Sri Lanka textile industry's public private partnership project: a case study

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this organization research project was to focus on finding effective methods for the stakeholder group of private firms in the apparel and textile industry in Sri Lanka to work together as partners with government and academic institution stakeholder groups to raise the level of human resource development in education, training and technology innovation resources in the apparel and textile industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Organization development, action research and training methods were used to help the various groups examine their needs and issues, and the consultant's gap analysis was used to identify any dysfunctional barriers along three levels of realm, scale, and transform that formed a wicked problem situation that kept the stakeholder groups from organizing themselves to work together on the common cause.

Findings

The three stakeholder groups were able to make use of a variation of the public private partnership model in developing a virtual college of apparel and textiles.

Practical implications

The three stakeholder groups were able to use formal and creative informal forms of a partnership of partnerships approach by cross sharing of board members. Sri Lanka's apparel and textile industry was able to successfully upgrade its human resource development efforts to retain its strong position in the following years of global market change.

Originality/value

Using organization development's wicked problem resolution methods can be useful in any country that needs to bring large diverse groups of public and private organizations together to work on common interests while assuring that their differing missions can be pursued effectively.

Citation

Bruce, R.R. (2013), "Sri Lanka textile industry's public private partnership project: a case study", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 153-162. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513551311318022