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High-Performance Partnerships - National Academy of Public ...

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STAGES OF A PARTNERSHIP:<br />

WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES MATURITY MAKE?<br />

chapter ten<br />

ORGANIZATIONAL<br />

INFRASTRUCTURE<br />

Organizational infrastructure means assembling<br />

the right parties with a capacity to perform,<br />

and developing <strong>of</strong> underlying systems<br />

and relationships necessary to support effective<br />

performance. During the early phases, a partnership<br />

must focus on convincing strong,<br />

capable public and nonpr<strong>of</strong>it organizations to<br />

participate. Civic associations, which reach<br />

out to the entire community and provide<br />

access and approval, must agree to actively<br />

support the partnership. Much <strong>of</strong> this period<br />

is spent creating an environment based upon<br />

trust and teamwork.<br />

The developmental stage focuses on building<br />

capacity among the partners. This is the time<br />

when partnership must assess its strengths and<br />

weaknesses. Strong partners are encouraged to<br />

stay, while weaker ones may leave. At this<br />

point, the partnership invests in expanding its<br />

organizational infrastructure to grow its operations<br />

to scale.<br />

A high-performance partnership never<br />

becomes challenge free. At every stage <strong>of</strong><br />

development, it faces new and recurring obstacles<br />

to improving outcomes for customers and<br />

the community at large. These challenges may<br />

differ somewhat over time, but “maintenance<br />

mode” cannot be in the vocabulary <strong>of</strong> a performance-oriented<br />

operation.<br />

122 Powering the Future: <strong>High</strong>-<strong>Performance</strong> <strong>Partnerships</strong>

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