User:Kayleegmorgan/Collaborative partnership

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Sustainable development requires concerted collaborative actions at all levels from macro to micro and across all sectors. Cross-sector social partnerships are proliferating rapidly (Child and Faulkner, 1998; Berger, Cunningham and Drumright, 2000). Organizations are more learning to form a multitude of collaborative relationships, including strategic alliances (Bamford, Gomes-Casseres, & Robinson, 2002), partnerships, joint ventures (Child, Faulkner, & Tallman, 2005; Marks & Mirvis, 2011), and transorganization networks (Clarke, 2005; Cummings, 1984). When organizations work together, they are able to develop and fulfill much broader visions by tapping into each other’s resources and expertise (Cooperrider & Dutton, 1999; Huxham & Vangen, 2005). This is also a world filled with frustration. In spite of good intentions and dedicated resources, collaborations do not come easy or naturally (Cummings, 1984); they are messy and difficult (Gray, 1989; Huxham & Vangen, 2005). Collaborations focused on sustainability issues, for example, are highly visible and wicked problems that draw the attention of large and powerful interests, including governments, large corporations, and well-funded nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). They often produce considerably less benefit than intended (Nordhaus, 2001; Worley & Parker, 2011).

''One way partnership benefits can be optimized is through participatory approaches to partnership. By allowing the stereotypically marginalized groups/people/partners to be given a voice in both naming local issues and having control over decisions that affect them, more equal and sustainable partnerships can be made.  In order to ensure effective partnership, it is imperative to focus on empowering community members, promoting co-decision making, and safeguarding against one group dominating the conversations and decision-making (and therefore dominating the "partnership"). In this way, equal and truly collaborative partnerships can be promoted.''

Challenges and barriers of collaborative partnership[edit]
Unreliable funding can create significant obstacles to collaborative working relationships between stakeholders. Khan and colleagues (2004) report that in Africa, the provision of adequate financial and technical resources are key to any sustainable co-management. In the Caribbean, CANARI (1999) states that the implementation of participatory decisions and management actions requires not only political support but also adequate technical and financial resources.

Tensions may occur when organizations of different sizes and/or from different sectors collaborate. This can be due to differences in expectations, differences in available resources, or differences between objectives and motives (for example when the collaborators place different emphasis on financial and societal outcomes) (Gillett et al, 2016). ''***Tensions can also exist as a result of the one-way nature of a resource flow, where the organization providing more resources typically has more power and agency in the relationship. This results in an inherent power dynamic among collaborative partnerships, bringing up the question of whether partnerships can truly overcome unequal power relations at all. ''

''Themes surrounding inclusivity can also be a major challenge to partnership. By accidentally or even purposefully excluding marginalized groups from decision-making conversations, partnerships can miss out on the opportunity to more creatively define and tackle local issues. ''