Governing Cross-Sector Collaboration

A guide to public sector collaboration with private and nonprofit organizations for better service delivery. It tackles the issues inherent in partnerships with non-governmental actors for public service delivery, highlighting the choices available and the accompanying challenges and opportunities that arise.

“The conceptual framework provides fresh insights for thinking about the public management implications of engaging in cross-sector collaborations to address public problems. This is highly relevant for the policy, practice, and academic communities.”
—DAVID M. VAN SLYKE, Louis A. Bantle Chair in Business and Government Policy, The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University

“It will be a critical need for many administrators involved with public infrastructure to be able to identify how to efficiently arrive at successful partnerships. This material provides sharp focus on this issue and is very relevant to current conditions.”
—DARRYL D. VANMETER, P.E., State Innovative Delivery Engineer, Georgia Department of Transportation Office of Innovative Delivery

“Managers in the public and nonprofit sectors alike will be engaged in cross-sector collaborations and need to have a thorough understanding of how they work. This book provides an essential base of knowledge and should be read by today’s leaders as well as students preparing for careers in public administration and nonprofit management.”
—MICHAEL J. WORTH, Professor of Nonprofit Management, The George Washington University

“On the basis of an extensive review of the literature and a large number of illustrative cases, this very nicely written book argues that public management has changed. No longer the preserve of publicly owned and bureaucratically managed organizations, public services, broadly defined, are now delivered through a bewildering variety of hybrid arrangements. The authors map the new landscape while providing a series of tools to aid its navigation.”
—TOM ENTWISTLE, Reader in Public Policy and Management, Cardiff Business School

“This book addresses the many problems that government faces in trying to effectively and efficiently contract out services. In a country going through political turmoil, there is definitely a need to do things differently. This book provides wonderful insights on how to better manage this new trend. It is a must-read for all officials of the Egyptian government and of other nations seeking better public service delivery.”
—LAILA EL BARADEI, Acting Dean and Professor of Public Administration, School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, The American University in Cairo

“Governing Cross-Sector Collaboration provides the first clear, comprehensive, and thoughtful guide to managers I have seen on the opportunities and challenges of working in partnerships involving government, business, and NGOs. It should be required reading for those who venture into these ‘uncommon alliances’ and want to understand how to be successful.”
—KRIS BALDERSTON, Senior Vice President, Senior Partner, and General Manager, Fleishman-Hillard

A comprehensive guide to public sector collaboration with private and nonprofit organizations for better service delivery

Governing Cross-Sector Collaboration tackles the issues inherent in partnerships with nongovernmental actors for public service delivery, highlighting the choices available and the accompanying challenges and opportunities that arise. Based on research, interviews with public, private and nonprofit sector leaders, and considerable analysis of organizations involved in public-private-nonprofit collaborations, the book provides insight into cross-sector collaboration at the global, federal, state, and local levels. Through an examination of the primary modes of cross-sector collaboration, including collaborative contracting, partnerships, networks, and independent public services providers, the book presents a clear case for how public managers can assess the trade-offs and use these options to improve public service delivery. Nonprofit organizations, businesses, and third-party contractors are increasingly partnering with government to deliver public services. Recognizing the types of collaborative approaches, and their potential to solve public policy problems is quickly becoming a major task for public managers, with new methods and techniques constantly emerging. Governing Cross-Sector Collaboration provides specific examples and a framework for public managers to make strategic choices about how to engage private and nonprofit actors in delivering public goods and services while ensuring the public interest. The book provides effective methods for choosing, designing, governing, and evaluating networks, partnerships, and independent public-services providers, with in-depth discussion encompassing:

• Analysis and engagement of cross-sector organizations
• Fostering democratic accountability in the public interest
• Collaborative approaches (including contracts, networks and partnerships) and the issues associated with each type of arrangement
• Leadership and organizational learning in cross-sector collaboration

Included case studies illustrate effective application of the concepts and methods described, providing both practicing public and nonprofit managers and public policy/administration students with insight into these emerging strategic alliances. The first comprehensive guide to public governance collaborations, Governing Cross-Sector Collaboration is an important and timely contribution to the field of public management.