Background Achieving an environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable development is today a key aspect in many businesses. Accordingly, cross-sector collaborations between businesses and NPOs have on an increasing scale been considered a powerful and unavoidable tool for creating environmental, social, and economical value simultaneously.   Problem Relatively little is known about how the underlying dynamics of cross-sector collaborations relate to enhanced value creation. Furthermore, the terminology in previous documentation of cross-sector collaborations has been spread out and inconsistent.   Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how business-NPO collaborations increase the potential for enhanced value creation.   Method The study has been conducted through a comparative case study of three Swedish cross-sector collaborations. Qualitative data has mainly been obtained through interviews.   Conclusions The analysis showed that the potential for enhanced value creation increases as collaboration moves from sole-creation of value toward co-creation of value. The study found that achieving co-creation of value is facilitated by (1) an issue-salient approach to stakeholder engagement, (2) achieving mutual dependency, and (3) having sustainability itself as a central aspect of a business’ purpose, strategy, and operations.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction calls for collaboration across sectors in society as an effective way to reduce disaster risk in order to safeguard lives, human wellbeing, and development gains from potential disasters. However, the effectiveness of these cross-sector collaboration approaches has most often been studied in the context of rapid onset disasters such as floods, with less focus on slow-onset disasters such as multiple year droughts. There is also limited research on the contributions of cross-sector collaborations towards Disaster Risk Reduction in African cities. For this study, I set out to investigate cross-sector collaboration efforts contributing to drought response in the city of Harare, Zimbabwe; and how these collaborations were contributing towards fulfilling the four priority areas of the Sendai Framework. These include i) understanding disaster risk, ii) strengthening disaster risk governance, iii) investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience, and iv) enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response. In this qualitative study, I made use of purposive and snowball sampling methods to select 14 key informants from national and local government, non-governmental organisations, and civil society organisations who were directly involved in eight drought related cross-sector collaborations. I conducted in depth semi-structured interviews with these key informants between 2018 and 2019. For the analysis, I followed prior developed themes based on Bryson et al. (2006) theoretical framework to understand cross-sector collaborations. I also applied a typology of barriers and enablers developed from the literature in the analysis, and interpreted emergent themes using NVivo software. I then assessed the contributions of the identified cross-sector collaborations to the activities listed under each of the four priority areas in the Sendai Framework. The findings highlighted the socio-political and economic context of the city of Harare had seeped through and influenced the cross-sector collaborations responding to drought. They shed light on how taking advantage of widely accessible social media platforms serve to enhance collaborations. Additionally, the results highlight the importance of existing networks and relationships in enabling cross-sector collaborations to occur effectively. Most of the cross-sector collaborations occurring in response to drought were originally formed for other reasons and included drought response during the peak of the drought disaster. Collaborations were effective at contributing towards engaging communities in risk assessment and reporting at the local level (Priority 1) and ensuring continual provisioning of services (water) during and after disasters (Priority 4). I make suggestions for collaborations to consider issues of power and how these affect the effectiveness of collaborations on the ground with regards to ensuring social justice and reducing inequality. Finally, I conclude that cross-sector collaborations would be more effective in response to slow-onset disasters when they are formed and applied before the disaster is at its peak. I also suggest that the design and implementation of the cross-sector collaborations be tailor made to consider the socio-political and economic aspects of the city in their design for effective response.

Cross-sector  social-oriented  partnerships  which  address  social  or  environmental challenges are increasing in practice and in the literature. Although this is expected to continue  in the  future, management responsibilities are  largely unclear  in this type of cross-sector  collaboration.  Project  management  was  found  to  be  a  relevant  area  for investigation  because  cross-sector  collaborations  and  projects  have  similar characteristics and projects are mentioned separately in the two literature fields.   By joining them in a novel theoretical framework and by collecting empirical data, this thesis aims to explore, describe and analyse the context and use of project management in  the  formation  phase  of  cross-sector  social-oriented  partnerships.  The  study  was undertaken in the belief that project management can be enriched by being researched in collaborative settings and that cross-sector collaborations are interesting to investigate from a managerial perspective. In fact, they offer great potential for knowledge creation and sharing which has been addressed mainly by management research.   This  thesis  study  was  structured  according  to  three  research  objectives.  Firstly,  we analysed the role of contextual elements in cross-sector social-oriented partnerships by comparing cases in different European country contexts, which were selected based on established criteria. Secondly, we conceptualised the formation phase as  it was  found that  the  literature  lacked  an  overarching  understanding  of  this  phase.  Thirdly,  we identified  management  responsibilities  with  a  focus  on  project  and  knowledge management concepts in the formation of cross-sector social-oriented partnerships.    We  investigated  both  partners  in  a  multi-method  qualitative  study  to  get  a  holistic understanding  of  the  research  context.  Primary  data  was  collected  in  semi-structured interviews and supplemented with secondary data. The data was analysed on two levels which allowed for the triangulation of findings. Given the mainly inductive approach, template  analysis  was  deployed  allowing  for  flexibility  to  take  account  of  emerging aspects.   The  empirical  data  shows  that  project  management  is  deployed  differently  in  the formation  of  cross-sector  social-oriented  partnerships,  depending  on  contextual elements  and  the  intention  with  which  they  were  formed.  This  is  reflected  in  the interaction of partners, the level of trust between them, the way knowledge is shared and ultimately in the level of formality in which project management is deployed. In light of the generated findings, the extension of a collaboration continuum from the literature is proposed  by  integrating  project  management  as  a  parameter.  The  findings  and  this proposition have implications on practitioners and for further research in the field.

Cross-sector collaborations in the form of self-organized interorganizational networks are key mechanisms to address complex social sustainability problems in a systematic manner with accelerated and effective results. Self-organized interorganizational networks allow for collaborations through low degrees of hierarchy and bureaucracy while achieving high levels of ownership and commitment among member organizations. These type of networks have proven useful to achieve policy reforms to tackle societal problems related to rapid evolving and internet related crimes affecting children. This study analyses the initial conditions and emergence of self-organized interorganizational networks, as well as the structuralarrangements and governance structures that facilitate the network organization. To do so, the authors used as case study the criminalization of online sexual grooming in Malaysia that resulted in the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017. The analysis of the case was conducted through a qualitative thematic analysis based on semi-structured interviews to 11 leaders of some of the organizations that collaborated by producing public awareness, educating about the implications of this type of crime, and simultaneously, drafting and passing the new law. The results of the study showed that the network in Malaysia was formed and organized organically through a combination of informal and formal methods and structures guided by a high sense of shared purpose and shared leadership.

Globally and nationally in Sweden, we see an increased awareness of the interconnectedness of sustainability challenges and an understanding that no single actor or sector possesses the resources, knowledge or creativity needed to develop and implement holistic solutions to bring about disruptive transformations of the currently unsustainable system. This has led to an increased demand for collaborative governance and values-based responsible leadership. Despite this growing interest, we identify a gap in research regarding what leadership approach and competencies are needed to harness the potential of collaboration. The purpose of this study is to understand individual leaders’ perspectives on responsible leadership in collaborative governance aimed at systemic sustainable development. By gathering qualitative data through semi-structured interviews with 9 leaders active in collaborative governance in Sweden we contribute with research on internal competencies in leadership. We analyze the individual leaders’ reflections in relation to three concepts from responsible leadership: ethics and values, self-awareness and stakeholder relations. Through this study we find that responsible leadership provides a suitable holistic approach to address the complex challenges of collaborative governance aimed at systemic sustainable development. In addition, we find that the three internal competencies in focus for this study are deeply interconnected and create synergies when applied in collaborative governance. Lastly, we identify that leaders’ self-awareness reflects an interconnectedness between the leaders’ perception of their own inner sustainability and the sustainability of the outer world consisting of stakeholder relations and the societal system they strive to change through their leadership. Through our findings we identify a need for further qualitative research applying an integrated approach to responsible leadership studies through which the synergies and interconnections of competencies can be better understood.