How to develop win-win situations in cross-sector partnerships? Some ‘‘Pracademic’’ Insights

This review builds on recent practitioner reports and academic papers exploring cross-sector partnerships’ (CSPs) main opportunities and challenges. The term “pracademic” refers to such a combined analytical perspective. This past year’s publications focused on the key role of value co-creation and social innovation for CSPs’ long term success. This essay summaries the main win-win strategic elements a CSP needs to follow to be long-standing and successful. A particular emphasis is on the initial stage of a partnership – which represents one of the most delicate phases of a CSP – and the importance of partners to focus on reciprocal exchanges of information, mutual expectations, and main motivations. Actually, more and more practitioner tools and guidebooks are attempting to support CSPs’ managers in co-creating social and economic value.