HOW DO RELATIONAL DYNAMICS INFLUENCE PUBLIC SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS? A STUDY OF THE OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATED COLLEGE PARTNERSHIP
type: CreativeWork
description: The last 20 years have seen a growth in partnership working in both the public and private sectors as organisations seek to improve efficiency and gain access to new resources to reduce costs and gain competitive advantage. Driven by government policy to widen participation in Higher Education, (HE), one area which has seen major growth is the partnership between universities and Colleges of Further Education (FE) to deliver Foundation, Bachelor and Masters degrees and increasingly degree apprenticeships. Due to the timescales involved in delivering degree programmes it is essential that these partnerships are viable in the longer term, but up to 50% of all partnerships fail. How to ensure the long term viability of education partnerships is an under researched area. While researchers have looked at both the role of Intellectual and Social Capital in facilitating educational partnerships, few have looked at the role of Relational Capital (RC) which is seen as the trust, respect and friendship that develops at individual level between partners. Studies of private sector partnerships see this as key to maintaining partnerships. Based on my own experience this study is concerned with partnership working in the delivery of educational programmes and, in particular, the delivery of degrees by colleges of FE, in partnership with universities. Using Relational Capital as a theoretical lens through which to view partnership this qualitative research seeks to contribute to the understanding of the long term viability of partnerships. It uses an embedded case style design to explore the relationship between Oxford Brookes University and a partner college of FE. 16 key informants from OBU and the partner college involved in either managing the partnership at senior level or the day to day operations were asked to give their views of partnership success. The focus was not on what makes a successful partnership in terms of outcomes but in developing a successful working relation…
abstract: The last 20 years have seen a growth in partnership working in both the public and private sectors as organisations seek to improve efficiency and gain access to new resources to reduce costs and gain competitive advantage. Driven by government policy to widen participation in Higher Education, (HE), one area which has seen major growth is the partnership between universities and Colleges of Further Education (FE) to deliver Foundation, Bachelor and Masters degrees and increasingly degree apprenticeships. Due to the timescales involved in delivering degree programmes it is essential that these partnerships are viable in the longer term, but up to 50% of all partnerships fail. How to ensure the long term viability of education partnerships is an under researched area. While researchers have looked at both the role of Intellectual and Social Capital in facilitating educational partnerships, few have looked at the role of Relational Capital (RC) which is seen as the trust, respect and friendship that develops at individual level between partners. Studies of private sector partnerships see this as key to maintaining partnerships. Based on my own experience this study is concerned with partnership working in the delivery of educational programmes and, in particular, the delivery of degrees by colleges of FE, in partnership with universities. Using Relational Capital as a theoretical lens through which to view partnership this qualitative research seeks to contribute to the understanding of the long term viability of partnerships. It uses an embedded case style design to explore the relationship between Oxford Brookes University and a partner college of FE. 16 key informants from OBU and the partner college involved in either managing the partnership at senior level or the day to day operations were asked to give their views of partnership success. The focus was not on what makes a successful partnership in terms of outcomes but in developing a successful working relation…
author: O'Rourke, Jacqueline
language: en
date published: 2023
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:42:47Z
provider: Oxford Brookes University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Oxford Brookes University

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.24384/p8q3-tj38