HOW TO GIVE: EFFECTIVENESS OF PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN PUBLIC AND CIVIL SOCIETY SECTORS IN INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN AID

Abstract

This study demonstrates application of the demand/supply model that derives from the three failures theory to the study of partnership effectiveness, showing that effective partnership is a partnership that provides each partner with assets that help them spend fewer resources on achieving their goals than when working alone, by compensating for each other's weaknesses while maximizing their own strengths. The study uses public-private partnership (PPP) in humanitarian settings as a unique opportunity to investigate partnership as a process and contribute to a nascent collaboration theory. The study shows that factors that define effective PPP during different stages of disaster relief are similar. However, different stages of partnership require different levels of compensation mechanisms from partnership participants to ensure that both actors maximize their strengths while achieving their missions. As a result, different stages of partnership call upon different combinations and degrees of factors affecting partnership effectiveness. This research uses descriptive data and inferential analysis, based on interviews with 10 representatives of humanitarian agencies that partner with the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Office. It gives scholars and practitioners of philanthropy insights into the question: "how to give?" It also provides collaboration research and public policy with guidance on how to create stronger partnerships and increase the likelihood of better collaboration outcomes as well as how to better deal with hazards in order to mitigate disaster outbreaks.