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This paper aims to explore if employee engagement (EE) influences the relationship quality of long-term partnerships between non-profit organisations (NPO) and for-profit organisations (FPO) and offer a theoretical framework for NPO and FPO long-term partnerships’ success based on the literature.

The study resorts to qualitative research, and through 45 in-depth structured interviews with NPO and FPO employees, this paper intends to investigate the theoretical framework using a hypothetico-deductive method.

The findings support the authors’ theoretical framework, where EE influences satisfaction, trust and commitment to the partnership. The results highlight that organisations creating high levels of satisfaction, trust and commitment may have a higher propensity for long-term partnerships.

This study offers a novel theoretical framework for developing long-term partnerships between NPO and FPO. However, each variable’s extent of influence still needs to be further explored, creating a fertile ground for future research in this area.

Este estudio explora si el compromiso de los empleados influye en la calidad de la relación a largo plazo entre organizaciones sin fines de lucro (NPO) y organizaciones con fines de lucro (FPO) e propone un sistema teorico para el éxito de las asociaciones a largo plazo de NPO y FPO baseado en la literatura.

El estudio recurre a la investigación cualitativa, y a través de 45 entrevistas estructuradas en profundidad con empleados de NPO y FPO, este artículo tiene la intención de examinar el sistema teorico empleando un método hipotético-deductivo.

Los resultados apoyan la afirmación de que el compromiso de los empleados influye en la satisfacción, la confianza y el compromiso con la asociación. Los resultados muestran que las organizaciones que crean altos niveles de satisfacción, confianza y compromiso pueden presentar una mayor propensión a las asociaciones a largo plazo.

Este artículo ofrece un nuevo sistema teorico para el desarrollo de asociaciones a largo plazo entre NPO y FPO. Sin embargo, el alcance de la influencia de cada variable aún debe ser explorado, lo que crea un terreno fértil para futuras investigaciones en esta área.

Este artigo explora se o envolvimento dos colaboradores influência a qualidade da relação de parcerias de longo prazo entre organizações sem fins lucrativos (NPO) e organizações com fins lucrativos (FPO) e propõe um quadro conceptual para o sucesso das parcerias de longo prazo entre NPO e FPO baseado na literatura.

Este estudo recorre à investigação qualitativa e, através de 45 entrevistas em profundidade com funcionários de NPO e FPO, este artigo pretende examinar o quadro teórico utilizando um método hipotetico-dedutivo.

As conclusões apoiam a afirmação de que o envolvimento dos colaboradores influencia a satisfação, a confiança e o compromisso com a parceria. Os resultados mostram que as organizações que criam elevados níveis de satisfação, confiança e compromisso podem apresentar maior propensão a parcerias de longo prazo.

Este artigo oferece um novo quadro teorico para o desenvolvimento de parcerias de longo prazo entre NPO e FPO. No entanto, a extensão de influência de cada variável necessita de análise adicional, o que cria um terreno fértil para futuras investigações nesta área.

The aim of this paper is to show how a university‐industry partnership can be used in two key ways. First, to contribute to academia through the development of new research methodology and improved understanding of the subject area (total quality management (TQM)). Second, to add to organisational learning by developing critical reflection and reflexivity in employees and managers involved in the partnership and the development of TQM in the organisation. Design/methodology/approach – The paper critiques the partnership between the author's university and a large utility organisation over a four‐year period. The development of academic and organisational learning over this period is discussed, with particular emphasis on the need for developing appropriate research methodologies in this type of environment. Findings – The paper has shown that partnerships between universities and organisations often experience difficulties due to apparently differing and incommensurate desired outcomes. Any partnership activity must involve deep learning transfer and practitioner reflection and reflexivity as opposed to training. The overall method of working, which included the research methodology, was that of critical action learning. The emphasis on criticality involving this cycling process enabled practitioners to critically reflect and to carry out reflexive change actions. This approach ensured that grounded TQM models were produced which represented the complexity and dynamics of TQM implementation within the organisation. Once again, the practitioner's reflection and reflexivity added to the richness of the findings and developments. Overall, the partnership produced a range of successful outcomes.

Overall, the partnership produced a range of successful outcomes for the organisation and the university over the four‐year period. However, it should be noted that these methods of working and research methodologies for the partnership involve considerable time in comparison to more conventional approaches. Furthermore, the partnership required the commitment and understanding of the organisation in relation to long‐term learning transfer Originality/value – This study puts forward an original approach to university‐industry partnership and indeed highlights some of the positive aspects of the approach for both the university and the industry partner.

The aim of this paper is to conduct a systematic literature review to understand the state of the art of partnerships between humanitarian organizations and business corporations in managing humanitarian logistics.

A systematic literature review is conducted based on the steps proposed by Denyer and Tranfield (2009). The context-intervention-mechanism-outcome (CIMO) logic is applied to identify the state of the art of partnerships between humanitarian organizations and business corporations in humanitarian logistics. Thirty-six papers related to the topic are extracted from recognized journal databases and then classified into four categories based on the CIMO logic: situational context, intervention factors, mechanisms and outcomes.

The study shows that while the context and mechanisms for developing cross-sector partnerships between the humanitarian and the business sector have been examined and illuminated by many researchers, additional research (in particular, empirical studies) is needed to measure outcomes as well as the contributions of partnerships to the performance of humanitarian logistics. In addition to synthesizing the literature in this area, this study also presents challenges of such partnerships.

The study improves the understanding of the state of cross-sector partnerships in humanitarian logistics as well as identifies opportunities for future research in this area. The study provides reasons and motives of initiating humanitarian–business partnerships in humanitarian logistics as well as their mechanisms and potential outcomes. This may help in developing successful logistics partnerships with each other.

This is the first systematic literature review to examine the nature of partnerships between humanitarian organizations and business corporations in humanitarian logistics using CIMO logic.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role played by turbulent environments in the evolution of hybrid (i.e. multi-party, cross-sector) partnerships for regional innovation. Although extant research suggests that organizations decide to participate in such partnerships to cope with their turbulent environments, little is known about how actual perceptions of turbulent environments influence the setup and evolution of a partnership.

The qualitative study adopts a longitudinal design to investigate the evolution of a cross-sector regional innovation partnership between ten very different organizations. With the help of the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) model proposed by Bennett and Lemoine (2014a), the authors study the relation between partners’ initial perceptions of environmental turbulence and the models adopted for the partnership throughout its lifecycle (emergent, brokering and platform).

The authors show that partners’ intentions to solve perceived environmental turbulence through collaboration can have the unexpected consequence of triggering perceived turbulence inside the collaboration itself. Specifically, the authors show that perceived partnership VUCA at each stage is a result of partners’ attempts to cope with the perceived VUCA in the previous stage.

The study highlights a set of common traps that both public and private organizations engaged in hybrid partnerships might fall into precisely as they try to lower VUCA threats in their environments.

The work accounts for the relationship between external and internal perceptions of VUCA in hybrid partnerships for regional innovation, and, in particular, provides a better understanding of what happens when organizations choose to enter hybrid partnerships in order to deal with perceived threats in their environments.

This chapter examines the case studies in this volume with a focus on concepts and methods used in the study of multi-organization networks and partnerships, motivations to join in multi-party collaboration, how multi-organization collaborations organized and managed, what kinds of value are created by collaborations, and the role of leadership therein.

A comparative look at four vertical networks (in health care and education); two “issue” networks/partnerships (sustainable seafood and water use); and the roles of government in collaboration in horizontal, vertical, and issue-based arrangements.

The chapter describes “lessons” learned about building both sustainability and collaborative capabilities in and across partnering organizations and about improving partnership structures, processes, and results.

The chapter sums and synthesizes the volume’s contributions.

This paper aims to offer a New Zealand perspective on how business and community organisations engage to develop mutually beneficial partnerships to tackle pressing social issues. Specifically, the paper seeks to examine the collaboration motivations for business and community partners involved in seven business‐community partnerships in New Zealand.

The paper utilises data from in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews with key business and community managers involved in seven partnerships in New Zealand. The transcripts of the interviews were analysed using elements of content and narrative analysis. Findings to be presented in this paper include: explaining what “partnership” is; understanding a business case; and community organisations' motivations for engaging in partnerships with business.

This research finds that, while partnerships involving business and community organisations may ideally be associated with shared societal concerns, in this study there was a very strong focus on individual community organisation goals and a dominance of business priorities. This was not balanced by an interest in the broader meta‐goals of the partnership.

This paper draws attention to diverse and often competing motivations that characterise business‐community partnerships. The research demonstrates that, while partnerships are often discussed in the context of societal benefits, individual organisations frequently form partnerships primarily for their own instrumental self‐interests. It is hoped that this paper will stimulate understanding of the practical challenges to developing business‐community partnerships, given differences among the partners in goal orientations and expectations.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate public partners’ motives for seeking and/or accepting partnerships with third sector organisations.

The approach is to seek to identify and explain motives from different perspectives; as responses to government failure or voluntary failure, as related to governance structures, and/or as driven by resource dependencies. The empirical material was gathered through semi-structured interviews with public employees in Swedish municipalities. The aim of the interviews was to grasp the public partners’ motives for partnerships with third sector organisations. Each interview started with questions on the presence and forms of partnerships, thus creating a backdrop for the motives, both during the interview and as a map of the partnership landscape.

The most prominent motives for public engagement in partnerships with third sector organisations are related to democratic values, the need to solve concrete problems, and economic rationality. The motives vary with the type of partnership of which there is considerable variation in scale, content and contribution; the types of partnership vary with different policy fields and services. Different perspectives highlight different motives but none of them excludes other perspectives.

The main contribution of the paper is the empirically based findings of a multi-layered public–third sector partnership landscape where policy fields, forms and complex motives are intertwined.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a model of cause‐related marketing (CRM) for both profit‐driven (PD) and non‐profit (NP) organizations.

The model consists of two parallel internal and external organizational processes – one representing the process of a NP organization and the other a PD organization. They are interlinked as the outcome of a CRM‐partnership is dependent upon their mutual efforts.

The authors argue that it is essential to remember that a CRM‐partnership is a challenge and risk for both the PD and NP organizations that may harm their reputation and position in the marketplace and/or society. CRM has benefits as well as downsides that should not be underestimated nor neglected.

Will the involvement of the PD or NP organizations in the resultant partnership be perceived as commercialism, altruism or a combination of both, in the marketplace and society? A focus on both processes opens up opportunities for further research.

A contribution is that the CRM‐model may be used as a guide for both PD and NP organizations in order to reveal whether a CRM‐partnership is appropriate for them with a potential partner or not. It may also indicate whether the motives are based upon commercial reasons or altruistic reasons or a combination of both.

The model enables these organizations to think through the process prior to engaging in CRM.

This paper aims first to identify key interorganisational partnership types among non-profit organisations (NPOs) and second to determine how knowledge sharing takes place within each type of partnership. Results explore the value of social media specifically in facilitating external relationships between NPOs, firms and the communities they serve.

Empirical qualitative analysis of exploratory interviews with 16 Canadian NPOs generates a non-exhaustive classification of partnership types emerging from these organisations, and their defining characteristics in the context of interorganisational knowledge sharing.

Overall eight categories of partnerships from the sampled NPOs emerged from the analysis of the data. These include business partnerships, sector partnerships, community partnerships, government partnerships, expert partnerships, endorsement partnerships, charter partnerships and hybrid partnerships. Using examples from interviews, the sharing of knowledge within each of these partnerships is defined uniquely in terms of directionality (i.e. uni-directional, bi-directional, multi-directional knowledge sharing) and formality (i.e. informal, semi-formal or formal knowledge sharing).Specific practices within these relationships also arise from examples, in particular, the use of social media to support informal and community-driven collaborations. Twitter, as a popular social networking tool, emerges as a preferred medium that supports interorganisational partnerships relevant to NPOs.

This research is valuable in identifying the knowledge management practices unique to NPOs. By examining and discussing specific examples of partnerships encountered among NPOs, this paper contributes original findings about the implications of interorganisational knowledge sharing, as well as the impact of emerging social technologies on same.

The purpose of this paper is to make clear the role that marketing plays in the strategic decision‐making process; it highlights the influence that marketers have in the development of sustainable partnership arrangements; and outlines the link between organizational learning and strategy implementation.

A review of relevant literature and critical insights into various management theories are provided. A conceptual sustainable partnership development (SPD) model is outlined and placed in context.

In order to be successful, a partnership arrangement needs to be well resourced and effectively managed. Senior managers need to pay particular attention to the role that organizational learning plays and how strategic management knowledge is developed. They also need to understand the link between organizational learning and customer relationship management. The transformational leadership model can be embraced as it facilitates cultural change, promotes the collectivist decision‐making approach, and places product innovation within the context of a multi‐dimensional R&D strategy.

Areas of management interest that need further attention include ways in which to assess an organization's level of vulnerability; the development and application of hybrid organizational models; and how marketing decisions influence R&D programmes. Industry specific corporate social responsibility models are of interest and can be researched also.

Hybrid organizational cultures are evident in partnership arrangements and give rise to various types of communication problems. Senior managers need to be fully aware of how a partnership arrangement is to be managed in the long term in order that it can be viewed as sustainable. Attention also needs to be paid to the technical knowledge and skills required at each stage of development of a partnership arrangement.

The work integrates a diverse range of management knowledge and provides insights into what makes a partnership arrangement sustainable. The SPD model highlights the link between marketing and strategic management, and the body of marketing knowledge is interpreted from a management perspective.