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Despite the criticality of strategic partnerships to the survival and success of professional service firms (PSF) in emerging markets, there is a dearth of research on the subject matter. Specifically, not much is known concerning the dynamics of partnerships among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the professional services sector of the economy. This paper aims to explore the dynamics of the impact of constructs such as attributes of partnership, communication behaviour and collaborative conflict resolution on partnership success.

A quantitative survey sent to 300 small and medium-sized PSFs achieved a 79% response rate. The data is then analysed using bivariate and multi-variate techniques.

The results revealed a positive relationship between two of the three constituents of attributes of the partnership (i.e. commitment and coordination) and the success of partnerships. Commitment and coordination emerged as the significant attributes of partners that affect the success of the partnership. Contrary to previous studies, trust and information sharing did not have a positive impact on partnership success.

PSFs in emerging markets need concerted efforts to maintain competitive and sustainable partnerships. To make any significant impact, they must develop contemporary skills in collaborative conflict management.

This paper highlights the need for PSFs and SMEs in other service sectors of emerging markets to harness partnerships as a valuable tool to overcome the policy shortcomings of current regulatory frameworks within their respective markets.

This paper aims to examine the complexity of the relationship between human capital management (HCM) and the performance of community-based health planning and services (CHPS) from an emerging market perspective. It further explores the mediating role of community orientation; institutional intervention and capability of resources in the hypothesized relationship between HCM and the performance of CHPS.

Quantitative data was collected (through a survey) from 210 health volunteers using a systematic random sampling technique. A 95% response rate was realized and the data was analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical multiple regression.

HCM has a direct relationship with the performance of the CHPS model. It also emerged that institutional intervention and capability of resources partially mediate the relationship between HCM and CHPS performance; while community orientation fully mediates the same relationship.

Capacity building for staff must be wired into the workings of the CHPS model to yield the maximum impact. This points to the need for training packages that focus on building both social and cultural competence for staff working among locals under the CHPS model. Effective planning is, thus, needed to ensure a seamless allocation of adequate resources to boost performance. Also, community engagement is critical to the success of the CHPS model as it could serve as a platform for awareness creation among locals.

This paper introduces community orientation, institutional intervention and capability of resources as mediating variables to investigate the hypothesized relationships. It offers a developing country insight into how HCM-related factors might be impacting the performance of community-based health programs.