Collaborative Management and Multi Party Stakeholder Negotiation

Rosemary O’Leary, Distinguished ProfessorThe Maxwell School of Syracuse UniversityApril 27, 2007

Collaborative Public Management

. . . is a concept that describes the process of facilitating and operating in multi-organizational and multi-stakeholder arrangements to solve problems that cannot be solved or easily solved by single organizations or single individuals.

Collaborative Public Management

Collaborative means to co-labor, to cooperate to achieve common goals working across boundaries in multi-sector relationships. Cooperation is based on the value of reciprocity.

Characteristics that add to the complexity of collaborative public management

Multiple forums for decision making

Interorganizational and interpersonal

Multiple parties

Multiple issues

Characteristics that add to the complexity of collaborative public management

Technical complexity and scientific uncertainty

Unequal power and resources

Public/Political, not private

The Paradox of Collaborative Public Management

Collaboration may yield conflict.

That conflict must be managed.

The Spiral of Unmanaged Conflict

Sense of Crisis Emerges

↑Perceptions Become Distorted

↑Conflict Goes Outside the Community

↑Resources are Committed

↑Communication Stops

↑

Positions Harden↑

Sides Form↑

Problem Emerges

Lessons of the Conflict Spiral

The conflict spiral is not inevitable. . .

But the conflict spiral is predictable when conflict is not managed at an early stage

The earlier conflict is managed the better.

Three primary forms of power over public disputes

Threat power

Economic power

Integrative or collaborative power – The most influential and significant form of power (Boulding, 1991)

Collaborative Problem Solving: Guiding Principles

1 – Reframe (redefine) conflicts as mutual problems to be solved together

2 – Understand the problem: prepare, educate and learn

3 – Develop a conflict management plan addressing procedures, relationships and substance

4 – Involve the parties in designing the process and developing a solution

Collaborative Problem Solving: Guiding Principles

5 – Balanced representation6 – Insist that stakeholders participate

directly, fully, and in good faith 7 -Maintain transparency to keep the

purpose and objectives of the process clear to all

8 – Timeliness9 – Implementation of agreements

Major Collaborative Problem Solving Approaches

Informal Discussions Working

Groups

TaskForces

PolicyDialogues

Monitoring Committees

Conflict Assessment

Joint FactFinding

Mediation

EarlyNeutral Evaluation

Conciliation

Facilitation

Advisory Groups

Partnerships

Examples

State of Utah – Working Groups used to develop land management strategies for each local area

State of Ohio – A Task Force of environmental advocates, industry groups, and concerned citizens developed livestock farming regulations to protect water supplies

Examples

Chesapeake Bay: A Monitoring Committee made up of scientists and concerned citizens monitors the health of the fish and blue crab

Pacific County, Washington - Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe sponsored a Conflict Assessment to analyze environmental challenges facing county

Examples

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – Uses Early Neutral Evaluation to advise parties involved in hazardous waste disputes of the strengths and weaknesses of their cases

A Canada-U.S. Great Lakes Initiative Advisory Group formulated new water quality standards

“Pros” of Collaborative Problem Solving Approaches

* Fuller participation by interested parties (than litigation, legislation, or administrative action)

* Broader, more diverse representation

* Less risk than “win-all” or “lose-all” litigation

* Fuller discussion of all relevant issues

* Building of social capital (to better address future conflicts)

* Agreements that are stable and long lasting

“Cons” of Collaborative Problem Solving Approaches

* May be slow

* May be expensive

In summary . . .

“Our lives are not dependent on whether or not we have conflict. It is what we do with conflict that makes a difference.”

-Anonymous