Partnership : as a Strategy for Social Innovation and Sustainable Change

Is partnership as an organisational principle a way to overcome the limitations of project-organisation and its focus on short-term outcomes? Or is the interest in partnership organisations only an expression of a trend or a fashion in the growing market for organisational development in complex situations? In this book 14 scholars get new data and make careful analysis of the partnership organisation both in theory and in practice. They analyse the effectiveness of the partnership organisation in implementing changes and innovation with long-term effects rather than short-term results. The ambition is to address practical dilemmas and problems in the partnership organisation by using different theoretical perspectives - theories about organisational learning, strategies for change, power and empowerment, gender analysis, governance and participation etc. The research presented is valuable in order to achieve deeper understanding of the pros and cons with the partnership organisation. When can it be useful? What kind of problems can be addressed? Which conditions are necessary if the partnership model is to be used?

Editors are Lennart Svensson, professor of sociology at the University of Linkoping, Sweden and Barbro Nilsson, Ph.D. and lecturer of pedagogic at the Institution of Behaviour Science learning at the University of Linkoping. Also contributing are Ken Caplan, Leda Stott, Erik Lindhult, Ingela Malqvist, Marianne Parmsund, Ann-Christine Larsson, Maria Bogren, Sofia Wistus, Ragnar Andersson, Hanna Westberg, Anette Scoppetta and Gun Hedlund.