Governance in a Stakeholder Society: Interpersonal Relations in Policy Partnerships
Title: Governance in a Stakeholder Society: Interpersonal Relations in Policy Partnerships
Conference: Proceedings of a conference at Westlakes Research Institute
Contributors: Adams, Gordon. Ball, Ken. Bell, Florence. Boden, Derek. Cameron, Stuart. Connolly, Stephen. Davies, Huw. Dibben, Mark. Fyfe, John. Heaslip, Mike. Hill, Ian. Peck, Frank. Robinson, Paul. Williams, John & Wylie, Rick [edited by Rick Wylie with a foreword by John Lackie]
Publisher: Westlakes Research Institute
Published: 2003
ISBN: 0954168437 (pbk)
Price: £17.50
Westlakes Research Institute is an educational charity with a commercial arm that undertakes applied research. It is itself the product of a partnership, one of the first explicitly recognised examples. We are arranged into two divisions, Healthcare Informatics and Environmental Sciences. In both of these areas we have many years of experience working with groups of stakeholders and are very well aware of the complexity and dynamics of such relationships. The sorts of problems with which we are engaged, such as implementation of integrated healthcare records and the resolution of large scale environmental problems, require various diverse organisations to work together. As a relatively small organisation we recognise that we cannot do everything ourselves, that we need to collaborate with others, and that the organisational structures and agendas of our collaborators may be very different from our own. Inevitably this brings some tensions and successfully resolving these is essential to making the collaboration work.
In this conference we focus upon an increasingly common structure in the governance of contemporary Britain – the policy partnership. These networks of organisations, interests and individuals often depend to a large extent upon the quality of the personal relationships between the individual players to make them work. They form where collaborative effort is required and often span public, private and social sectors. They are changing the scale of government and the way we need to work. The dynamics of these partnerships and networks are therefore of considerable interest in themselves: by understanding the factors leading to success or failure of partnerships we may be able to ensure they achieve their objectives and produce positive outcomes.
Working with and within these new structures requires new skills, and an appreciation of both the costs and the benefits of this way of working. Our aim with this conference, one of a series we organise at Westlakes as part of our academic and professional development programme, is to bring together colleagues from West Cumbria and wider afield. Through involving practitioners, policy makers and scholars I hope that we can contribute to a broader understanding of partnership working, and help all of us get more out of working in this way.