Understanding inter-organisational relationships in public-private partnerships : a study of educational PPPs in Pakistan
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Date
01/07/2015Author
Irfan, Sidra
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Abstract
Given the increasing proliferation of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in both
developed and developing countries, and the huge challenges that are often
associated with establishing and managing them, and ensuring that they achieve their
objectives, it is important to understand multiple aspects of their operation. Whilst
the structural and economic aspects of PPPs have long been recognised and
researched, the relational aspects of PPPs remain under-researched. This thesis is a
contribution to addressing this gap in the literature. It uses a dimensional approach to
understand the nature of inter-organisations relationships (IORs) in PPPs and
considers the factors that shape these relationships. It also investigates whether a
particular pattern of relationships is needed for PPPs to deliver more than could have
been achieved by each partner working alone (synergistic benefits).
These issues are studied empirically in three educational PPP programmes in
Pakistan. In two of these, not-for-profit organisations ‘adopt’ state schools. In the
third, the state funds private sector schools on the condition that they offer free
education to students and achieve threshold quality standards. A case study
methodology is used and an integrative conceptual framework, derived from a wide-ranging
literature review, is used to guide both data collection and analysis.
The research finds that partners’ motives for entering into a PPP play a dominant role
in shaping inter-organisational relationships. These motives are, in turn, influenced
by a range of contextual and organisational factors. Inter-organisational relationships
can be broadly characterised as collaborative, contractual, cooperative or conflictual.
Whereas much of the existing literature emphasises that collaborative relationships
are a prerequisite for PPPs to deliver synergistic outcomes, this research finds that
these outcomes are also present in PPPs characterised by cooperative relationships.
However, inter-organisational relationships in PPPs are not static; they develop and
change over time. These changes result from a dynamic interplay between contextual
factors, organisational factors, partner motives and the perceived outcomes of the
partnership.
The research reported in the thesis makes a number of contributions to knowledge. It
sheds new light on the relational aspects of PPPs and offers a new conceptual
framework for explaining and investigating inter-organisational relationships, which
integrates insights from the largely separate literatures on PPPs and inter-organisational
relations. It counters an apparent pro-collaboration emphasis in the
existing PPP literature by documenting and explaining the benefits associated with
cooperative relationships. It also offers new empirical evidence on the operation of
PPPs in a developing country context, which contributes to redressing the
predominance of evidence from developed countries in the existing literature. The
insights from the research have theoretical and practical implications for the
development and management of PPPs and future research in this area.
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