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Partnerships between organizations that engage in land protection are promoted as a way to improve the efficiency of limited conservation budgets. However, limited empirical exploration of the types of organizations involved in partnering and their organizational objectives precludes a holistic understanding of how to integrate partnering into planning for improved conservation outcomes. Using data on protected areas from California, United States, we explored the frequency and extent of partnering between managing organizations. In addition, we analyzed mission statements of partnering and non‐partnering organizations to explore whether organizational objectives were related to observed partnering behavior. We estimated that partnerships managed about 7 million acres, comprising 8% of total protected land area, in California. Furthermore, the organizations that we observed partnering tended to use more environmental themed language in their mission statements, while non‐partnering organizations tended to use language with socioeconomic themes. These results provide empirical evidence of partnering and support further exploration of it as a potentially important mechanism to improve conservation outcomes. In addition, they suggest that current partnering patterns and future opportunities to expand partnerships in protected land management likely depend on organizations pursuing wildlife and nature focused conservation objectives, and to a lesser extent socioeconomic objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do organizations of vastly different size collaborate in order to achieve a common goal? While this poses less of a problem when the network is orchestrated by a classic lead firm, in networks exhibiting a shared governance mode, where leadership responsibilities are more or less equally distributed, size differentials present a critical management challenge. In this paper, we contribute to the literature on coordination in and of inter‐organizational arrangements by emphasizing the so far largely neglected role of size for managing close collaborative relationships. We study the case of Apprenticeship Network, a network that originally consisted of seven small and medium‐sized enterprises, but which then accepted a very large multinational firm as a new member. By unpacking how the network coordinated its endeavour over time to achieve accountability, predictability and a common understanding as critical conditions for effective coordination, we explore how coordination effectiveness may deteriorate and result in the failure of the collaborative effort. We pay special attention to the role of size in these processes, and we theorize how the strategic front and back‐staging of agreed‐upon rules and norms facilitates the formation, maintenance and deletion of a tie, thus producing important network dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the underexplored tensions and complementarities between bridging ties and strong ties in innovation-seeking alliances. Bridging ties span structural holes to provide innovation potential but lack integration capacity, and strong ties provide integration capacity but lack innovation potential. We theoretically develop the idea that—notwithstanding their tensions—strong ties complement bridging ties in enhancing alliance ambidexterity at the project level. While bridging ties provide access to diverse, structural hole-spanning perspectives and capabilities, strong ties help integrate them to realize an innovation. We also propose that their effects and complementarities influence alliance ambidexterity because they facilitate knowledge integration at the project level. Tests using data on 42 innovation-seeking project alliances involving a major American services conglomerate and its alliance partners support the majority of the proposed ideas. Implications for interfirm network configuration, strategic alliances, and the broader strategy literature are also discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: From the perspective of schools, children's mental health is essential to academic success. Multitiered systems of support (MTSS) that provide prevention/promotion, early identification/intervention, and clinical treatment services have been embraced as a promising means to deliver mental health services in the school setting. METHODS: A school‐hospital partnership tested the implementation over 3 consecutive academic years of an MTSS model for elementary through high‐school students enrolled in 6 urban public schools. The model was designed to embed whole‐school and classroom‐level prevention/promotion programs alongside small group and individual services for selected youth. Utilization, satisfaction, and student‐ and school‐level outcomes were assessed. RESULTS: Students participating in early intervention had significantly improved social‐emotional competencies and coping skills (particularly those students at highest risk), and students with mental health disorders who participated in clinical treatment had significantly improved symptoms and functioning. Schools significantly enhanced their capacity to provide mental health services across prevention/promotion, early identification/intervention, and crisis management domains. These findings were replicated across 3 consecutive years of program implementation. CONCLUSIONS: A school‐hospital partnership using an MTSS model was found to be feasible, valued, and effective in improving students' mental health status and schools' capacities to provide mental health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementing nutrition initiatives through multi‐sectoral collaboration is challenging. This qualitative study explores these challenges in two regions of Ethiopia, through interviews with development staff at lower administrative levels. Respondents identified structural and attitudinal causes of undernutrition. The health sector was perceived to have primary responsibility to address nutrition. The Women's Affairs office had a lesser role than expected. Agricultural officers still saw their primary mandate as increasing cereal production. Cross‐sectoral collaboration was stronger in addressing short‐term food crises rather than chronic undernutrition. There is a need to build a shared understanding of the causes of undernutrition, including the many constraints faced by resource‐poor households, to provide more resources for implementation and to adopt a more gendered focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, collaborative efforts between universities and community‐based coalitions have helped develop prevention–intervention efforts to decrease the prevalence of drug and alcohol use among youth in low‐income, majority–minority urban areas.  One theory often employed to understand the efficacy of community member involvement is McMillian and Chavis's (1986) sense of community (SOC) model. This model posits how 4 main tenants (i.e., sense of belonging, emotional connection, needs fulfillment, and influence) lead to increased empowerment. The present study examines how individual SOC affected substance abuse coalition members' (N = 17) motivations for serving on a coalition. Findings explore how all four tenants of McMillian and Chavis's (1986) model influenced community members' involvement in the coalition, which have implications for prevention, policy, and further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study of 115 subsidiaries of Fortune 500 companies indicates that a majority had integrated HRM and strategic planning systems within their organizations. HRM issues were explicitly discussed in strategic plans; HRM executives were involved in the planning process as "strategic partners"; and HRM was generally recognized as playing an important role in implementing business strategies. The degree of integration present was not related to short-run firm performance, however, time lags may be a factor. Implications of these findings are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a model and a detailed process for redesigning the human resources (HR) function by contracting with line executives for new roles and by upgrading the competencies of the human resource management staff while reengineering the HR delivery systems. The experience of a large, successful company that developed and implemented the process is described. The article argues that the use of "best practices" contributes less to creating a world-class human resource management team than to redefining the fundamental partnership role supported by the line organization. Partnering is defined in an operational manner using the HR grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Businesses often benefit by forming alliances with other firms but risk becoming dependent on their partners. We discuss two situations in which dependence may create serious problems: first, if a partner shuts down and, second, if a partner forms a relationship with a new partner. We examine collaborative relationships formed by businesses operating in the U.S. hospital software systems industry during the 1961-91 period. We find that businesses faced increased risk of dissolution if they did not form new partnerships after partners shut down or formed collaborative relationships with new partners. The results have implications for developing an evolutionary theory of business strategy and performance. Our approach implies that the performance of a focal business often depends on how the strategies of its business partners evolve over time. An evolutionary theory of strategy must incorporate key characteristics of actions and relationships throughout a web of business partnerships. The dual nature of interfirm relationships, which both help a business survive at one time and inhibit its ability to adapt at another, helps explain why so many successful businesses fail when their environments change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent empirical work has supported the Penrose-Teece view that firms diversify to exploit fully specific assets or capabilities. Where transactions costs permit, these economies of scope may be realized via input supply contracts among producers. However, asset specificities frequently create transactions costs which discourage market contracting and leave firms with a choice between collaborative ventures and wholly-owned new entry. This research uses the natural experiment of financial services deregulation to explore the collaborative/own-entry choice for 292 new entries in 13 financial product markets. The results generally support our maintained hypotheses that specificity encourages full ownership while collaboration is used to ease a resource constraint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic technology partnering between firms has become a growing subject of interest to both companies experimenting with this mode of economic organization and researchers from a wide variety of academic disciplines. In this study an effort is made to measure the effect of strategic technology partnering on companies engaged in such joint efforts. A study of the relevant literature on interfirm cooperation generates some basic understanding of this phenomenon, after which the empirical analysis is expanded with linear structural modeling of a number of relevant explanatory variables setting strategic partnering in a more complex environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper develops a theoretical framework for analyzing the exchange structure in the trading of imperfectly imitable and imperfectly mobile firm resources. It first explores the conditions for such resources to be gainfully traded between firms and then investigates the interconnections between barriers to imitation and impediments to trading. A major part of the paper is devoted to developing an integrative and yet parsimonious model for assessing the exchange structure between firms that are involved in the trading of strategic resources in the face of significant transaction cost problems. The model is applied in the last part of the paper to the analysis of the choice between acquisitions and collaborative ventures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation of partnerships between firms is becoming an increasingly common way for firms to find and maintain competitive advantage. While the antecedents of partnership formation and the characteristics of the resulting cooperative working relationship have been explored in the literature, an understanding of characteristics associated with partnership success is lacking. Such an understanding is important in reconciling the prescriptions to form partnerships with the reality that a majority of such partnerships do not succeed. We hypothesize that partnership attributes, communication behavior, and conflict resolution techniques are related to indicators of partnership success (satisfaction and sales volume in the relationship). The hypotheses are tested with vertical partnerships between manufacturers and dealers. Results indicate that the primary characteristics of partnership success are: partnership attributes of commitment, coordination, and trust; communication quality and participation; and the conflict resolution technique of joint problem solving. The findings offer insight into how to better manage these relationships to ensure success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This chapter outlines the beginning of this important work in Oregon; describes how we are able to make such dramatic change across the state without being a system or having a mandate, progress to date, and future directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Small NGOs in international development have a unique advantage when it comes to engaging communities, establishing partnerships and advocating rights. However, studies suggest that small NGOs are disadvantaged when it comes to demonstrating evidence‐based impact. Small NGOs are less likely to invest in development evaluation as they lack expertise and/or feel strongly about funding programmes and not processes, given the increased demand for accountability to donors. To explore the challenge NGOs face in moving from a single project‐based entity to a vision‐led professional entity, we have documented the creation of low‐cost evaluation tools using a case study in water‐based development. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protected areas are the cornerstone of global conservation, yet financial support for basic monitoring infrastructure is lacking in 60% of them. Citizen science holds potential to address these shortcomings in wildlife monitoring, particularly for resource-limited conservation initiatives in developing countries - if we can account for the reliability of data produced by volunteer citizen scientists (VCS)., This study tests the reliability of VCS data vs. data produced by trained ecologists, presenting a hierarchical framework for integrating diverse datasets to assess extra variability from VCS data., Our results show that while VCS data are likely to be overdispersed for our system, the overdispersion varies widely by species. We contend that citizen science methods, within the context of East African drylands, may be more appropriate for species with large body sizes, which are relatively rare, or those that form small herds. VCS perceptions of the charisma of a species may also influence their enthusiasm for recording it., Tailored programme design (such as incentives for VCS) may mitigate the biases in citizen science data and improve overall participation. However, the cost of designing and implementing high-quality citizen science programmes may be prohibitive for the small protected areas that would most benefit from these approaches., Synthesis and applications. As citizen science methods continue to gain momentum, it is critical that managers remain cautious in their implementation of these programmes while working to ensure methods match data purpose. Context-specific tests of citizen science data quality can improve programme implementation, and separate data models should be used when volunteer citizen scientists' variability differs from trained ecologists' data. Partnerships across protected areas and between protected areas and other conservation institutions could help to cover the costs of citizen science programme design and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the partnerships with communities for biodiversity conservation in the contexts of Asian mountains. It explains the eight PARTNERS principles for effective community-based programmes including presence, aptness and respect. Presence involves relationship and trust, contextual knowledge and early warning, while aptness involves threats, socio-economics and social capital. Other principles are respect, transparency, negotiation, empathy, responsiveness and strategic support.

The article offers information on the role of religion in development based from experiences and activities of humanitarian organization Norwegian Church Aid (NCA). Topics discussed include collaborative work of NCA with faith partners in 2015, relevance of religious ideas, practices, and organizations, and work for gender justice as a strategy for transforming religious discourse and pratice.

The article focuses on the participation of water agencies in the U.S. in international water operator partnerships for the improvement of water and sanitation delivery. It mentions three take-aways that contribute to increasing partnerships of water agencies including radical safety culture shift, human capital, and organizational and behavior changes. It discusses several values developed during the partnership such as effective staff training, employee retention, and team building.

Most members of Taiwan's indigenous communities live in areas that are prone to natural disasters. Yet, due to their marginalised cultural, economic and political status, each time such calamities strike, any assistance they receive is usually provided without considering their actual needs. The areas hardest hit by Typhoon Morakot in August 2009 were the indigenous villages in the southern and eastern parts of the island. After the initial emergency relief efforts had been completed, there remained the highly challenging task of reconstruction and the resettlement of those who lost their homes and livelihoods. This paper examines the cultural conflicts that arose during the reconstruction process, with special emphasis on the participation of Taiwan's indigenous communities and their capacity for resilience. It was found that community participation and identification are key issues in effective disaster governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public, nonprofit and private organisations respond to large-scale disasters domestically and overseas. Critics of these assistance efforts, as well as those involved, often cite poor interorganisational partnering as an obstacle to successful disaster response. Observers frequently call for 'more' and 'better' partnering. We found important qualitative distinctions existed within partnering behaviours. We identified four different types of interorganisational partnering activities often referred to interchangeably: communication, cooperation, coordination and collaboration-the Four Cs. We derived definitions of the Four Cs from the partnering literature. We then tested them in a case study of the response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. We suggest that the Four Cs are distinct activities, that organisations are typically strong or weak in one or more for various reasons, and that the four terms represent a continuum of increased interorganisational embeddedness in partnering activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving collaboration by public sector agencies is an important element of many public sector reforms. Common approaches include introducing responsibilities under legislation and policy decisions, the provision of information and guidance, and strengthening third-party oversight. To identify how collaboration is being practised, this paper reviews evidence from over one hundred reports by Auditors-General and Ombudsmen in Australia and New Zealand to identify key attributes of collaboration, and assesses these further by examining three reports in detail. It concludes that problems that have been known for many years continue to constrain public sector effectiveness. Although continuing existing approaches may assist in improving collaboration, the paper argues that there is a need to adopt more systematic approaches to organisational capacity for collaboration. It further identifies that changes in the external environment such as technology-based innovation may demand rapid progress and change in relation to collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-sectoral partnerships are increasingly common in Australian human service delivery. Yet research has not often focused on partnerships where private actors broker an arrangement to address complex community needs. Using a combination of interviews, focus groups, and social network analysis (SNA), this paper investigates the network qualities of a nascent partnership between a not for profit (NFP) service provider and a major retail water company that seeks to address financial hardship. Ultimately, we assess whether this represents genuine collaboration or another form of joint action. We find that the privately steered partnership generates instrumental benefits characteristic of cross-sectoral arrangements, as well as challenges. SNA reveals a very high degree of connection between the partner organisations, but the results suggest that the partnership is coordinative rather than collaborative. We also find that this is leading to tacit organisational and institutional modifications as the NFP assumes a 'market facing' posture and adjusts to the demands of working with private sector partners. However, at this early stage of development, the level of systemic adjustment between both organisations remains incomplete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methods for observing policy networks have not kept up with the development of new network analytic techniques required to understand governance in complex settings. We compare three unobtrusive methods for observing policy networks based on hyperlinks between policy actor web sites, on media reports, and on public policy partnerships. Observations of one complex local water policy arena with all three methods provide a comparison of the general as well as actor-specific network characteristics in the three observed networks. The core network of actors observed by all methods has similar network level statistics, highly correlated relationships measured by Quadratic Assignment Procedures models, and the same significant network microstructures as measured by Exponential Random Graph Models. The full networks including actors observed by any method also exhibit similar actor-level characteristics, although the correlations across networks are stronger for bridging capital measures than for bonding capital measures, and each method has different apparent biases. Once biases are accounted for, similarities suggest that these methods may provide useful proxies for each other and for other relationships that are more difficult or impossible to measure, particularly when combined to offset each method's biases. If so, they can extend the range of policy networks observable with limited resources across space and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussions of outgroup activism in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality reflect two shortcomings. First, such discussions generally present uncritically positive views of ally activism; second, research on ally activism has overly focused on individual allies. The aim of this article is twofold: to suggest that action toward LGBT equality may often be influenced by sexual prejudice and may thus recapitulate longstanding power dynamics between majority and sexual minority groups, and to expand our understanding of ally behavior beyond individuals by presenting an ethnographic study exploring the development of institutional ally identity in a mainstream church that underwent a marked shift from an explicit anti-LGBT to an expressly LGBT-supportive stance. The study employed critical discourse analysis to examine interview, textual, and participant-observation data. Dimensions of individual and institutional ally activism, and potential pitfalls in each, are explored. Suggestions for promoting more constructive collective action are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Social partnership' between capital and labour is a distinctive characteristic of German industrial relations. Based on a survey of 142 German employers' associations, we investigate differences in their support for partnership with unions. We find that organizational characteristics (e.g. membership density) as well as positive experiences with their union counterparts explain why employers' associations adhere to the norms of social partnership. Building on an analysis that combines political and organizational institutionalism, we find that the positive evaluation of social partnership held by employers is associated with their positive experiences in more recent interactions with unions in collective bargaining, a more encompassing definition of an association's policy domain and a long-term history of mutual collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholarship on the institutional foundations of Chinese-style capitalism emphasizes the impact of liberal reformers and China's participation in international organizations, devolution of economic decision making and local experimentation, and the proliferation of market actors to explain their origins. This article investigates distinct patterns of sectoral variation in market governance in China today, examining the extent and scope in which dominant forms of market coordination and distribution of property rights reflect variation in national goals of economic power, security, and growth; structural sectoral attributes; and the path-dependent effects of institutional arrangements. The reinforcement of state coordination and the dominance of state ownership and shareholding in strategic industries, such as telecommunications, and the relinquishment of state control and the dominance of market stakeholders in nonstrategic sectors, such as textiles, characterize the rise of bifurcated capitalism in the period before and after China's accession to the World Trade Organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical and empirical work on collaboration has proliferated in the last decade. The authors' 2006 article on designing and implementing cross-sector collaborations was a part of, and helped stimulate, this growth. This article reviews the authors' and others' important theoretical frameworks from the last decade, along with key empirical results. Research indicates how complicated and challenging collaboration can be, even though it may be needed now more than ever. The article concludes with a summary of areas in which scholarship offers reasonably settled conclusions and an extensive list of recommendations for future research. The authors favor research that takes a dynamic, multilevel systems view and makes use of both quantitative and qualitative methods, especially using longitudinal comparative case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Falls are the leading cause of fatalities in construction. The Safety Pays, Falls Cost campaign aims to prevent falls in residential construction. A critical component of our social marketing approach was to involve 70 partners in reaching target audiences. Methods We assessed partner engagement April 2012-August 2013 through: (1) baseline partnership quality interviews (eight partners); (2) pre-/post-partner 'market' readiness in-depth interviews (three partners); (3) a pre-/post- (29/31 partners) online partner engagement survey; and (4) standardized metrics to measure partner activity. Results We found a high level of interest and engagement that increased with the addition of prompting to action through regular communication and new resources from organizers and formation of local partnerships that were able to tailor their activities to their own communities or regions. Conclusion It is feasible to leverage government-labor-management partnerships that enjoy trust among target audiences to widely disseminate campaign materials and messages. Am. J. Ind. Med. 58:809-823, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on network management is extensive. However, it generally explores network structures, neglecting the impact of management strategies. In this article we assess the effect of management strategies on network outcomes, providing empirical evidence from 119 urban revitalization networks. We go beyond current work by testing a path model for the determinants of network outcomes and considering the interactions between the constructs: management strategies, trust, complexity, and facilitative leadership. Our results suggest that management strategies have a strong effect on network outcomes and that they enhance the level of trust. We also found that facilitative leadership has a positive impact on network management as well as on trust in the network. Our findings also show that complexity has a negative impact on trust. A key finding of our research is that managers may wield more influence on network dynamics than previously theorized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study multiple research joint ventures (RJVs) using a repeated game with imperfect monitoring. Compared with the single joint venture case, we show that cooperation in multiple joint ventures creates two advantages for participating firms. First, by linking decisions together across all joint ventures firms can mitigate the likelihood of cooperation breakdowns following bad R&D outcomes. Second, as the incentive cost to sustain cooperation is independent of the number of joint ventures, the economy of scale effect reduces the efficiency loss due to imperfect monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of what has been written about collaboration treats it instrumentally as a means-ends tool of improvement. However, despite considerable collaborative activity there is little evidence that clearly links collaboration to improvements in service-user outcomes or reduced inequalities. In this article we draw on literature from critical public policy and governance studies to recast collaboration as an expression of cultural performance associated with a rather different set of values and measures. We argue that understanding collaboration in the round means that we need to pay attention to all dimensions of performance including cultural performance. We argue that this in turn helps to explain the persistent appeal of collaboration amongst policy makers and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linguists must build and strengthen research partnerships with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educators to further investigate linguistic and cultural diversity and academic inequality in STEM education in the U.S. We review key issues and themes from literature on the role of language in U.S. STEM education and the linguistic and ideological roots of barriers to STEM achievement for culturally and linguistically diverse students. We assess ways that linguists have engaged with educators and teachers, learning from humanities- and social science-based partnerships and adapting them to STEM contexts. We then examine specific and significant challenges that culturally and linguistically diverse student populations in STEM areas often face, with a focus on structural, sociocultural, and ideological barriers. Finally, we advocate for forging partnerships with STEM educators that establish a well-defined rationale for collaboration across linguistics and STEM, yielding basic and applied research benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines interactions between the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and its non-traditional partners. Facilitated by advances in technology hardware and software, the nature of collaboration has changed significantly, shifting from authoritarian to symbiotic relationships. We find that DoD partners have expanded to include geographic information systems (GIS) and information technology professionals, and individual GIS users. As more non-traditional, external partners become involved, the DoD attempts to exert informational power over its partners to assure data integrity and preserve data security. We consider an appropriate role for the DoD in a polycentric regime where public value increasingly is coproduced. This leads us to consider, by analogy, if there are other public policy arenas where data integrity and security concerns will lead to a similar approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizational development is based in part on knowledge development, both formal, scientifically proven and also nonscientific practice wisdom. This article brings together all of the lessons learned over our six years of work with Saint Paul Parks and Recreation, and suggests the practice utility of these. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Over the past decade, partnerships have increasingly become a popular governance instrument for sustainable development. This article aims to improve our understanding of this instrument, and its contributions to and consequences for international sustainable development politics, by providing the lessons learned from international biodiversity governance. The article analyses 24 international partnerships working on forests, fisheries, conservation and climate change, using perspectives based on regime, governance and partnership literature. It concludes that the contribution of the partnerships should be evaluated as varying: only seven 'gems' of partnerships fulfil important governance functions; the others play less paramount roles. Partnerships have, however, contributed to the ongoing change in the manner in which biodiversity is governed, namely the institutionalization of intersectoral governance. The article promotes a more strategic use of the partnership instrument, taking into account its opportunities and limitations, to strengthen its contributions to international sustainable development. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report summarizes the role and function of river organizations in the southeast region of the State of Wisconsin ( USA) by comparing the history of lake and river organization formation within the State and aspects of successful public involvement/engagement as examples in protecting and enhancing water resources in the southeastern region of the State. Review of the history of lake organization vs. river organization formation from years 1895 to 2011 demonstrates that Wisconsin has a long and stable history of stakeholder participation in watershed-based resource management activities. The changes over time also demonstrate that lake association formation became consistent on an annual basis by about the mid-1930s, followed by lake districts (special purpose units of government) in the early 1970s and river organization formation by the mid 1980s. Hence, the emergence of stream-based watershed groups as partners in stream-based watershed protection and management is a relatively new phenomenon statewide, as well as in the southeastern region, especially in the period since the year 1990 when these organizations exhibited the greatest increase in their rate of formation. Comparison of lake organization vs. river organization formation over time also exhibited similarities amongst the timing of formation, rates of development and peaks of formation at the State level that seems to be associated with, or partially explained by, ongoing state programmes and funding. This recent timing of increase in river group popularity in the southeastern region is coupled with an increase in understanding and importance of expanding the focus of management issues, beyond the specific surface water lake or river itself, to the watershed scale. This has set-up an interesting dilemma amongst river and lake organizations, particularly within the Fox ( Illinois) River watershed, as they attempt to identify their respective roles and work together to meet stakeholder demands into the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The historical lack of classification and legislative control on lake quality has previously prevented these complex water bodies from being adequately protected until the European Water Framework Directive became operative. Their increasing importance for all their values and the sensitivity of many lakes to climate change, however, has heightened their profile. Their relative importance has recently been lifted further by the development of the 'ecosystem services' approach to recognize multiple values. This report discusses initiatives taken to address problems outside the legal frameworks, provides an analysis of the processes involved and outlines where improvements can be made and where the present arrangements are vulnerable. It identifies the need for all 'players' to have a common agenda and use a common language to aid consensus building and resource sharing. It also advocates that high-quality communications are the key to community stewardship of lake catchments and education is the foundation for changing the initiatives driven by individual champions to a position where protection of lakes is, through a cultural shift or establishing a new paradigm of community responsibility in protecting vulnerable lakes, wetlands and their catchments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community research and action projects undertaken by community-university partnerships can lead to contextually appropriate and sustainable community improvements in rural and urban localities. However, effective implementation is challenging and prone to failure when poorly executed. The current paper seeks to inform rural community-university partnership practice through consideration of first-person accounts from five stakeholders in the Rural Embedded Assistants for Community Health (REACH) Network. The REACH Network is a unique community-university partnership aimed at improving rural health services by identifying, implementing, and evaluating innovative health interventions delivered by local caregivers. The first-person accounts provide an insider's perspective on the nature of collaboration. The unique perspectives identify three critical challenges facing the REACH Network: trust, coordination, and sustainability. Through consideration of the challenges, we identified several strategies for success. We hope readers can learn their own lessons when considering the details of our partnership's efforts to improve the delivery infrastructure for rural healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A history of the public-private partnership ' Smart Tots' between the IARS and FDA is presented. In order to raise money for research to better understand the relationship between sedative and anesthetic agents and neurotoxicity in the developing brain, the FDA approached the IARS in 2008. A partnership was developed over the following 2 years, then a Scientific Advisory Board was created to develop a research agenda. The IARS contributed $200 000 in 2011 to provide initial funding; 33 proposals were submitted in response to a request for proposals in late 2011 and resulted in the awarding of two, $100 000 grants in 2012. An Executive Board was appointed under the leadership of Michael Roizen to spearhead additional fund-raising efforts, and a director of development is working with Dr. Roizen and the Board to raise funds from individuals and organizations. Dr. Roizen has personally committed to a matching grant for anesthesiologists, up to $50 000 per year for 20 years ($1 million). Readers of the journal are encouraged to go to the website www.smarttots.org in order to better understand the issue, to contribute to the research fund themselves, and to encourage their own professional organizations to partner with Smart Tots in fund-raising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the third-party roles in a 2008 to 2010 assessment of the collaborative capacity of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Within USACE, the effort was led by the Institute for Water Resources' Conflict Resolution & Public Participation Center. Third-party assistance was provided by a professional environmental facilitator under contract to USACE. Data were obtained through an online assessment tool ( n = 230) and nine workshops. A national stakeholder Review Group and a cadre of internal liaisons to field personnel provided input at strategic milestones. The resulting collaborative capacity development recommendations are now being implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborative partnerships can be an effective strategy for crime prevention, especially in disorganized communities. Using ordinary least squares regression with 414 American cities, this article finds that police departments with many collaborative partnerships are able to promote informal social control within their communities and capitalize on the resources available to them with the help of other groups. This contention is supported by the effects of collaborative partnerships on crime rates in disorganized communities in comparison to well-organized communities. Thus, collaborative partnerships of public organizations with other groups may insulate disorganized communities from the effects of community disorganization on levels of crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We draw on the interorganizational relationship management literature to examine how contextual characteristics of the supplier portfolio (portfolio concentration, relationship length, and supplier substitutability) moderate the impacts of process alignment and partnering flexibility – two of a firm''s key supplier-facing process capabilities to manage supplier relationships – on a product line''s competitive performance. Our analysis of survey data on a firm''s supplier portfolio for a major product line indicates that the impacts of process alignment and partnering flexibility on competitive performance are moderated by the three supplier portfolio characteristics. Specifically, while concentrated relationship portfolios, long-term relationships, and supplier substitutability amplify the positive effect of process alignment on competitive performance, concentrated relationship portfolios and long-term relationships attenuate the competitive benefits that firms derive from partnering flexibility. While long-term relationships and concentrated supplier portfolios enhance the competitive benefits of process alignment, operations managers also need to recognize the detrimental effects of these supplier portfolio characteristics on the competitive benefits of partnering flexibility. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

SUMMARY This article introduces a special issue on relations between governments and non-government organisations (NGOs) that collaborate in improving public service provision in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. NGOs are the focus because, although they are far from being the main non-state service provider, they are the sector most likely to enter into collaboration with governments. However, such collaboration is often thought to lead to the loss of NGO autonomy and capacity for independent public action. This article analyses the factors that have led to the growth of NGO service provision and to the call for their partnership with the government. It then describes the theoretical approach and the research framework on which the special issue is based. The approach considers the institutional and organisational constraints to which NGOs subject themselves by entering into relations with governments and also their capacity for 'strategic choice' in the exercise of influence. Lastly, the article summarises the contributions to this special issue and relates them to the wider literature. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Despite growing emphasis within development policy on forging partnerships for development, very few development programmes designed to promote collaborative arrangements between state agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to ensure the efficient service delivery of basic services to the poor succeed. Examining three cases of state-NGO collaboration in Pakistan, this article identified two NGO-related factors as critical in helping create demand for their services within state agencies: (i) technical expertise and (ii) strong social and political networks. This article showed that attempts at collaboration are more likely to succeed if NGOs offer technically sound solutions to ensure efficient service delivery and have strong political and professional networks within the relevant state agencies to promote these solutions. Community-embeddedness of the NGO can further help turn instances of collaboration into long-term partnerships. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY This article analyses collaboration between governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan in three services: basic education, healthcare and sanitation. It questions the premise that NGOs that collaborate lose their autonomy and capacity for policy influence. It finds that, even where NGOs operate in constraining institutional environments and enter agreements with government, they are able to exercise strategic choices in response. Most of the studied NGOs depended on government for less than half their funding; they all had alternative sources and so could make strategic choices to some degree. Non-government service providers are not passive in face of structural constraints. Although their strategies are not usually explicit, they balance the need for financial survival, the defence of their organisational identities and commitment to their goals-including influencing government. At least for these NGOs, there is no contradiction between advocacy and service delivery. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]