Sarah Murray

In February last year, I found myself on a rather unusual flight. My journey was in a 1960s Antonov cargo plane, and I was accompanied by 10 tons of United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) grain destined for villagers living on the parched earth of south Sudan.

After about 90 minutes in the air, we neared the drop zone, its corners marked out with empty UN sacks. The back doors of the aircraft opened and the back end of the plane lurched downwards. With the aircraft tipping at an alarming angle (and my heart beating wildly), two team members cut the ropes securing the grain sacks. Suddenly, 10 tons of food were hurtling into the air.

The food drop is an extremely skilled operation like nothing seen in the commercial logistics world. What my trip in the Antonov demonstrated was that while the private sector has expertise to offer non-governmental organizations (NGOs) – and many logistics companies are now partnering with the WFP and other relief agencies – those organizations have operational experience and highly developed skills of their own.

Respecting the skills of partners is one of trickier aspects of the partnership process. But as alliances between business, the non-profit world and civil society become more broadly accepted as part of the solution to global problems, many have realized that while business principles can enhance the efficiency of many operations conducted by NGOs, not all may be appropriate.

Cultural and operational differences can also be a source of tension between partners from different sectors. Even language may prove a source of misunderstanding. Take the word “integrity”, now part of the lexicon of ethics and sustainability professionals. For an energy sector executive, this word could refer to the robustness of oil pipelines and other physical infrastructure.

Such difficulties do not appear to be deterring organizations from forming alliances. NGOs increasingly acknowledge the power of the corporate sector – with its global distribution networks and access to capital – in being able to scale up initiatives, whether those involve cutting carbon emissions or fostering economic growth in developing countries.

At the same time, as companies embrace corporate responsibility, they are looking to NGOs and public sector organizations for help. Few companies have the skills required to manage social, environmental or development programmes alone. As they incorporate these initiatives into their business models, they need assistance from the experts.

Moreover, the days when a company’s only interaction with an NGO was writing a cheque to a charitable beneficiary or defending itself from activists’ attacks are coming to an end, as partnerships between former foes such as Greenpeace and Coca-Cola have demonstrated. For companies endeavouring to secure public trust, partnerships can be a means of building credibility and demonstrating transparency.

However, as the partnership model evolves, something interesting is happening. The boundaries between private and public sectors are being eroded as professionals move between corporate and non-profit worlds.

In the drive to embrace corporate responsibility, many of the jobs companies are offering now look more like those once only available in non-profit or public sector organizations. Many corporations have started recruiting staff from development banks, relief agencies and large foundations. And increasingly, highly skilled executives from the corporate world are moving across to take up senior roles in non-profit and civil society organizations.

The trend is reflected in the MBA curriculum, with business schools responding to student demand for social, environmental and development topics. This year’s “Beyond Grey Pinstripes” – a biennial survey run by the Aspen Institute – found that the percentage of schools requiring students to take a course dedicated to business and society issues had risen from 34 percent in 2001 to 63 percent in 2007, with the number of elective courses focusing on these issues up 20 percent from 2005.

MBA programmes are also attracting a growing number of students from the non-profit groups and international NGOs, with a big part of the attraction being the ability to study alongside business professionals.

This flow of skills between sectors is good news for the future of public-private partnerships. It will foster greater understanding of operational and cultural differences that in the past may have been a source of tension in these partnerships.

For the young generation now entering the workforce, the new landscape is an appealing one. This is a highly motivated set of employees, often driven in their career choices as much by the opportunity to make a difference as by the prospect of a high salary.

There was a time when making a difference and making money were separate activities. But as cross-sector partnerships proliferate and the lines between public and private sectors continue to blur, many are realizing that these activities can be conducted simultaneously.

Sarah Murray is a long-time Financial Times contributor, reporting on the relationship of business to society and the environment. She is also author of Moveable Feasts: From Ancient Rome to the 21st Century, the Incredible Journeys of the Food We Eat (Aurum Press, May 2007 and St. Martin’s Press, November 2007). She lives in New York City.

Photo © Paul Morgan