleague to do the same
- If in a team, put your answers on sticky notes, then place them on a flipchart
- Discuss in the team or with a colleague how partnership can be understood
- Intuitive understandings
- Complete the following sentences with whatever first comes into your mind:
âThe corporate partnership I am working on isâŚ
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âPartnerships wonâtâŚ
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