Cross-Sector Partnership Strategy
Building relationships across boundaries between very different types of organizations (e.g., multinational companies and NGOs) is a strategy for influencing larger systems and achieving systemic change. Such partnerships bring together different viewpoints and strengths to address complex problems that no single organization can solve alone.
THE IDEA
CONNECTING ACROSS THE SECTORS
Building relationships across boundaries between very different types of organizations is becoming a key strategy for influencing larger systems as well. “We’re discovering that partnering to increase diversity of viewpoint is a key lever for strategic change,” says Andre van Heemstra, a member of the management board at Unilever.
Recently, Unilever completed a historic joint study with Oxfam of Unilever’s poverty reduction efforts in Indonesia.[15] Both organizations had a lot at risk. Unilever, as a leading multinational consumer goods company and champion of corporate responsibility, had to prepare for a critical assessment of its efforts to positively impact the developing world. Oxfam, as a leading global NGO that criticized international trade guidelines for unfairly favoring large global corporations, had to prepare for attacks for working with just such an organization. “Big companies like ours obviously are working hard to increase internal diversity, but we also need to increase external diversity,” says van Heemstra. “It is difficult. But what Oxfam and Unilever can do together greatly exceeds what we can do on our own.” Barbara Stocking, Oxfam’s president, was also a champion of the project. “We all know the problems with the big multinational companies, but we need to go beyond just throwing bricks. We run campaigns to raise public awareness about real problems, but it’s not enough to solve those problems that go beyond one company’s behavior. Creating more systemic solutions will require working together.”
When to use it
A tech company partnering with an environmental NGO to develop sustainable supply chains.
A local government partnering with a community organization and a private developer to address affordable housing.
A healthcare provider collaborating with a non-profit and a pharmaceutical company to improve access to medicine in underserved areas.
A financial institution working with a microfinance NGO to expand financial inclusion in rural regions.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Unilever and Oxfam Joint Study in Indonesia
Unilever, a multinational consumer goods company, partnered with Oxfam, a global NGO, to conduct a joint study on Unilever's poverty reduction efforts in Indonesia. Both organizations faced risks: Unilever risked critical assessment of its impact, and Oxfam risked criticism for collaborating with a large corporation. The partnership leveraged diverse viewpoints and combined strengths, demonstrating that cross-sector collaboration can achieve more than either could alone.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
In what areas of your work or life could forming a cross-sector partnership create more systemic change than working alone?
What are the risks and benefits of partnering with an organization that holds different values or perspectives from your own?
How does increasing external diversity through partnerships complement internal diversity efforts?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- The Fifth Discipline The Art Practice of the Learning Organization (Peter M. Senge)