IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i17p6769-d401846.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Intermediaries in Supporting Collaboration for Sustainability: A Model of Commissioning Intervention in the Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration for Sustainable Territorial Development

Author

Listed:
  • Camelia-Cristina Dragomir

    (Faculty of Economic Sciences and Business Administration, Transilvania University of Brasov, 500036 Brasov, Romania
    Academy of Romanian Scientists, 050085 Bucharest, Romania)

  • Diana Foriş

    (Faculty of Food and Tourism, Transilvania University of Brasov, 500036 Brasov, Romania)

  • Aurel Mihail Ţîţu

    (Academy of Romanian Scientists, 050085 Bucharest, Romania
    Faculty of Engineering, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, 550024 Sibiu, Romania)

  • Tiberiu Foriş

    (Faculty of Economic Sciences and Business Administration, Transilvania University of Brasov, 500036 Brasov, Romania)

Abstract

The intervention of intermediaries in supporting collaboration for sustainability is considered an effective way to address the challenges faced by all parties involved in this type of commitment. Our paper includes several less frequently approached perspectives in this field of research and refers to the intervention of commissioning in supporting collaborative relationships with multiple stakeholders for sustainable territorial development. This paper proposes a model of structural and systemic development of commissioning at the national level, by specific geographical regions and development domains, and analyzes how commissioning structures intermediate the connection between multiple stakeholders, public authorities, and other relevant actors from different sectors of society, which mobilize resources to solve sustainability issues. The results show that the intervention of commissioning adds value to sustainability collaboration by providing stakeholders with an accessible and updated database specialized in development domains, where demands and offers for development resources can be managed safely, and the identification of the appropriate offer is carried out operatively through fast and secure computer systems able to create efficient and prompt connections. We believe that the model presented in the paper can be extended internationally to support global collaboration for sustainability, and we suggest further research in this direction.

Suggested Citation

  • Camelia-Cristina Dragomir & Diana Foriş & Aurel Mihail Ţîţu & Tiberiu Foriş, 2020. "The Role of Intermediaries in Supporting Collaboration for Sustainability: A Model of Commissioning Intervention in the Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration for Sustainable Territorial Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-16, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:17:p:6769-:d:401846
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/17/6769/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/17/6769/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Utting & Ann Zammit, 2009. "United Nations-Business Partnerships: Good Intentions and Contradictory Agendas," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 90(1), pages 39-56, May.
    2. Howells, Jeremy, 2006. "Intermediation and the role of intermediaries in innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 715-728, June.
    3. Esben Rahbek Gjerdrum Pedersen & Wencke Gwozdz & Kerli Kant Hvass, 2018. "Exploring the Relationship Between Business Model Innovation, Corporate Sustainability, and Organisational Values within the Fashion Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 267-284, May.
    4. Rob Tulder & M. May Seitanidi & Andrew Crane & Stephen Brammer, 2016. "Enhancing the Impact of Cross-Sector Partnerships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(1), pages 1-17, April.
    5. Yam, Richard C. M. & Guan, Jian Cheng & Pun, Kit Fai & Tang, Esther P. Y., 2004. "An audit of technological innovation capabilities in chinese firms: some empirical findings in Beijing, China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1123-1140, October.
    6. Dan Costin Nitescu & Valentin Murgu & Elena Diana Caprita, 2019. "Impact of Labor, FDI and R D on Business Sustainability," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 21(S13), pages 795-795, November.
    7. Eleonora Cardillo & Maria Cristina Longo, 2020. "Managerial Reporting Tools for Social Sustainability: Insights from a Local Government Experience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-23, May.
    8. Kimberly Pugel & Amy Javernick-Will & Matthew Koschmann & Shawn Peabody & Karl Linden, 2020. "Adapting Collaborative Approaches for Service Provision to Low-Income Countries: Expert Panel Results," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-26, March.
    9. Louise Lee, 2015. "Understanding the role of the broker in business non-profit collaboration," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(2), pages 201-220, June.
    10. Lea Fobbe, 2020. "Analysing Organisational Collaboration Practices for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-21, March.
    11. Rodrigo Lozano, 2007. "Collaboration as a pathway for sustainability," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(6), pages 370-381.
    12. Petru Lucian Curșeu & Sandra G.L. Schruijer, 2020. "Participation and Goal Achievement of Multiparty Collaborative Systems Dealing with Complex Problems: A Natural Experiment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, January.
    13. Eduardo Medeiros, 2020. "Portugal 2020: An Effective Policy Platform to Promote Sustainable Territorial Development?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, February.
    14. Stadtler, Lea & Probst, Gilbert, 2012. "How broker organizations can facilitate public–private partnerships for development," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 32-46.
    15. Michael Schoon & Michael E. Cox, 2018. "Collaboration, Adaptation, and Scaling: Perspectives on Environmental Governance for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-9, March.
    16. David Horan, 2019. "A New Approach to Partnerships for SDG Transformations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-22, September.
    17. Maria Seitanidi & Andrew Crane, 2009. "Implementing CSR Through Partnerships: Understanding the Selection, Design and Institutionalisation of Nonprofit-Business Partnerships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 85(2), pages 413-429, April.
    18. Danijela Despotovic & Slobodan Cvetanovic & Vladimir Nedic & Milan Despotovic, 2016. "Economic, social and environmental dimension of sustainable competitiveness of European countries," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(9), pages 1656-1678, September.
    19. Grant Savage & Michele Bunn & Barbara Gray & Qian Xiao & Sijun Wang & Elizabeth Wilson & Eric Williams, 2010. "Stakeholder Collaboration: Implications for Stakeholder Theory and Practice," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 96(1), pages 21-26, August.
    20. Stephan Manning & Daniel Roessler, 2014. "The Formation of Cross-Sector Development Partnerships: How Bridging Agents Shape Project Agendas and Longer-Term Alliances," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 527-547, September.
    21. Livia Fritz & Claudia R. Binder, 2018. "Participation as Relational Space: A Critical Approach to Analysing Participation in Sustainability Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-29, August.
    22. Nill, Jan & Kemp, Ren, 2009. "Evolutionary approaches for sustainable innovation policies: From niche to paradigm?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 668-680, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hazem S Kassem & Salim Bagadeem & Bader Alhafi Alotaibi & Mohammed Aljuaid, 2021. "Are partnerships in nonprofit organizations being governed for sustainability? A partnering life cycle assessment," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-25, March.
    2. Theresa Gehringer, 2020. "Corporate Foundations as Partnership Brokers in Supporting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-24, September.
    3. Iteke van Hille & Frank G.A. de Bakker & Julie E. Ferguson & Peter Groenewegen, 2020. "Cross-Sector Partnerships for Sustainability: How Mission-Driven Conveners Drive Change in National Coffee Platforms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-23, April.
    4. Lea Fobbe, 2020. "Analysing Organisational Collaboration Practices for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-21, March.
    5. Jaime Moreno-Serna & Teresa Sánchez-Chaparro & Javier Mazorra & Ander Arzamendi & Leda Stott & Carlos Mataix, 2020. "Transformational Collaboration for the SDGs: The Alianza Shire’s Work to Provide Energy Access in Refugee Camps and Host Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-28, January.
    6. Silvia Cantele & Sara Moggi & Bettina Campedelli, 2020. "Spreading Sustainability Innovation through the Co-Evolution of Sustainable Business Models and Partnerships," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-19, February.
    7. Ahmed Herab & Ahmad Al-Ghamdi & Khodran Alzahrani & Khalid M. Elhindi & Muhammad Muddassir & Hazem S. Kassem, 2022. "A Framework for Quantifying the Strength of Partnerships between Agricultural Cooperatives and Development Actors: A Case Study in Saudi Arabia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-27, December.
    8. Leda Stott & David F. Murphy, 2020. "An Inclusive Approach to Partnerships for the SDGs: Using a Relationship Lens to Explore the Potential for Transformational Collaboration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-23, September.
    9. Jaime Moreno-Serna & Wendy M. Purcell & Teresa Sánchez-Chaparro & Miguel Soberón & Julio Lumbreras & Carlos Mataix, 2020. "Catalyzing Transformational Partnerships for the SDGs: Effectiveness and Impact of the Multi-Stakeholder Initiative El día después," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-18, September.
    10. Rob Tulder & M. May Seitanidi & Andrew Crane & Stephen Brammer, 2016. "Enhancing the Impact of Cross-Sector Partnerships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(1), pages 1-17, April.
    11. Hazem S. Kassem & Mohammed Aljuaid & Bader Alhafi Alotaibi & Rabab Ghozy, 2020. "Mapping and Analysis of Sustainability-Oriented Partnerships in Non-Profit Organizations: The Case of Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-25, September.
    12. Alireza Ahmadsimab & Imran Chowdhury, 2021. "Managing Tensions and Divergent Institutional Logics in Firm–NPO Partnerships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(3), pages 651-670, January.
    13. Manning, Stephan, 2017. "The rise of project network organizations: Building core teams and flexible partner pools for interorganizational projects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(8), pages 1399-1415.
    14. Devenin, Verónica, 2021. "Collaborative community development in mining regions: The Calama Plus and Creo Antofagasta programs in Chile," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    15. José María Agudo-Valiente & Pilar Gargallo-Valero & Manuel Salvador-Figueras, 2019. "Perceptions of Final Beneficiaries about the Performance of Cross-sector Partnerships: A Case Study Applied to the 2008 Zaragoza International Exhibition on Water and Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-20, July.
    16. Mario La Torre & Annarita Trotta & Helen Chiappini & Alessandro Rizzello, 2019. "Business Models for Sustainable Finance: The Case Study of Social Impact Bonds," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-23, March.
    17. Domenico Dentoni & Verena Bitzer & Greetje Schouten, 2018. "Harnessing Wicked Problems in Multi-stakeholder Partnerships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(2), pages 333-356, June.
    18. Birgit Leick & Susanne Gretzinger, 2018. "Brokerage and governance for business networks: a metasynthesis-based discussion," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 22(4), pages 773-804, December.
    19. Tulin Dzhengiz, 2020. "A Literature Review of Inter-Organizational Sustainability Learning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-52, June.
    20. Jaehong Park & Jihyeon Lee & Sang-Joon Kim, 2020. "Robust Collective Impact: How Can a Company Make Collective Impact Sustainable in a Long Run?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-12, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:17:p:6769-:d:401846. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.