Strategies for leveraging private sector capacities to serve public policy objectives 

In an era of declining tax support, government leaders are exploring creative ways to maintain quality, including developing effective partnerships with the private sector. Explore the changing role of government, the foundations of effective partnerships, the conditions that are most conducive to public-private partnerships, and various alternative strategies to government service delivery. Study examples of public-private partnerships and identify prospective partnerships for your agency.   

By the end of this class, you should be able to: 

1. Describe what’s driving the interest in strong public-private, public-public, and public–social sector relationships and the benefit of such relationships to the public agency, the partner entity, and key stakeholders. 
2. Identify the range of possibilities and directions for these partnerships. 
3. Discuss the benefits and potential liabilities of entering into such partnerships. 
4. Identify the critical success factors that have the greatest impact on the success (or failure) of these partnerships. 
5. Explore the array of possible partnership structures and possibilities. 
6. Assess the prospects for partnering with another entity. 
7. Describe the core elements of strong and enduring partnerships and the five-step process for developing them. 
8. Identify the initial conditions for developing strong partnerships. 
9. Identify the challenges of creating partnerships and strategies for addressing these challenges. 

Instructor: Jeff Russell (MS, UW-Madison) is codirector of Russell Consulting, where he helps organizations successfully respond to the challenges of continuous change. He focuses on leadership development, strategic thinking, leading change, understanding and dealing with behavioral styles, and performance management. 

Testimonials: 

“Risk and formal communication is an issue/need for public employees. I came away understanding the types of partnerships more fully.” 

“Steps to outline a process to create/strengthen partnerships. The format generated a lot of useful discussion.” 

“Good to think through the risks and benefits, and especially how to mitigate the risks of partnership.”