12 Supporting Organistional Development
Janelle Plummer, Richard Slater and Chris Heymans
Any municipality embarking upon public-private partnerships (PPPs) will be forced to undergo some form of organisational change. These changes may be necessary to attract the large-scale private sector and its investment, to adapt to the changing role of the municipality in service provision, or to ensure that the partnership is focused and sustainable. The nature of these changes will depend on the characteristics and capacity of the municipality at the outset and the extent of the reform that the municipal government has embarked upon.
Chapter 4 has highlighted the important premise that the PPP itself may prompt or accompany reform, but good governance brings about a range of changes, one of which may be the development of PPPs. This discussion - supporting organisational development for PPPs - must therefore be seen as a part of this larger process.
In order to establish PPPs, and particularly partnerships focused on bringing benefit to the poor, it is necessary for municipalities to develop and implement an organisational development strategy: first by identifying the organisational factors constraining effective partnering and partnerships, and then by identifying the most appropriate mechanisms for bringing about that change. The following discussion outlines the key aspects for consideration. It emphasises the importance of champions and creating effective management; of establishing targeted procedures and processes to facilitate transparent partnerships; of addressing sometimes significant structural change; of establishing a sound financial base; and of reforming municipal attitudes. Accordingly, this chapter is structured in terms of:
• Municipal leadership and management
• Municipal procedures and systems