Social Alliances: Dilemmas, Trade-offs or paradoxes?

Several studies have showed that cooperation between parties within the same sector or between sectors is in many cases difficult. Especially in those cases when organizations want to cooperate to solve complex societal issues, difficulties might arise. Many partnerships lack the basic capacities to succesfully manage a social partnership. The main reason why management fails is because management fails to manage interaction in the right way. Absence of information, strategic oriented partners, and different (cultural values) all lead to uncertainties, either in defining the rules of the game or the outcomes of actions. These uncertainties often come to light as opposing pressures/alternatives (tensions), such as interests, principles and solutions. By defining tensions, the complexity of a situation might be easier to understand and better solutions can follow. Based on the definition by De Wit and Meyer (2005), this research aimed to define what kind and which tensions are present in social alliances and how they are dealt with by management. To do so, the water sector, and more specific, development aid provided by the Dutch water operators through Water Operators Partnerships, was selected as subject of study. It allowed to control for external variables (hence sector, country) and for a comparison between cases. In total 7 Water Operators Partnerships in 5 countries were studied, for which 13 managers from 7 Dutch water operators were interviewed. It turned out that although for most predefined tensions two opposing pressures were present, managers hardly perceived and/or dealt with these alternatives as if they were opposing. Two pairs of opposing pressures could not be classified as a tension. That is, short and long term goals as well as preventing or appreciating conflicts could not be classified as a tension as only one of the alternatives was present. Managers either deal with these tensions trough dilemmas (either/or choice), tradeoffs (striking a balance between the alternatives), or paradoxes (new, innovative ways). Only for one tension did all managers deal with the alternatives similarly (through paradoxes). As for all other tensions, managers are divided. Further research should assess whether perceptions of alternatives influences managerial behaviour, or whether behaviour influences managers perception of the alternatives.