Outlined in Table 6.2 below, from a public sector perspective, is a set of generic partnership management propositions that may contribute towards achieving VfM outcomes during the operational phase.
Table 6.2 Proposed Contributors to Partnership Management VfM.
VfM contributors |
- Proposed corrective actions for under-performance are mutually agreed with the private partner and these actions are implemented as agreed - Development and continuation of productive relationships with service users, employees and applicable community groups - Consortia informs the public partner of emerging risks and performance issues that have the potential to impact upon the achievement of planned VfM outcomes - No occurrences of negligence, fraud and / or corruption - Public partner employees adhere to all accountabilities and responsibilities under governance, probity and compliance frameworks - Disputes are quickly resolved with little to no impact on service delivery obligations and litigation is avoided |
The documentation and / or actions presented in Table 6.3 can potentially be used as a foundation to build a generic partnership management evidence-base to assess whether VfM outcomes are being achieved in practice.
Table 6.3 Proposed Evidence-base Foundations for Partnership Management VfM.
VfM evidence-base foundation |
- Progress made against partnership / stakeholder management strategies and plans e.g. assessing whether key messages between the public and private partners or internal project teams and their project control groups have been properly understood and complied with - Assessing public partner employees behaviour through staff appraisals to ensure they are effectively discharging their duties in line with project accountabilities and responsibilities e.g. the contract administration manual - Outputs comply with relevant industry standards e.g. assessing partnership relations that may relate to people involvement and competence |
As discussed in earlier chapters (Chapters 3 to 5), a range of partnership management issues have been identified that have the potential to detract from the achievement of planned VfM outcomes. These are: organisational culture; management commitment and support; employee capability and expertise; clear and open communication; relationship continuity; and conflict management. This section re-states the main tenets of each issue and proposes possible treatment actions that may contribute to improved operational outcomes (in conjunction with examples provided in Table 6.2). 'External' considerations for sub-issues focus upon the accountabilities of service providers i.e. how consortia performance may be improved through public partner intervention. An 'internal' focus relates to the responsibilities of government in holding consortia accountable for delivering contracted services, as well as attempting to improve the capability of its employees, systems and / or processes. The rationale for integrating issues for the model is also presented.