This article examines inter-sectoral collaborations as reported in the literature and the suggested characteristics and competencies of collaboration participants. The ultimate goal is to suggest some strategies for preparing the next generation of students. The article’s focus is on inter- and multisectoral collaborations and partnerships that involve not only government and nonprofit service agencies, but might also include business, university, civic groups and faith-based organizations. Following a literature review, the article identifies appropriate skills, competencies, and tools that Master of Public Affairs and Administration (MPA) and Master of Public Policy (MPP) students should begin practicing to be effective in collaborations that involve organizations and stakeholders from different sectors and types. The final section of the article offers several specific recommendations for more effective approaches to applying these general suggestions, recommendations drawn from Journal of Public Affairs Education articles, interviews, focus groups, and the author’s experience teaching in an MPA program.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AgranoffR. (2005). Managing collaborative performance: Changing the boundaries of the state?Public Performance & Management Review, 29 (September), 18–45.
2.
AgranoffR. (2006). Inside collaborative networks: Ten lessons for public managers.Public Administration Review, 66 (Suppl. 1), 56–65.
3.
AgranoffR.McGuireM. (2003). Collaborative public management: New strategies for local governments.Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
4.
AlexanderJ.NankR. (2009). Public-nonprofit partnership: Realizing the new public service.Administration & Society, 41, 364–386.
5.
AnsellC.GashA. (2007). Collaborative governance in theory and practice.Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 18, 543–571.
6.
ArbuckleM. B.DeHoogR. H. (2004). Connecting a university to a distant neighborhood: Three stages of learning and adaptation.Journal of Community Practice, 12(2004), 53–70.
7.
AustinJ. (2000). The collaboration challenge: How nonprofits and businesses succeed through strategic alliances.San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
8.
BardachE. (1999). Getting agencies to work together: The practice and theory of managerial craftsmanship.Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.
9.
BenavidesA. D. (2013). Internships Adrift? Anchoring internship programs in collaboration.Journal of Public Affairs Education, 19(2), 325–353.
10.
BielefeldW.ClevelandW. S. (2013). Faith-based organizations as service providers and their relationship to government.Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 42(3), 468–494.
11.
BorisE. T.SteuerleC. E.. (1999). Nonprofits and government: Collaboration and conflict.Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press.
12.
BovairdT. (2004). Public-private partnerships: From contested concepts to prevalent practice.The International Review of Administrative Sciences, 70(2), 199–215.
13.
BradshawT. K. (2000). Complex community development projects: Collaboration, comprehensive programs, and community coalitions in complex society.Community Development Journal, 35(2), 133–145.
14.
BrinkerhoffD. W. (1999). Exploring state-civil society collaborations: Policy partnerships in developing countries.Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 28(4), 59–86.
15.
BrinkerhoffJ. M. (2002). Global public policy, partnership, and the case of the World Commission on Dams.Public Administration Review, 62 (May–June), 324–337.
16.
BrysonJ. M.CrosbyB. C.StoneM. M. (2006). The design and implementation of cross-sector collaborations: Propositions from the literature, Public Administration Review, 66 (Suppl. 1), 44–55.
17.
CiglerB. (1999). Pre-conditions for the emergency of multicommunity collaborative organizations, Policy Studies Review, 16( 1), 87–102.
18.
CostonJ. M. (1998). A model and typology of government-NGO relationships.Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 27(3), 358–382.
19.
CrossJ.GrantN. (2006). Teaching MPA internships built on reflection in practice.Journal of Public Affairs Education, 12(1), 19–31.
20.
DeesJ. G.AndersonB. B. (2003). Sector-bending: Blurring lines between nonprofit and for-profit, Society, 40(4), 16–27.
21.
EmersonK.NabatchiT.BaloghS. (2011). An integrative framework for collaborative governance.Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 22 (May), 1–29.
22.
FinneyG.GrossmanD. A. (1999). Public-private partnerships in the twenty-first century. In LaneF. S., Current issues in public administration (6th ed., pp. 340–348). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
23.
Foster-FishmanP. G.BerkowitzS. L.LounsburyD. W.JacobsonS.AllenN. A. (2001). Building collaborative capacity in community coalitions: A review and integrative framework.American Journal of Community Psychology, 29(2), 241–262.
24.
GarrisR.MaddenJ.RodgersW. M.III (2008). Practitioners’ roles, internships, and practicum courses in public policy and management education.Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 27(4), 992–1003.
25.
GazleyB. (2008). Beyond the contract: The scope and nature of informal government-nonprofit partnerships.Public Administration Review, 68(1), 141–154.
26.
GazleyB.BrudneyJ. (2007). The purpose (and perils) of government-nonprofit partnership.Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 36(3), 389–415.
27.
GolemanD. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence.New York, NY: Bantam.
28.
HardyC.PhillipsN. (1998). Strategies of engagement: Lessons from the critical examination of collaboration and conflict in an interorganizational domain.Organization Science, 9(2), 217–230.
29.
HartleyR. E. (2009). Putting yourself in their shoes: The analysis of real-world disputes through group field projects.Journal of Public Affairs Education, 15(4), 535–552.
30.
HenryN. (2002). Is privatization passé? The case for competition and the emergence of intersectoral administration.Public Administration Review, 62(3), 374–378.
31.
HerranzJ. (2010). Network performance and coordination: A theoretical review and framework.Public Performance & Management Review, 33(3), 311–341.
32.
HerzogR. (2004). Teaching what you practice: The need for self-reflection in academic settings.Journal of Public Affairs Education, 10(3), 225–232.
33.
HorneC. S.ParisT. V. (2010). Preparing MPA Students to succeed in government-nonprofit collaboration: Lessons from the field.Journal of Public Affairs Education, 16(1), 13–30.
34.
ImperialM. T. (2005). Using collaboration as a governance strategy: Lessons from six watershed management programs.Administration and Society, 37 (May), 281–320.
35.
KapucuN. (2012). Classrooms as communities of practice: Designing and facilitating learning in a networked environment.Journal of Public Affairs Education, 18(3), 585–610.
36.
KeastR.MandellM. P.BrownK.WoolcockG. (2004). Network structures: Working differently and changing expectations.Public Administration Review, 64 (May), 363–371.
37.
KettlD. (2002). The transformation of governance: Public administration for the 21st century.Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
38.
KolibaC. (2012). Administrative strategies for a networked world: Intergovernmental relations in 2020. In MeekJ. W.ThurmaierK., Networked Governance: The Future of Intergovernmental Management (pp. 70–93). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
39.
LambrightK. T.MischenP. A.LarameeC. B. (2010). Building trust in public and nonprofit networks.American Review of Public Administration, 40(1), 64–82.
40.
LeeH-WRobertsonP.LaVonnaL.SloaneD.Galloway-GilliamL.NomachiJ. (2012). Trust in a cross-sectoral interorganizational network: An empirical investigation of antecedents.Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 41(4), 609–631.
41.
LindblomC. E. (2004). The science of “muddling through.” In ShafritzJ. M.HydeA. C.ParkesS. J., Classics of public administration (5th ed., pp. 177–187). Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth.
42.
LindenR. M. (2002). Working across boundaries: Making collaboration work in government and nonprofit organizations.San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
43.
LindenR. M. (2010). Leading across boundaries: Creating collaborative agencies in a networked world.San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
44.
MandellM. P. (1999). Community collaborations: Working through network structures.Policy Studies Review, 16(1), 42–65.
45.
McGuireM. (2006). Collaborative public management: Assessing what we know and how we know it.Public Administration Review, 66 (Suppl.), 33–55.
46.
MiltenbergerL. (2013). Collaboration, contracting, and contradictions: How nonprofit leaders can begin to think about collaborating with the government.Journal of Leadership Studies, 7, 54–60.
47.
MilwardH. B.ProvanK. G. (2003). Managing the hollow state: Collaboration and contracting.Public Management Review, 5(1), 1–18.
48.
MitchellG. (2014). Collaborative propensities among transnational NGOs registered in the United States.American Review of Public Administration, 44(5), 575–599.
49.
MulroyE. (2003). Community as a factor in implementing interorganizational partnerships: Issues, constraints, and adaptations.Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 14(2003), 47–66.
50.
NajamA. (1996). Understanding the third sector: Revisiting the prince, the merchant, and the citizen.Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 7(2), 203–219.
51.
Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA). (2009). NASPAA Standards 2009. Retrieved from https://naspaaaccreditation.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/naspaa-standards.pdf.
52.
O’LearyR.ChoiY.GerardC. (2012). The skill set of the successful collaborator.Public Administration Review, 72, 70–83.
53.
O’LearyR.VijN. (2012). Collaborative public management: Where have we been and where are we going?The American Review of Public Administration, 42(5), 507–522.
54.
O’NeillM. (2006). Ethical dimensions of nonprofit administration.Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 3(2), 199–213.
55.
RubinJ, S.StankiewiczG. M. (2001). The Los Angeles Community Development Bank: The possible pitfalls of public-private partnerships.Journal of Urban Affairs, 23(2), 133–153.
56.
SalamonL.. (2002). The tools of government: A public management handbook for the era of third-party government.New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
57.
SalamonL. (2005). Training professional citizens: Getting beyond the right answer to the wrong question in Public Administration.Journal of Public Affairs Education, 11(1), 7–20.
58.
SawagaS.SegalE. (2000). Common interest, common good: Creating value through business and social sector partnerships.California Management Review, 42(2), 105–122.
59.
SchlesingerM. (1998). Mismeasuring the consequences of ownership: External influences and the comparative performance of public, for-profit, and private nonprofit organizations. In PowellW. W.ClemensE. S., Private action and the public good (pp. 85–113). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
60.
ShawM. M. (2003), Successful collaboration between the nonprofit and public sectors. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 14(1), 107–120.
61.
SmithS. R. (2008). The increased complexity of public services: Curricular implications for schools of public affairs.Journal of Public Affairs Education, 14(2), 115–128.
62.
SnavelyK.TracyM. B. (2002). Development of trust in rural nonprofit collaborations.Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 31(1), 62–83.
63.
SuarezD. F.HwangH. (2013). Resource constraints or cultural conformity? Nonprofit relationships with businesses.Voluntas, 24, 581–605.
64.
TakahashiL. M.SmutnyG. (2002). Collaborative windows and organizational governance: Exploring the formation and demise of social service partnerships.Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 31(2), 165–185.
65.
ThomsonA. M.PerryJ. L. (2006). Collaboration processes: Inside the black box.Public Administration Review, 66 (Suppl.), 20–32.
66.
WaddellS. (2000). New institutions for the practice of corporate citizenship: Historical, intersectoral, and developmental perspectives.Business and Society Review, 105(1), 107–127.
67.
WheelandC. M.PalusC. K. (2010). A profile of Villanova University’s partnership with local government managers.Journal of Public Affairs Education, 16(3), 487–509.
68.
WilliamsP. (2002). The competent boundary spanner.Public Administration, 80(1), 103–124.
69.
WitesmanE. M.FernandezS. (2013). Government contracts with private organizations: Are there differences between nonprofits and for-profits?Non-profit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 42, 689–715.
