Collaboration- The Case for Strategic Pragmatism

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Collaboration- The Case for Strategic Pragmatism

• Lucian J. Hudson,
• Adviser on Collaborative Strategies
• Former Director of Communication, FCO

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Why this report, and why now?

• Collaboration an idea right for its time. When
  it works, huge advantage when difficult, Boy is
  it difficult!
• Set of intractable problems, and social goals,
  that cant be achieved by one organization, or by
  governments, business or NGOs working alone.
• Redefining organizational fitness-for-purpose
  CSR, collaboration and innovation all go hand in
  hand.

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Ground covered

• What is collaboration
• What makes for effective collaboration
• Impact on organizations
• Social collaboration
• Possibilities

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FCO Report Collaboration and its Possibilities

• More than 100 organizations
• contributed globally, including
• 20 governments.
• More than 200 contacts,
• with a core virtual group of 20.
• British Ambassadors survey
• (with support from Booz Co)
• Chevening alumni network
• input

• Key visits and events during
• assignment
• Mexico, New Europe (Poland,
• Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary)
• Shell International, Lloyds TSB,
• Futerra Communications
• European Commission, NATO and
• UN Geneva-based international
• organizations
• Sanofi Pasteur pandemic
• Preparedness symposium, Portugal
• IPRA round-table. 

Support from British Library, Said Business
School at Oxford University, and London Business
School
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Methodology

• My experience of 25 Posts. Career experience of
  collaboration. Return to classic texts. Tavistock
  Institute ideal of multi-disciplinary
  integration.
• Interviews and sustained correspondence. Access
  to governments, business and NGOs.
• Key intellectual inspirations Stamp, QinetiQ
  team, Huxham, Murray, Grint, Losada, Allen, Cull,
  Anholt, public diplomacy network. Key
  practitioner inspirations 19 leaders panel.
• Developing ones own approach suspending
  assumptions while explain them to the other.
  Advocacy/inquiry mix. The interested enabler.
  The enterprising public servant.

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Reflection on the practice step back to get
ahead!

• My own experience as a practitioner. Taking a
  step back to be even more strategic - and
  innovative about policy.
• A report on collaboration was itself an exercise
  in collaboration.
• Conceptual approach vs. lived experience 4 types
  of knowledge.
• Management business studies relevance and
  priority
• Personal mastery. Dealing with the shadow of
  Myers-Briggs scores. Translation and
  transformation.

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Case for strategic pragmatism
Collaboration, by its very nature, means that
traditional means of control - market and
hierarchy - cannot be used to manage relations
among participating organizations. Instead, it
depends on the ongoing negotiation of
relationships by individuals who are both
participants in the collaboration, and, at the
same time, accountable to and representative of
the diverse organizations and communities
involved in, and affected by, it. Hardy and
Grant, 2005. Quoted in Lotia and Hardy (2008)
pp. 366-367

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Case for optimism
If we combine our efforts with other peoples
efforts, we can make our resources go further,
and achieve more impact.  Steven Fisher, Deputy
Head of Mission, British Embassy, Budapest

Companies that do not transparently communicate
their sustainability performance are running out
of excuses Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, Chairman,
Anglo-American
Whether you are a manager in the public or
private sector, collaboration taps a source of
value that includes, but goes so much further
than, price- the value of what people can
accomplish together if they really apply
themselves, and organizations support and develop
them. Verna Stewart, Strategic Relationship
Director, Strategic Development Solutions, Lloyds
TSB
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Case for caution
You have to be tough-minded and have enough
sensitivity to make collaboration work. Its not
just people who have egos organizations have
egos too. Diplomat in one of the NATO missions,
Brussels

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Challenge for Social Collaboration
Is our role as architects, builders interested
enablers as much as leaders?
Governments alone can't achieve social goals.
Private sector investment and responsibility
NGO expertise and networks needed.
Government
Business can be more strategic than government
but expects government to deliver on any
collaboration
NGO perspective Are governments allies, targets
or partners? Issues independence, funding
Collaboration
NGOs
Business
Different tensions in role of NGOs advocacy,
delivering services, enabling solutions or
problem-solving, improving governance or
transparency, harnessing new or existing markets
Corporate Social Responsibility not just PR but
business strategy
Citizens
We are not bystanders. We want solutions
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Civil Society evolution of roles

• NGOs can perform one or more of the following
  roles,
• regardless of whether they were large or small,
  global,
• national, regional or local
• Advocacy pursuit and promotion of policy
  objectives
• Delivery of services complementing or
  substituting for government or other public
  service provision
• Enabling solutions or problem-solving, working
  with government or business
• Improving governance, rule of law, transparency
• Harnessing existing or new markets in countries
  where NGO credibility and reliability helps
  business achieve legitimacy and local support.

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NGO waves of evolution
NGO rethinks strategy priorities Investment in
IT

• Foundation wave
• Transformation wave
• Collaboration wave
• Source Gib Bulloch, Accenture Development
  Partnerships

Organizations and sector address entire
approach Investment in human capital/training
New era where governments, businesses NGOs work
together seamlessly
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Evolution of role of business

• Collaboration innovation and productivity
• Intractable problems business opportunities
• Shaping, not just responding to, economic
  environments
• Tapping invisible value brand equity and
  reputation
• Civic action, not just compliance

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Government/Business evolution
Coca-Cola Company invest millions in an alliance
between USAID and local bottling facilities in
Africa, Asia and South America to conserve water
resources
Starbucks Corporation work with Verde Ventures,
Calvert Foundation, EcoLogic Finance,
Conservation International and USAID to finance
more than 12m in loans for rural entrepreneurs
in Latin Central America
MTV provide technological resources to a 13m
alliance between USAID and MTV Europe Foundation
to increase awareness and prevent trafficking of
women and children for forced labour and sexual
abuse
The reasons behind these investments are
straightforward self-interest. Companies that
rely on the natural resources and human capital
of emerging markets are investing and instituting
sustainable development practices and education
initiatives in partnership with the U.S.
government because both government foreign
assistance programs and companies alike are
dependent on the global economy. Because of this
reliance, both the public and private sector are
motivated to act. James Thompson, US State
Department
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Effective collaboration between business,
governments and regulators

• Taking a strategic, long-term view of the
  regulatory framework in which business operates
• Creating an effective dialogue between the
  regulator and those regulated
• Recognizing that the languages of business and
  regulation can be different- and making the
  effort to understand those differences
• Allocating time and resources to collaborating on
  the co-design of regulations
• Investing in the development of the personal
  relationships and mutual trust that are necessary
  to achieved shared objectives.
• Source 11th Annual Global CEO Survey, PwC

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Case study M-PESA

• Vodafone and Safaricom, Kenya, with DFID funding,
  launched M-PESA, a mobile phone-based payment
  service that targeted customers in Kenya who
  didnt have bank accounts.
• Lack of infrastructure in Kenya in fixed-line
  telephony, and in banking, ensured growth of
  pre-pay mobile telephones and a means to transfer
  money.
• DFID funding enabled the companies to spend more
  time on needs assessment in the product
  development phase, brought expertise in the
  financial sector and gave the project a high
  profile.
• Stakeholders (Kenyan government, NGOs,
  International Organisations and private sector)
  have assisted with regulatory buy-in to the
  M-PESA service.
• Massive customer up-take in projects first year
  indicates pent up demand for simple financial
  transaction services.

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Case study Tourism Industry Emergency Response
(TIER)

• Following the London bombings of 7 July 2005,
  TIER went
• into action to
• Provide accurate, consistent information to
  reassure and inform visitors
• Promote a clear business as usual message in UK
  and international media
• Ensure media worldwide and UK Government are
  given consistent messages from Britains tourism
  industry
• Limit speculation as to the possible financial
  impact of 7 July and provide the authoritive
  impact assessment
• Leverage opportunities to demonstrate consumer
  confidence and kickstart recovery.
• The TIER campaign effectively brought together in
  a
• collaborative arrangement Britains vast and
  fragmented
• tourism industry to communicate with one voice.

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Evaluation Yes, please more, and better

• UN Report on Partnerships (2005)
• The Global Fund (2008)
• PwC Annual Global CEO Survey (2008)
• World Economic Forum Leaders Report (2008)

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Leadership response to types of problem
Increasing uncertainty about solution to problem
Source Grint, K. (2005) p.1477
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Drivers of effective collaboration

• To be effective, experience indicates that on the
  whole, collaboration
• builders need to
• Think of collaboration as part of a bigger play
• Align the collaboration with strategy to
  deliver, if possible, the highest common
  denominator - collaboration can be at the heart
  of plans, or complement and reinforce other
  plans.
• 2. Achieve results with genuine, more
  broad-based support Combine effectiveness with
  legitimacy, particularly if the collaboration
  itself cant deliver changes, but the combined
  effort of others in society can, if motivated and
  inspired to behave differently.
• Keep up the focus and momentum, and secure
  meaningful involvement from most partners
• Lead and manage with and through others,
  managing complexity, uncertainty, ambiguity and
  difference- yet accept trade-offs to achieve the
  common end.
• 4. Experiment, evolve and improve
• Adapt to, and try to shape, immediate and wider
  environments- the collaborative world is not
  about winning an argument, but working together
  to do whats right, now and in the future.

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15 steps needed to implement a collaborative
strategy

• Clarify the purpose
• Aim high
• Strive for commonality of interest
• Evaluate success
• Create value and demonstrate values
• Understand the different contexts in which
  collaboration operates
• Use political intelligence
• Show long-term commitment
• Use all four types of knowledge
• Establish common principles
• Decide the timing
• Manage the dynamics
• Exploit creative potential
• Tap the undercurrents
• Tap the talent

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• Aim high

• Aiming high in collaboration means raising the
  sights
• of what negotiations can produce in creating and
• delivering value.
• Strive for commonality of interest
• All the best negotiations aspire to reaching what
• economists call the Pareto optimum - the point of
  
• agreement which favours each side equally,
• maximising the gains, and minimizing the losses.

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Cycle of Collaboration 7 Steps

• 1. Identify, assess, and act on the opportunity
  - political, economic and
• social dividends
• 2. Design collaboration, attract and select
  partners
• 3. Convene gather information and build
  relationships
• 4. Frame challenge and opportunity explore
  options and
• solutions
• 5. Align interests, focus the choice
• 6. Establish and require personal and
  organizational commitment
• 7. Decide, implement, review and learn

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Collaborative partnerships model
Upper limit
Indicator value

Natural floor
Time
Zone 1 Things are going well, and we can
always do better
Zone 2 Things look good but it doesnt feel
good
Zone 3 Things are going wrong, and unless
decisive action is taken they will get worse
Zone 4 Things are better, everything feels back
to normal but can we count on that

Source Hudson, Dodd, Marsay, Stamp QinetiQ,
2008
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Collaboration its impact on organizations

• Depending on context and environment,
  collaboration can become even more important, and
  the main way in which organizations shape their
  efforts.
• Collaboration provides a way of achieving what is
  not immediately possible, especially in a
  turbulent environment. It can become the engine
  for change and renewed growth.
• Collaboration can be seen as a temporary
  organization and transitional space in which to
  foster innovation and learning, essential for
  long-term survival.

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How we can all raise our game to make
collaboration work

• In the context of achieving social goals,
  governments can think as much about their role as
  architects and builders (shaping the conditions
  in which collaboration happens, and delivering
  their part in it), as about their role as leaders
  (taking the primary responsibility for securing
  results).
• Despite evidence of increasing collaboration as a
  source of business success, the full potential of
  collaboration has yet to be reached.
• Companies find themselves under social, as well
  as competitive, pressure. They are subject to new
  levels of transparency, whether in response to
  changes in corporate governance, or to public
  concerns on environment or consumer rights.
• Corporate social responsibility is a means for
  companies to better connect with their
  stakeholders and customers, as well as their own
  employees.
• NGOs can play a crucial role in delivering on
  social goals, particularly in development- but
  they need to better equipped for the challenges
  that lie ahead.

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If the health of any society is only as secure
as the medical conditions of the worst-off
society, whose infections can circle the globe in
hours, there must be ample reason for
GlaxoSmithKline or Pfizer to join with the WHO to
improve preventive care and early warning systems
in the poorest countries. International NGOs
do not have that basis in legitimacy that is
provided by democratic processes. What is needed
is greater transparency in the operations and
funding of NGOs. Among the most important NGOs,
although we dont think of them this way, are
multinational corporations. Just as governments
in the era of the market state will have to learn
the business methods of wealth creation, so
businessmen- however much they dislike it- will
have to learn the methods of winning public
consent, for they have truly global interests.
Philip Bobbitt Terror and Consent 2008
Public governance is a global issue. No longer
can businesses, governments or non-governmental
organizations afford to act independently of each
other - the stakes are just too high. Only
through a combined effort can we achieve economic
growth, sustainability, and create an opportunity
for a better life for people everywhere. John
Connolly, Chairman, Global Board, Deloitte