Exploring Partnership Governance in Global Health: Proceedings of a Workshop (2018)
Chapter: Appendix B: World Caf Reports on Internal Governance of Individual Partners and Impacts on Approaches to Public–Private Partnerships
Appendix B
World Café Reports on Internal Governance of Individual Partners and Impacts on Approaches to Public–Private Partnerships
During the workshop, the participants engaged in a World Café discussion at their tables during which they answered two questions:
- Based on your experiences, what have been the main barriers your organization has experienced when engaging in public–private partnerships (PPPs)?
- How have you or your organization overcome or managed these barriers to engagement?
In this short session, Jo Ivey Boufford and Kevin Etter summarized examples of some responses from individuals from the six participating groups. None of these examples should be construed as reflecting consensus by any of the small working groups. Regarding the first question (see Table B-1), Etter said there were a few themes that the session highlighted, including alignment and understanding among the partners, measurement, and trust, but overall the groups identified a rich and diverse set of challenges.
Boufford then summarized the answers to the second question on how to address these challenges (see Table B-2). The solutions included investing time at the start of the partnership to institutionalize the partnership and earn buy-in from leadership. Other solutions included being able to adapt to change, being transparent and honest, deploying appropriate metrics, and establishing mechanisms for resolving disagreements and barriers to understanding.
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Group 5 | Group 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Failure to document vision, mission, intent | Alignment of expectations; definition and measure of success; leadership differences; adaptability | Identifying the champions: skill sets and expertise; retention of relationships | Lack of metrics/agreed performance | Alignment: defined purpose of PPP | Assumptions; private-sector mistrust; speaking the same language; power dynamics |
| People: champions and host lost; capacity | Risk: political, financial, reputation, legal | Lacking the right indicators to measure success of the partnership | Lack of management capabilities | Measure and evaluate comparative value-added of PPP | Lack of trust: difference in ideology |
| Understanding the business and players | Local ownership: exit strategy and sustainability | Alignment of interests: evolution and redefinition | Lack of mutual understanding in motivations, assumptions, purpose, and language | Transaction costs | Strategy seen as luxury versus necessity |
NOTES: This table shows examples of responses from individual participants and should not be construed as reflecting group consensus. PPP = public–private partnership.
SOURCE: As presented by Jo Ivey Boufford and Kevin Etter on October 26, 2017.
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Group 5 | Group 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invest time up front on common purpose | Document everything | Institutionalize partnership with buy-in from leadership and staff | Use metrics to manage | Plan with candor | Invest time up front to discuss goals, roles, and responsibilities |
| Realize disagreement will happen; document pattern for resolving disagreement | Establish or build in mechanisms for change in advance | Cultural liaison to guide partnership and align interests and expectations | Define relevant qualification for leaders (and be willing to act if change is needed) | Articulate key performance indicators to be evaluated | Understand motivations of each partner and be honest about limitations |
| Define the end game | Involve local ownership from beginning; be transparent about sustainability goals/road map | Be open to rethinking roles; leave room for innovation from the beginning | Reminder of agreed purpose; declare prejudices; understand common interests; apply metrics to guide decision making | Passion, initiative, efficiency | Experience success and be honest in failure |
NOTE: This table shows examples of responses from individual participants and should not be construed as reflecting group consensus.
SOURCE: As presented by Jo Ivey Boufford and Kevin Etter on October 26, 2017.
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