Joint Venture

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Successful joint venture partnerships: public-private partnerships
Sue Trafford
Liverpool City Council, Liverpool, UK, and

Public-private partnerships

117

Tony Proctor
Chester Business School, Chester University, Chester, UK
Abstract
Purpose – Seeks to examine important characteristics that go hand-in-hand with successful public-private partnerships. Design/methodology/approach – A grounded theory approach is adopted involving interviews and group discussions with executives of the organisations involved. The rationale behind the reduction of the data collected was based on the commonalty of the words, themes and concepts being produced by the respondents through the written and oral research data. Findings – A descriptive model is presented which identifies five key characteristics: good communication, openness, effective planning, ethos and direction. It is argued that all contribute to the success of a joint venture. Research limitations/implications – Further research might examine other examples of public-private partnerships since the research reported here comprises only a single case study – the major limitation of this research. While utilising the findings of this research may improve the chances of a successful venture, they cannot of their own accord guarantee success since other factors are at play. Originality/value – The paper presents a valuable insight for both academics and practitioners who are keen to appreciate executives’ concerns that can arise in evolving a joint venture between a public and a private sector organisation. Keywords Partnership, Joint ventures, Public sector organizations, Private sector organizations, Communication, Project planning Paper type Research paper

Introduction Collaboration between different organisations enables them to compensate for gaps in their knowledge and capacity to

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