Thesis advisor: Patrick McQuillan / The challenges facing our communities are complex, interconnected, and urgent (Kania & Kramer, 2011). Recognizing these challenges, policy makers, funders, and practitioners are turning to social partnerships as a promising strategy for community and educational change (Bess, 2015; Henig et al., 2015). Social partnerships involve the joining together of organizations from across sectors of society to tackle social problems (Crane & Seitanidi, 2014). The underlying premise of the Promise Neighborhoods program, one such social partnership, is that providing access to resources, services, and supports in a comprehensive manner will have the greatest effect on educational and community outcomes (U.S. Department of Education, 2018). This study seeks to shed light on the process of initiating and implementing a social partnership. In this study the author employed a two-phased, mixed methods design using social network analysis and interviews with organizational representatives to examine the network structures of communication and collaboration within one Promise Neighborhoods initiative: the Boston Promise Initiative. The sample for the social network analysis consisted of 33 individuals from 27 partner organizations. Further, follow-up interviews with 11 individuals were held to understand how network structures and processes might impact educational and community change. Findings from the social network analysis and qualitative interviews reveal networks of communication and collaboration rooted in a deep history of place-based change efforts, facilitating access to network resources and social capital among partner organizations. The findings highlight the importance of recognizing both challenges and opportunities of partnering with schools. Further, the findings highlight the importance of a lead organization’s ability to attend to both technical processes, such as facilitating communication among partners, and cultural processes, such as negotiating organizational identity. Taken together, the findings from this study point to the complex nature of cross-sector collaboration and identify structural factors and network processes that may impact the success of the efforts. By better understanding the structure and processes inherent in social partnerships, organizations can be better supported as they develop and implement cross-sector initiatives aimed at making meaningful change in their communities. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

The project is based on cross-sector partnerships to address societal problems (CSSP’s). CSSP’s are increasingly needed to address sustainability around the world. Previous studies on partnerships literature mostly investigated the organizational motives and key success factors. Regarding organizational motives, many studies investigated the motives of the organization to join partnerships in the context of dyadic partnerships such as non-profit and business partnerships. There is a need to investigate further the motives of the organization to join the social partnerships project with more than two sectors participated in the project. Meanwhile, the complexity of partnerships is increasing when more than three-sectors partnerships involved in the project. Some scholars also argued that cross-sector partnerships have a higher failure rate of partnerships rather than within sector partnerships.Therefore, this study aims to explore organizational motives to join and participate in cross-sector social partnerships project on a local level, and organizational challenges during implementation of it. A case study of Tillväxt Malmö project was chosen in this study as the project consists of more than three-sectors partnerships, which are a non-profit organization as the focal organization, and their partners are private sector (companies and investors), university and local governments.This study found there are four themes of organizational motives, which are society, resources, legitimacy, and competency that emerges from empirical finding. Most of the motives that are mentioned by organizations who joined and participate in the Tillväxt Malmô project is to address societal issues, to promote positive change, to bring benefits and help the growth of local business in Malmö city, and to support the development of social incubator in Malmö. This study also discovered four types of challenges which are (1) the different and changing of organizational mission and objectives, (2) the different of language, logic and perspective, (3) the difficulty to make organizational to work together and see each other as equal, and (4) the lack of transparency. Furthermore, the study also found that organizational motive has an important role that determines the sustainability of partnerships, whereas the different organizational motive between the partners to participate in CSSPs project could present as a barrier that strains the relationships between the partners.The paper illustrates the organizational motives and challenges in cross-sector social partnerships project which includes more than three-sectors in the domain to support the local economic development. Theoretically, this contributes to providing comprehensive literature about the motives and challenges in cross-sector social partnerships. In practical, it also gives an insight for project leaders or managers to address the relevant issues that face during implementation of cross-sector social partnerships project.

The inability of the public sector to satisfy social needs - like poverty alleviation, social inclusion of disadvantaged groups, unemployment, health and education - are redefining the relationship between the governments and their citizens by making the latter play an active role as the provider of the welfare state. Citizens through their entrepreneurial activity have been pulled to the third sector leading to the emergence of new organizational forms like social enterprises and social franchises. The main focus of this research study is the investigation of the new interorganizational format of social franchising which has received ‘scunt’ research attention up to now. The behaviour of actors and organizations in the social economy sector are influenced by the properties and dynamics of elements coming from the political, social, organizational and individual level. We have adopted a systems approach of social network theory. A grounded theory named Social Franchise Model (SoFraM) has been induced from an exploratory empirical mixed method study conducted at various stages and from different sources during a time frame of thirty months. Primary data were raised through six case studies in the UK and Greece, more than 143 interviews with social entrepreneurs and various stakeholders and three action research projects which were the subject of analytic induction supported by archival analysis of secondary data coming from governmental, European Commission, local authority and other sources. Our findings indicate that the formation, growth and success of social franchises is heavily shaped through: firstly, law, regulations, and incentives introduced by centralized or formal institutions- both supranational and national- as well as their driving logics; secondly, the relational and structural embeddedness of actors in networks and the social norms that subsequently emerge; thirdly, the characteristics of the individual social entrepreneurship profile; and finally elements of the social innovation model adopted. The properties of the system of informal or decentralised institutions of networks have been further explored through a pilot quantitative study on mainstream franchises in the UK and Greece. An online self-administered questionnaire has been created based on our conceptual framework of the Franchise Network Model (FNM) drawn from existing scales from literature. The findings indicate that relational and structural embeddedness of actors and organizations in networks determine choices of formation, partner selection, governance mode and the subsequent performance of franchise systems.

Esta tese teve como objetivo compreender a formação de parcerias sociais entre empresas e ONGs para a construção de projetos de desenvolvimento social de cooperativas e associações no setor da reciclagem. Para tanto, foram investigados dois casos de parcerias entre ONGs e Empresas que buscaram desenvolver projetos para a melhoria das condições de trabalho dos recicladores. Devido à natureza conflitante destes atores, a parceria social foi entendida é entendida como uma rede de atividades interconectadas, construídas coletivamente, em um espaço de tensão e contradição. Essa construção coletiva é compreendida como uma elaboração conjunta de um projeto de desenvolvimento social, em que os parceiros discutem, aprendem e negociam sentidos e significados visando a construção de um coletivo. Este entendimento remete a utilização de uma abordagem que possibilite a compreensão das tensões e contradições imersas nas atividades dos atores e, neste sentido, a teoria da atividade histórico cultural foi utilizada como lente teórico metodológica, principalmente em sua articulação com o campo de estudos negócios e sociedade. Diante deste contexto, desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa qualitativa, descritiva, por meio de dois estudos de caso. O primeiro caso refere-se ao projeto desenvolvido entre a ONG e a Gerdau, a partir do interesse da empresa em qualificar o seu fornecedor de sucata, bem como usar tal ação de qualificação como uma iniciativa de responsabilidade social em sua cadeia de suprimentos. Os principais mediadores deste processo foram o conhecimento da ONG, seus educadores sociais, o conhecimento gerencial da empresa, seus recursos financeiros, bem como artefatos de identificação. O segundo caso estudado relata o relacionamento ONG e Braskem. Este relacionamento emerge da necessidade da empresa em obter uma licença de operação na sociedade em que esta inserida. Assim a intenção da empresa é legitimar a sua presença e existência na sociedade e isto é realizado através do reforço da utilidade do seu produto. Os instrumentos que são utilizados na parceria buscam assim a melhoria da imagem do produto, bem como da sua imagem como uma empresa ―local‖: artefatos de identificação e discursivos. E tendo como norte esta necessidade latente, o diálogo entre empresa e ONGs se torna um dos principais mediadores do processo, bem como uma divisão do trabalho que reflita esta parceria e proximidade. Ainda, a fim de compreender a dinâmica subjacente ao processo de desenvolvimento destes projetos, este estudo lançou o olhar para os desafios de aprendizagem vivenciados pelos atores. No primeiro caso, foram evidenciados como desafios de aprendizagem (i) necessidade de mudança em direção a uma maior organização do trabalho (ii) ressignificação do trabalho e; (iii) necessidade de desenvolver um instrumento de trabalho que fosse condizente à realidade dos cooperados. Por outro lado, os desafios de aprendizagem relacionados ao segundo caso referem-se ao (i) relacionamento ONG-Empresa e na sua forma de operacionalização; (ii) escolha dos projetos devem ser apoiados, ou, em outras palavras, quais os stakeholders que irão ser considerados na comunidade. É importante notar que o fato dos desafios de aprendizagem e, consequentemente, das transformações obtidas mediante as consecução destes, terem residido, no Caso A, na cooperativa e, no Caso B, no relacionamento, reflete as características idiossincráticas destas organizações e o que ambas buscavam com a parceria. / How to construct fruitful relations with different stakeholders represents a challenge for organizations and a gap in the academic literature. One way to do this is through partnership establishment, especially in between companies and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO). Through partnerships, organizations could develop their own CSR‘s practices. On the other hand, NGOs could exercise their social role, in order to help community development. This study aims to understand how cross sectorial social partnerships for social development projects, whose purpose is to improve the working conditions and business structure of recycling warehouses, are constructed in the recycling sector, in the South Region of Brazil. In order to do so, two business-NGOs partnership cases were investigated. Given the actors contradictory nature, social partnerships were understood as a network of interconnected activity systems, in a social space of tension, contradiction and negotiation among actors in relation with each other and to the world, immersed in a historical and cultural context, from a culturally mediated relationship. The argument put forward is that the Cultural Historical Activity Theory can serve as a theoretical framework and provide a suitable model to analyse cross-sector social partnerships construction. Supported by the theoretical perspectives outlined above, we rely on a qualitative, descriptive research, by using a case study method. We carry on two case studies, in order to understand the projects development by a single NGO with two company leaders in each sector. The first case analyses Gerdau S.A. and its trajectory in the recycling sector. Gerdau S.A. seeks to engage with the NGO aiming to qualify recycling warehouses, as they are one of the suppliers, and to comply with their CSR agenda. The main artifacts used by the actors are NGO‘s knowledge and expertise, company managerial knowledge, and Identity Artifacts (company logo). The second case refers to NGO-Braskem relationship, which emerges from the company‘s need to get social license to operate in the region. So, the company intends to legitimate its existence in the society through gains in their product‘s image. Most of the artifacts are used by the actors to achieve this goal, such as Identity Artifacts (company and NGO logo), and Discursive Artifacts, in order to embody ―local identity‖ to the company. Given this context, the dialogue between Braskem and the NGO is one of these artifacts, as well as labor division, which reflects the relationship and proximity. In order to understand the dynamics that underlies the project construction, this study also investigated the learning challenges experienced by the NGO and the companies. The main learning challenges experienced by the partnership NGO-Gerdau are: (i) change through better work organization and structuration; (ii) work meaning ressignification; (iii) development of a work tool that fits to the warehouses reality. On the other hand, the learning challenges experienced by the partnership NGO-Braskem are: (i) the partnership between the actors and its operationalization; (ii) the choice between warehouses that will be supported, or, in other words, which stakeholders will be included in the community.

Esta tese teve como objetivo compreender a formação de parcerias sociais entre empresas e ONGs para a construção de projetos de desenvolvimento social de cooperativas e associações no setor da reciclagem. Para tanto, foram investigados dois casos de parcerias entre ONGs e Empresas que buscaram desenvolver projetos para a melhoria das condições de trabalho dos recicladores. Devido à natureza conflitante destes atores, a parceria social foi entendida é entendida como uma rede de atividades interconectadas, construídas coletivamente, em um espaço de tensão e contradição. Essa construção coletiva é compreendida como uma elaboração conjunta de um projeto de desenvolvimento social, em que os parceiros discutem, aprendem e negociam sentidos e significados visando a construção de um coletivo. Este entendimento remete a utilização de uma abordagem que possibilite a compreensão das tensões e contradições imersas nas atividades dos atores e, neste sentido, a teoria da atividade histórico cultural foi utilizada como lente teórico metodológica, principalmente em sua articulação com o campo de estudos negócios e sociedade. Diante deste contexto, desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa qualitativa, descritiva, por meio de dois estudos de caso. O primeiro caso refere-se ao projeto desenvolvido entre a ONG e a Gerdau, a partir do interesse da empresa em qualificar o seu fornecedor de sucata, bem como usar tal ação de qualificação como uma iniciativa de responsabilidade social em sua cadeia de suprimentos. Os principais mediadores deste processo foram o conhecimento da ONG, seus educadores sociais, o conhecimento gerencial da empresa, seus recursos financeiros, bem como artefatos de identificação. O segundo caso estudado relata o relacionamento ONG e Braskem. Este relacionamento emerge da necessidade da empresa em obter uma licença de operação na sociedade em que esta inserida. Assim a intenção da empresa é legitimar a sua presença e existência na sociedade e isto é realizado através do reforço da utilidade do seu produto. Os instrumentos que são utilizados na parceria buscam assim a melhoria da imagem do produto, bem como da sua imagem como uma empresa ―local‖: artefatos de identificação e discursivos. E tendo como norte esta necessidade latente, o diálogo entre empresa e ONGs se torna um dos principais mediadores do processo, bem como uma divisão do trabalho que reflita esta parceria e proximidade. Ainda, a fim de compreender a dinâmica subjacente ao processo de desenvolvimento destes projetos, este estudo lançou o olhar para os desafios de aprendizagem vivenciados pelos atores. No primeiro caso, foram evidenciados como desafios de aprendizagem (i) necessidade de mudança em direção a uma maior organização do trabalho (ii) ressignificação do trabalho e; (iii) necessidade de desenvolver um instrumento de trabalho que fosse condizente à realidade dos cooperados. Por outro lado, os desafios de aprendizagem relacionados ao segundo caso referem-se ao (i) relacionamento ONG-Empresa e na sua forma de operacionalização; (ii) escolha dos projetos devem ser apoiados, ou, em outras palavras, quais os stakeholders que irão ser considerados na comunidade. É importante notar que o fato dos desafios de aprendizagem e, consequentemente, das transformações obtidas mediante as consecução destes, terem residido, no Caso A, na cooperativa e, no Caso B, no relacionamento, reflete as características idiossincráticas destas organizações e o que ambas buscavam com a parceria. / How to construct fruitful relations with different stakeholders represents a challenge for organizations and a gap in the academic literature. One way to do this is through partnership establishment, especially in between companies and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO). Through partnerships, organizations could develop their own CSR‘s practices. On the other hand, NGOs could exercise their social role, in order to help community development. This study aims to understand how cross sectorial social partnerships for social development projects, whose purpose is to improve the working conditions and business structure of recycling warehouses, are constructed in the recycling sector, in the South Region of Brazil. In order to do so, two business-NGOs partnership cases were investigated. Given the actors contradictory nature, social partnerships were understood as a network of interconnected activity systems, in a social space of tension, contradiction and negotiation among actors in relation with each other and to the world, immersed in a historical and cultural context, from a culturally mediated relationship. The argument put forward is that the Cultural Historical Activity Theory can serve as a theoretical framework and provide a suitable model to analyse cross-sector social partnerships construction. Supported by the theoretical perspectives outlined above, we rely on a qualitative, descriptive research, by using a case study method. We carry on two case studies, in order to understand the projects development by a single NGO with two company leaders in each sector. The first case analyses Gerdau S.A. and its trajectory in the recycling sector. Gerdau S.A. seeks to engage with the NGO aiming to qualify recycling warehouses, as they are one of the suppliers, and to comply with their CSR agenda. The main artifacts used by the actors are NGO‘s knowledge and expertise, company managerial knowledge, and Identity Artifacts (company logo). The second case refers to NGO-Braskem relationship, which emerges from the company‘s need to get social license to operate in the region. So, the company intends to legitimate its existence in the society through gains in their product‘s image. Most of the artifacts are used by the actors to achieve this goal, such as Identity Artifacts (company and NGO logo), and Discursive Artifacts, in order to embody ―local identity‖ to the company. Given this context, the dialogue between Braskem and the NGO is one of these artifacts, as well as labor division, which reflects the relationship and proximity. In order to understand the dynamics that underlies the project construction, this study also investigated the learning challenges experienced by the NGO and the companies. The main learning challenges experienced by the partnership NGO-Gerdau are: (i) change through better work organization and structuration; (ii) work meaning ressignification; (iii) development of a work tool that fits to the warehouses reality. On the other hand, the learning challenges experienced by the partnership NGO-Braskem are: (i) the partnership between the actors and its operationalization; (ii) the choice between warehouses that will be supported, or, in other words, which stakeholders will be included in the community.

Esta tese teve como objetivo compreender a formação de parcerias sociais entre empresas e ONGs para a construção de projetos de desenvolvimento social de cooperativas e associações no setor da reciclagem. Para tanto, foram investigados dois casos de parcerias entre ONGs e Empresas que buscaram desenvolver projetos para a melhoria das condições de trabalho dos recicladores. Devido à natureza conflitante destes atores, a parceria social foi entendida é entendida como uma rede de atividades interconectadas, construídas coletivamente, em um espaço de tensão e contradição. Essa construção coletiva é compreendida como uma elaboração conjunta de um projeto de desenvolvimento social, em que os parceiros discutem, aprendem e negociam sentidos e significados visando a construção de um coletivo. Este entendimento remete a utilização de uma abordagem que possibilite a compreensão das tensões e contradições imersas nas atividades dos atores e, neste sentido, a teoria da atividade histórico cultural foi utilizada como lente teórico metodológica, principalmente em sua articulação com o campo de estudos negócios e sociedade. Diante deste contexto, desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa qualitativa, descritiva, por meio de dois estudos de caso. O primeiro caso refere-se ao projeto desenvolvido entre a ONG e a Gerdau, a partir do interesse da empresa em qualificar o seu fornecedor de sucata, bem como usar tal ação de qualificação como uma iniciativa de responsabilidade social em sua cadeia de suprimentos. Os principais mediadores deste processo foram o conhecimento da ONG, seus educadores sociais, o conhecimento gerencial da empresa, seus recursos financeiros, bem como artefatos de identificação. O segundo caso estudado relata o relacionamento ONG e Braskem. Este relacionamento emerge da necessidade da empresa em obter uma licença de operação na sociedade em que esta inserida. Assim a intenção da empresa é legitimar a sua presença e existência na sociedade e isto é realizado através do reforço da utilidade do seu produto. Os instrumentos que são utilizados na parceria buscam assim a melhoria da imagem do produto, bem como da sua imagem como uma empresa ―local‖: artefatos de identificação e discursivos. E tendo como norte esta necessidade latente, o diálogo entre empresa e ONGs se torna um dos principais mediadores do processo, bem como uma divisão do trabalho que reflita esta parceria e proximidade. Ainda, a fim de compreender a dinâmica subjacente ao processo de desenvolvimento destes projetos, este estudo lançou o olhar para os desafios de aprendizagem vivenciados pelos atores. No primeiro caso, foram evidenciados como desafios de aprendizagem (i) necessidade de mudança em direção a uma maior organização do trabalho (ii) ressignificação do trabalho e; (iii) necessidade de desenvolver um instrumento de trabalho que fosse condizente à realidade dos cooperados. Por outro lado, os desafios de aprendizagem relacionados ao segundo caso referem-se ao (i) relacionamento ONG-Empresa e na sua forma de operacionalização; (ii) escolha dos projetos devem ser apoiados, ou, em outras palavras, quais os stakeholders que irão ser considerados na comunidade. É importante notar que o fato dos desafios de aprendizagem e, consequentemente, das transformações obtidas mediante as consecução destes, terem residido, no Caso A, na cooperativa e, no Caso B, no relacionamento, reflete as características idiossincráticas destas organizações e o que ambas buscavam com a parceria. / How to construct fruitful relations with different stakeholders represents a challenge for organizations and a gap in the academic literature. One way to do this is through partnership establishment, especially in between companies and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO). Through partnerships, organizations could develop their own CSR‘s practices. On the other hand, NGOs could exercise their social role, in order to help community development. This study aims to understand how cross sectorial social partnerships for social development projects, whose purpose is to improve the working conditions and business structure of recycling warehouses, are constructed in the recycling sector, in the South Region of Brazil. In order to do so, two business-NGOs partnership cases were investigated. Given the actors contradictory nature, social partnerships were understood as a network of interconnected activity systems, in a social space of tension, contradiction and negotiation among actors in relation with each other and to the world, immersed in a historical and cultural context, from a culturally mediated relationship. The argument put forward is that the Cultural Historical Activity Theory can serve as a theoretical framework and provide a suitable model to analyse cross-sector social partnerships construction. Supported by the theoretical perspectives outlined above, we rely on a qualitative, descriptive research, by using a case study method. We carry on two case studies, in order to understand the projects development by a single NGO with two company leaders in each sector. The first case analyses Gerdau S.A. and its trajectory in the recycling sector. Gerdau S.A. seeks to engage with the NGO aiming to qualify recycling warehouses, as they are one of the suppliers, and to comply with their CSR agenda. The main artifacts used by the actors are NGO‘s knowledge and expertise, company managerial knowledge, and Identity Artifacts (company logo). The second case refers to NGO-Braskem relationship, which emerges from the company‘s need to get social license to operate in the region. So, the company intends to legitimate its existence in the society through gains in their product‘s image. Most of the artifacts are used by the actors to achieve this goal, such as Identity Artifacts (company and NGO logo), and Discursive Artifacts, in order to embody ―local identity‖ to the company. Given this context, the dialogue between Braskem and the NGO is one of these artifacts, as well as labor division, which reflects the relationship and proximity. In order to understand the dynamics that underlies the project construction, this study also investigated the learning challenges experienced by the NGO and the companies. The main learning challenges experienced by the partnership NGO-Gerdau are: (i) change through better work organization and structuration; (ii) work meaning ressignification; (iii) development of a work tool that fits to the warehouses reality. On the other hand, the learning challenges experienced by the partnership NGO-Braskem are: (i) the partnership between the actors and its operationalization; (ii) the choice between warehouses that will be supported, or, in other words, which stakeholders will be included in the community.

As the rhetoric of collaborative governance continues to gain popularity in the discourse of public affairs, both scholars and practitioners advocate cross-sector partnerships as a strategy to replace the vertical hierarchy of government with the horizontal approach of governance through a network of actors. This research explores the potential of social impact bonds (SIBs) as an instrument of collaborative governance. An SIB is an approach for broadening social programs, in a multi-faceted partnership among private investors, governments, and nonprofits. In this cross-sector partnership, private investors take on the financial risk of expanding evidence-based social programs provided by nonprofit organizations. In return, the government agency repays investors if the interventions meet measurable goals that demonstrate social impact (McKinsey & Company 2012, 15). Actors involved in the development of SIBs have published the majority of the scholarship to support them. Therefore, much of the literature informing the creation of future bonds is biased, and governments appear hesitant to try them before seeing any results. This study investigates possible disconnections between the arguments for and the practice of SIBs through textual analysis and elite interviewing. I identify three major disparities between the rhetoric and realities of SIBs: measurement of social impact, complexity of partnerships, and transfer of risk. / Master of Arts

The management of cross-sector social partnerships (CSSPs) among government, business, and not-for-profit entities can be complex and difficult. This article considers the importance of organizational experience and learning for the successful development of CSSPs. By analyzing the Manchester Super Casino, this research emphasizes the significant benefits of prior experience with CSSPs that enable partners to learn and develop relationships, skills, and capabilities over time, which then have positive influences on future performance. The result is a refined learning model of the CSSP process that includes key variables for CSSP success. As such, these findings provide a template for managing complex CSSPs from the perspective of the different partner organizations.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the structure of social marketing within a collaboration between non-profit organisations (NPOs) and business organisations as well as whether this collaboration facilitates the process of social marketing for the NPOs. For this purpose, Austin and Seitanidi´s (2012a, 2012b, 2014) Collaborative Value Creation (CVC) framework was applied to social marketing as value outcome by combining it with Andreasen and Kotler´s (2003) model of the social marketing process in NPOs. Method: A qualitative study was conducted based on secondary and primary data. Hereby, primary data was gathered from a total of seven NPOs and twelve respondents across Sweden by the use of face-to-face and phone interviews. Result & Conclusions: Two main findings were identified in this study. Firstly, within the process of social marketing in a corporate-NPO collaboration the NPOs predominantly plan and design the campaigns independently. Hereby, it is shown that the NPO´s organisational model of operation influences the collaboration structure. Secondly, it is demonstrated that the corporate-NPO collaboration facilitates the NPOs social marketing process. Suggestions for future research: Further investigations of NPOs could be undertaken by distinguishing between their organisational model and area of operation in order to complement the presented theoretical model of the social marketing process in the corporate-NPO collaboration. Additionally, the perspective of business organisations could be considered. Contribution of the thesis: The present study contributes to literature by providing a theoretical model based of the social marketing process in the corporate-NPO collaboration. It demonstrates that this collaboration facilitates the social marketing process of the NPOs.

Development has always been problematic especially in the mining sector where it often takes place at a rapid pace. Not only is the physical environment influenced but other aspects such as legislation and the relationship between role players are also influenced. The focus of this thesis is tripartite partnership formation between business, local government and the community for sustainable development in the Rustenburg platinum region. In essence the study was about answering the broad question of "how can one improve the chances of setting up a sound foundation, that in turn can lead to a successful, integrated, cooperative and unified partnership in the Rustenburg platinum region?" In an attempt to answer the above, both a theoretical and practical approach was used. Functionalism and the exchange theory were used to set up practical guidelines for successful partnership formation. The thesis also investigated how appropriate these two theories are for the mining industry in South Africa today, i.e. they were validated against the data obtained from the study. In addition, other existing case studies in the mining industry were studied in order to validate the guidelines formulated from the two theories. At a methodological level, expanded qualitative data analyses were applied in a comprehensive manner to ensure a close relationship between empirical data and theory. The empirical data was gathered both by desk research and by in-depth personal interviews. The results of the study produced some models of how a partnership could be structured to function optimally. As part of the results an "ideal" model for the partnership in the Rustenburg platinum region was created and the set of guidelines was ranked according to its importance in the Rustenburg platinum region. Should these guidelines and this model be used the chances of setting up a successful, integrated, cooperative and unified partnership in the Rustenburg platinum region could be significantly increased. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Sociology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.