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To examine how partner firms, involved in provisioning m‐business applications and services, manage inter‐firm conflict and cooperation.

Synthesises network analysis and game theory to propose a conceptual model in which to examine the affect of relationship conflict and cooperation on a partnership's business processes. The model is used to examine how Japan's NTT DoCoMo successfully managed its global network of partnerships.

Provides initial support for conceptual linkages between interaction and partner management and the business processes in m‐business partnerships. Suggests that the unit of analysis for studying partnerships should extend beyond the dyadic relationship to a network. The paper also finds support for the use of social control mechanisms as a means in which to safeguard a focal relationship.

Characterised by high levels of uncertainty, task complexity and partner diversity, m‐business is an ideal environment in which to study partnerships. Continuing research efforts in this field will serve to bring managerial focus to understanding the broader concept of how m‐business macro‐markets operate.

The theoretical underpinnings of this paper provide a contemporary lens in which to examine the relationship between conflict, cooperation and process development and for developing a new stream of empirical research in the field of partnerships.

The purpose of this paper is to examine corporate social responsibility (CSR) partnerships from the often-overlooked perspective of nonprofit beneficiaries, situated in the rapidly evolving higher education funding environment.

In-depth interviews with corporate relations officers from public research universities across the USA were conducted. Qualitative coding procedures from Lindlof and Taylor (2019) were employed to analyze transcript data.

Three main factors have contributed to a rapidly evolving climate for corporate partnerships: CSR partnerships help universities build their reputations rather than endowments; feature new preferences in communication-based stewardship practices; and raise questions about university autonomy and authority.

New interpretations of interdependent relationships and stewardship may be needed to explain new corporate funding models, while threats to nonprofit organizational authority and autonomy may be growing.

Nonprofit practitioners may better understand how to position their organizations as more attractive to corporations while learning how to advocate for mutual benefits. They may also benefit from a new understanding of corporate stewardship.

While previous research has documented detrimental effects to nonprofits in CSR partnerships, higher education fundraisers in this study detail their struggles with new models of measuring success, new expectations for stewarding corporate partners and perceived threats to autonomy. Their voices add to a fuller understanding of rapidly evolving relationship management practices in higher education.

This study aims to investigate the role of relational asymmetries in influencing the coping strategies adopted by frontline workers to deal with the policy–client role conflict.

A comparative analysis of three different services highlights the role of the service relationships characteristics in explaining similarities and differences in the strategies adopted by street-level bureaucrats (SLBs). The research is based on the secondary analysis of three case studies conducted in Italy: the reception system for homeless people, the job brokerage service in the public employment service and the dispute settlement procedure in the labour inspectorate.

The results underline the interaction between the characteristics of the service relationship and the different coping strategies adopted to deal with the policy–client conflict.

The contribution of this study is threefold. Firstly, the authors focus on the influence of the characteristics of the service relationship in terms of agency resources over SLBs’ strategies to face with users’ expectations. Secondly, the authors intend to discuss these issues analysing SLBs not only as agents with individual preferences. Thirdly, the research design allows the authors to return to the street-level bureaucracy theory its comparative essence, proposing a comparative strategy with an explorative intent.

The aim of this paper is to describe the arena in which managers of small size Brazilian municipalities make decisions as constrained by stakeholder influence.

Four case studies were carried out with municipalities in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The investigation was carried out using grounded theory. Data were gathered through in‐depth interviews with managers and with the main stakeholders. Data were analysed using content analysis, supported by QSR N6 software.

The contribution of this paper to theory is based on a description of the arena in which Brazilian municipal districts make decisions. In so doing, it endeavours to model this arena as comprised of five clusters of stakeholder concerns: limitation, collaboration, orientation, legitimacy, and inspection. The paper raises some issues that are helpful in explaining the relationship between stakeholder influences and public organisations. In other words, it helps to label stakeholder influences and to make stakeholder influence more manageable by public organisations at the local government level. In practical terms, the paper concludes that the number of stakeholders is less important than the sort of influence they are supposed to exert upon organisations.

The limitations of this investigation relate to the features of the case study methods employed. The results show the particular situation of the State of Minas Gerais (at the southeast of Brazil) and represent the situation of small municipalities.

There has been very little prior analysis of stakeholder influence focusing on local government. This investigation is the first with a specific focus on identifying the arena in which Brazilian municipalities make decisions and the relationship of those municipalities with stakeholders.

The aim of this paper is to examine collaboration between the government and philanthropic foundations in the age of new governance. This focuses on analysing the relationship that was formed between PFs and the government in Israel during the development and operation of two joint projects initiated by PFs, which aimed to promote collaboration between the two sectors in the fields of children at risk and the public education system.

Qualitative, thematic content analysis was used to study the relationships that emerged between the PFs and the government. Data were collected from an examination of documented materials and interviews with key participants in the two projects from both parties.

The article presents the interface between government and philanthropic foundations in the age of new governance. Several major factors that shape these relations in collaborative projects emerged from the comparative analysis of the two case studies and are relevant to public sector management: the different perceptions of government and philanthropic foundations that guide the collaborations, the politics of collaboration and the power relations between PFs and government.

Further research might examine other examples of collaboration between PFs and government, since the research reported here comprises only two case studies.

As collaborations between government and philanthropic foundations are expanding in many countries as part of new-governance structures, the article presents a valuable insight for both academics and practitioners about relationships between these two sectors, and especially collaboration that involves actors from the New Philanthropy.

With the current trend toward globalisation and the increasing competitive and technological challenges of today's environment the formation of international strategic alliances has become an important part of many firm's international business strategies. Experience with international strategic alliances has shown that they face a number of problems, which can often result in the termination of the alliance. This study, therefore, aims to assess the impact of both behavioural and organisational characteristics on the success of international strategic alliances. The results show that behavioural characteristics play a more significant role in explaining overall alliance performance compared to organisational characteristics. High levels of commitment, trust, coordination, interdependence and communication are found to be good predictors of international strategic alliance success. Conflict, meanwhile, is found to hamper good performance. By contrast organisational characteristics such as structure and control mechanisms are found not to strongly influence the success of international strategic alliances.