Managing Partnership Misfits

The dominant approach to managing stakeholders involves mobilizing allies and transforming an initiative’s fence-sitters or obstructors into supporters. The emphasis on winning over stakeholders or getting them to increase their contribution ignores the flip-side of engagement: the frequent need to regulate or resist the unwanted involvement of stakeholders, including partners or allies. Based on in-depth studies of successful and unsuccessful partnerships, the authors propose a framework that tests partner fit across three dimensions: task-fit (what each party needs); goal-fit (what each party aims to achieve); and relationship-fit (how each party works). How potential partners measure up on these dimensions identifies likely misalignments and guides efforts needed to bridge the gaps. To get the right stakeholders on board and collaborating, firms must combine both engagement and containment strategies. As the authors explain, partner motivation is multifaceted and financial gains may not be the primary driver. With partners who agree with but don’t fully comprehend the coordination needs of a project, firms need to provide a clear structural framework and take a proactive role in integrating them into a healthy culture.