The findings would indicate that these conflicts in values would continue to hamper development of effective public-private partnerships. However, in the short-term, private companies will continue to seek to match up with willing political authorities and receptive public sector managers. This short-term strategy may be made more effective if the private sector embraces contracting techniques that minimize the impact of public sector concerns about short-term profit maximization. Contracts including greater specificity resulting from increased quantification and qualification of performance standards coupled with mutual insistence on direct public sector supervision of contract performance would be helpful. Sales presentations and contracting standards should be designed to support and expand the view that smaller government is better government and that governments should "steer, not row" (O'Looney, 1998). Stephen Riley, Town Manager of Hilton Head, South Carolina suggested, "Keep the contract short enough that they see the need to do well and win the bid again. Break large contracts into smaller parts where feasible to spread the work around and foster more competition. Find ways to build in incentives to reward the behavior or outcome you are looking for," and Doug Herbst, Vice President Development for CH2M Hill Constructors, Inc. opined, "Both sectors need to better understand from where the other comes from. With the recent corporate scandals revolving around among other things profit, is it any wonder why the public sector is leery and skeptical? Shouldn't the public sector accept the concept that the private sector is entitled to a reasonable profit for services provided? That profit is tied to risk taken and the more risk taken the higher the profit should be. Both sides need to try to understand the other's viewpoint and perspective. Education may be required to accomplish this understanding. Common ground needs to be reached."
While improved sales and contracting techniques may help accelerate market development in the near term, a longer range view would seem to dictate the need for a paradigm shift in the public sector's view of private sector values. One approach to accomplish this shift would be to expand the educational experience of the public sector manager to include development of better insights into for-profit activities and the underlying principles applying to public-private partnerships, coupled with a heightened determination to reinforce the "sustainable profits" approach in undergraduate and graduate business schools. This effort could be developed by interaction between the sectors through private sector organizations such as the Water Partnership Council, public sector organizations such as the International City Managers Association or public-private groups such as the National Council for Public-Private Partnerships. However, well-developed, fully internalized opinions reinforced within a peer group are hard to change, and greater long-term success may well require private sector investment in the development and implementation of curriculum additions at colleges and universities offering curriculum expansion in schools of public administration and business administration aimed at introducing adaptations of entrepreneurial theories applicable to public-private partnerships to students prior to their entry into the workforce.
Finally, the reader must realize that this research applied to a narrow segment of the national public-private partnership market. Its subjects were drawn from the senior ranks of public and private sector managers within this segment, and no data were collected from middle management, supervisors or employees. While the conclusions drawn are applicable to the selected segment today, it must be noted that changes in public sector perceptions may already be underway in a manner unseen and unmeasured by this research. Additional research on the issues addressed by this project is required to further validate, repudiate or modify the conclusions drawn herein. Many factors act upon the environment in which private firms seek public-private partnerships with municipal governments. For instance, federal tax policy and federal and state regulation play an important role in determining the climate for such partnerships, and significant changes in the policies could mandate increased partnerships, or limit or prevent them entirely. Changes in any of the significant factors acting upon this public-private environment could have unforeseen effect on these conflicting views or their importance within the decision-making processes of both sectors.