Psychological Warfare

Collaboration- The Case for Strategic Pragmatism 

PDF - COLLABORATION IN TURBULENT TIMES by Lucien Hudson

http://www.psych.lse.ac.uk/complexity/events/2009/ESRCSeminar3CranfieldLucianHudson.pdf

 

Lucian J. Hudson,

Adviser on Collaborative Strategies

Former Director of Communication, FCO

Why this report, and why now?  

• Collaboration: an idea right for its time. When it works, huge advantage; when difficult, Boy is it difficult!
• Set of intractable problems, and social goals, that can’t be achieved by one organization, or by governments, business or NGOs working alone.
• Redefining organizational fitness-for-purpose: CSR, collaboration and innovation all go hand in hand.

Ground covered 

• What is collaboration
• What makes for effective collaboration
• Impact on organizations
• Social collaboration
• Possibilities

FCO Report: Collaboration and its Possibilities 

• More than 100 organizations

contributed globally, including

20 governments.

• More than 200 contacts,

with a core virtual group of 20.

• British Ambassadors survey

(with support from Booz & Co)

• Chevening alumni network

input  
 

Key visits and events during

assignment:

• Mexico, New Europe (Poland,

Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary)

• Shell International, Lloyds TSB,

Futerra Communications

• European Commission, NATO and

UN Geneva-based international

organizations

• Sanofi Pasteur pandemic

Preparedness symposium, Portugal;

IPRA round-table.  
 

Support from British Library, Said Business School at Oxford University,

and London Business School

Methodology 

• My experience of 25 Posts. Career experience of collaboration. Return to classic texts. Tavistock Institute ideal of multi-disciplinary integration.
• Interviews and sustained correspondence. Access to governments, business and NGOs.
• Key intellectual inspirations: Stamp, QinetiQ team, Huxham, Murray, Grint, Losada, Allen, Cull, Anholt, public diplomacy network. Key practitioner inspirations: 19 leaders panel.
• Developing one’s own approach: “suspending assumptions while explain them to the other”. Advocacy/inquiry mix. The “interested” enabler. The “enterprising” public servant.

Reflection on the practice: step back to get ahead! 

• My own experience as a practitioner. Taking a step back to be even more strategic - and innovative about policy.
• A report on collaboration was itself an exercise in collaboration.
• Conceptual approach vs. lived experience: 4 types of knowledge.
• Management & business studies: relevance and priority
• Personal mastery. Dealing with the “shadow” of Myers-Briggs scores. Translation and transformation.

Case for strategic pragmatism  

 

“Collaboration, by its very nature, means that traditional means of control - market and hierarchy - cannot be used to manage relations among participating organizations. Instead, it depends on the ongoing negotiation of relationships by individuals who are both participants in the collaboration, and, at the same time, accountable to and representative of the diverse organizations and communities involved in, and affected by, it.”

Hardy and Grant, 2005. Quoted in: Lotia and Hardy (2008) pp. 366-367 

Case for optimism  
 
 
 
 

“If we combine our efforts with other people’s efforts, we can make our resources go further, and achieve more impact.” 

Steven Fisher, Deputy Head of Mission, British Embassy, Budapest 

“Whether you are a manager in the public or private sector, collaboration taps a source of value that includes, but goes so much further than, price- the value of what people can accomplish together if they really apply themselves, and organizations support and develop them”.

Verna Stewart, Strategic Relationship Director, Strategic Development Solutions, Lloyds TSB 
 

“Companies that do not transparently communicate their

sustainability performance are running out of excuses”

Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, Chairman, Anglo-American

Case for caution 
 
 

“You have to be tough-minded and have enough sensitivity to make collaboration work. It’s not just people who have egos; organizations have egos too.”

Diplomat in one of the NATO missions, Brussels

Challenge for Social Collaboration 

NGOs 

Business 

Government 

Citizens 

Collaboration 

Business can be more strategic than government but expects government to deliver on any collaboration 

NGO perspective: Are governments allies, targets or partners? Issues: independence, funding 

Different tensions in role of NGOs:  
advocacy, delivering services, enabling solutions or problem-solving, improving governance or transparency, harnessing new or existing markets 

Corporate Social Responsibility: not just PR but business strategy 

Governments alone can't achieve social goals. Private sector investment and responsibility & NGO expertise and networks needed. 

We are not bystanders. We want solutions 
 

Is our role as architects, builders & interested enablers as much as leaders?

Civil Society: evolution of roles 

NGOs can perform one or more of the following roles,

regardless of whether they were large or small, global,

national, regional or local: 

• Advocacy: pursuit and promotion of policy objectives
• Delivery of services: complementing or substituting for government or other public service provision
• Enabling solutions or problem-solving, working with government or business
• Improving governance, rule of law, transparency
• Harnessing existing or new markets in countries where NGO credibility and reliability helps business achieve legitimacy and local support.

NGO waves of evolution 

• Foundation wave

 
 

• Transformation wave

 
 

• Collaboration wave

 

Source: Gib Bulloch, Accenture Development Partnerships 

NGO rethinks strategy & priorities

Investment in IT 

Organizations and sector address entire approach

Investment in human capital/training 

New era where governments, businesses & NGOs work together seamlessly

Evolution of role of business 

• Collaboration: innovation and productivity
• Intractable problems: business opportunities
• Shaping, not just responding to, economic environments
• Tapping invisible value: brand equity and reputation
• Civic action, not just compliance

Government/Business evolution 

The reasons behind these investments are straightforward: self-interest. Companies that rely on the natural resources and human capital of emerging markets are investing and instituting sustainable development practices and education initiatives in partnership with the U.S. government because both government foreign assistance programs and companies alike are dependent on the global economy. Because of this reliance, both the public and private sector are motivated to act.” James Thompson, US State Department  

Coca-Cola Company invest millions in an alliance between USAID and local bottling facilities in Africa, Asia and South America to conserve water resources  

Starbucks Corporation work with Verde Ventures, Calvert Foundation, EcoLogic Finance, Conservation International and USAID to finance more than $12m in loans for rural entrepreneurs in Latin & Central America  

MTV provide technological resources to a $13m alliance between USAID and MTV Europe Foundation to increase awareness and prevent trafficking of women and children for forced labour and sexual abuse

Effective collaboration between business, governments and regulators  

• Taking a strategic, long-term view of the regulatory framework in which business operates;
• Creating an effective dialogue between the regulator and those regulated;
• Recognizing that the languages of business and regulation can be different- and making the effort to understand those differences;
• Allocating time and resources to collaborating on the co-design of regulations;
• Investing in the development of the personal relationships and mutual trust that are necessary to achieved shared objectives.

Source: 11th Annual Global CEO Survey, PwC

Case study: M-PESA 

• Vodafone and Safaricom, Kenya, with DFID funding, launched M-PESA, a mobile phone-based payment service that targeted customers in Kenya who didn’t have bank accounts.
• Lack of infrastructure in Kenya in fixed-line telephony, and in banking, ensured growth of pre-pay mobile telephones and a means to transfer money.
• DFID funding enabled the companies to spend more time on ‘needs assessment’ in the product development phase, brought expertise in the financial sector and gave the project a high profile.
• Stakeholders (Kenyan government, NGOs, International Organisations and private sector) have assisted with regulatory buy-in to the M-PESA service.
• Massive customer up-take in project’s first year indicates pent up demand for simple financial transaction services.

Case study: Tourism Industry Emergency Response (TIER) 

Following the London bombings of 7 July 2005, TIER went

into action to:

• Provide accurate, consistent information to reassure and inform visitors
• Promote a clear ‘business as usual’ message in UK and international media
• Ensure media worldwide and UK Government are given consistent messages from Britain’s tourism industry
• Limit speculation as to the possible financial impact of 7 July and provide the authoritive impact assessment
• Leverage opportunities to demonstrate consumer confidence and kickstart recovery.

 

The TIER campaign effectively brought together in a

collaborative arrangement Britain’s vast and fragmented

tourism industry to communicate with one voice.

Evaluation: Yes, please: more, and better 

• UN Report on Partnerships (2005)
• The Global Fund (2008)
• PwC Annual Global CEO Survey (2008)
• World Economic Forum Leaders Report (2008)

WICKED 

TAME 

CRITICAL 

COERCION 

Hard power 
 

CALCULATIVE 
 

NORMATIVE 

Soft power 
 

Increasing requirement for collaborative resolution 

COMMAND: Provide answer 

MANAGEMENT: Organize process 

LEADERSHIP: Ask questions 

Increasing uncertainty about solution to problem 

Leadership response to types of problem  
 

Source: Grint, K. (2005) p.1477

Drivers of effective collaboration 

To be effective, experience indicates that on the whole, collaboration

builders need to:

• Think of collaboration as part of a bigger play

    Align the collaboration with strategy to deliver, if possible, the highest common denominator - collaboration can be at the heart of plans, or complement and reinforce other plans.

2. Achieve results with genuine, more broad-based support Combine effectiveness with legitimacy, particularly if the collaboration itself can’t deliver changes, but the combined effort of others in society can, if motivated and inspired to behave differently.

• Keep up the focus and momentum, and secure meaningful involvement from most partners

    Lead and manage with and through others, managing complexity, uncertainty, ambiguity and difference- yet accept trade-offs to achieve the common end.

4. Experiment, evolve and improve

    Adapt to, and try to shape, immediate and wider environments- the collaborative world is not about winning an argument, but working together to do what’s right, now and in the future.

15 steps needed to implement a collaborative strategy  

• Clarify the purpose
• Aim high
• Strive for commonality of interest
• Evaluate success
• Create value – and demonstrate values
• Understand the different contexts in which collaboration operates
• Use political intelligence
• Show long-term commitment
• Use all four types of knowledge
• Establish common principles
• Decide the timing
• Manage the dynamics
• Exploit creative potential
• Tap the undercurrents
• Tap the talent

• Aim high

 
 

Aiming high in collaboration means raising the sights

of what negotiations can produce in creating and

delivering value.  
 

• Strive for commonality of interest

 

All the best negotiations aspire to reaching what

economists call the Pareto optimum - the point of

agreement which favours each side equally,

maximising the gains, and minimizing the losses.  
 
 

Cycle of Collaboration: 7 Steps 

1. Identify, assess, and act on the opportunity - political, economic and

social dividends 

2. Design collaboration, attract and select partners 

3. Convene: gather information and build relationships 

4. Frame challenge and opportunity; explore options and

solutions 

5. Align interests, focus the choice 

6. Establish and require personal and organizational commitment 

7. Decide, implement, review and learn

Collaborative partnerships model 

STEADY

Collaboration complementary to main focus of organization 

UNCERTAIN

collaboration even more of an option 

CRISIS

Collaboration essential 

NEW STEADY

STATE?

collaboration an option 
 

 

 

Upper limit 

Natural ‘floor’ 

Time 

Indicator value 

Zone 1:

“Things are going well, and we can

always do better” 

Zone 2:

“Things look

good but it doesn’t feel

good” 

Zone 3:

“Things are going wrong, and unless decisive action is taken they will get worse” 

Zone 4:

“Things are better, everything feels back to normal but can we count on that” 

Source: Hudson, Dodd, Marsay, Stamp & QinetiQ, 2008 

Collaboration: its impact on organizations 

• Depending on context and environment, collaboration can become even more important, and the main way in which organizations shape their efforts.
• Collaboration provides a way of achieving what is not immediately possible, especially in a turbulent environment. It can become the engine for change and renewed growth.
• Collaboration can be seen as a temporary organization and transitional space in which to foster innovation and learning, essential for long-term survival.

How we can all raise our game to make collaboration work 

• In the context of achieving social goals, governments can think as much about their role as architects and builders (shaping the conditions in which collaboration happens, and delivering their part in it), as about their role as leaders (taking the primary responsibility for securing results).
• Despite evidence of increasing collaboration as a source of business success, the full potential of collaboration has yet to be reached.
• Companies find themselves under social, as well as competitive, pressure. They are subject to new levels of transparency, whether in response to changes in corporate governance, or to public concerns on environment or consumer rights.
• Corporate social responsibility is a means for companies to better connect with their stakeholders and customers, as well as their own employees.
• NGOs can play a crucial role in delivering on social goals, particularly in development- but they need to better equipped for the challenges that lie ahead.

“[If] the health of any society is only as secure as the medical conditions of the

worst-off society, whose infections can circle the globe in hours, there must be

ample reason for GlaxoSmithKline or Pfizer to join with the WHO to improve

preventive care and early warning systems in the poorest countries.”

“International NGOs do not have that basis in legitimacy that is provided by

democratic processes. What is needed is greater transparency in the operations and funding of NGOs. Among the most important NGOs, although we don’t think of them this way, are multinational corporations. Just as governments in the era of the market state will have to learn the business methods of wealth creation, so businessmen- however much they dislike it- will have to learn the methods of winning public consent, for they have truly global interests.”

Philip Bobbitt ‘Terror and Consent’ 2008 
 

“Public governance is a global issue. No longer can businesses, governments or non-governmental organizations afford to act independently of each other - the stakes are just too high. Only through a combined effort can we achieve economic growth, sustainability, and create an opportunity for a better life for people everywhere.“

John Connolly, Chairman, Global Board, Deloitte