Common Interest, Common Good: Creating Value Through Business and Social Sector Partnerships [Hardcover]

Shirley Sagawa (Author), Eli Segal (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0875848486 | ISBN-13: 978-0875848488 | Publication Date: December 15, 1999

This volume chronicles the broad range of potential relationships between businesses and non-profit organizations. It argues that forward-looking corporations and community organizations (both non-profit and government) can solve many of their problems by working together. The authors explore innovative alliances between for-profit and not-for-profit industries, from corporate sponsorships and cause-related marketing to school-to-work initiatives and employee volunteer programmes.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Now we are getting somewhere. Another book on the importance of developing business/nonprofit partnerships is about to hit the bookstores. What makes this book special is not necessarily the content, although it is a fine addition to the literature of the field. Instead, it should spark the greatest interest because of the building from which many of these ideas emerged: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave." -- Corporate Philanthropy Report, October 1999

From the Back Cover

"Every successful businessperson knows that public and private partnerships are as critical to the bottom line as they are to the greater good. With its step-by-step approach to integrating business and nonprofit objectives, Common Interest, Common Good is an indispensable tool for business and public-sector leaders alike."
--Gerald Greenwald, Chairman Emeritus, United Airlines Corporation

"Common Interest, Common Good moves the subject of business and social sector partnerships from the bully pulpit to the boardroom. With vivid examples and practical advice, Sagawa and Segal provide business and nonprofit leaders with a much-needed guide to forging successful partnerships. This is the right book at the right time."
--Fred Grandy, CEO, Goodwill Industries International

"Common Interest, Common Good is a much-needed exploration of the burgeoning field of business and social sector partnerships. Leaders in business, government, and nonprofits have much to learn from Sagawa and Segal's sharp insights and practical examples."
--Frances Hesselbein, Chairman of the Board of Governors, Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management

"Sagawa and Segal have accomplished a rare feat with Common Interest, Common Good: They've created a book that is at once greatly inspiring, carefully reasoned, and immensely practical. Corporate and nonprofit leaders will agree that this book is a welcome addition to the literature on private initiatives for the common good."
--J. Gregory Dees, Miriam and Peter Haas Centennial Professor in Public Service, Stanford Graduate School of Business

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 278 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press (December 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875848486
• ISBN-13: 978-0875848488
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,129,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creating Great Value for Companies and Communities, September 14, 2000

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Common Interest, Common Good: Creating Value Through Business and Social Sector Partnerships (Hardcover)

Every company I know is interested in getting and providing a great deal. Every nonprofit I know is committed to the greater welfare of the society. But almost no companies and nonprofits know how to link together to multiply their effectiveness in achieving their purposes.

This book provides outstanding examples and a superb template for creating partnerships of great value for all involved: companies, their employees, nonprofits, and the communities that everyone serves. Based on the examples in this book, it looks like the benefits can easily be 20 to 1 in the near term from the time and money invested. That kind of return is hard to find in business, philanthropy, or social entrepreneurship. The reason it happens is that the company can add value that the nonprofit cannot, and vice versa. The strategic partnership is not unlike the strategic alliances that companies create all the time with comapnies that offer unique strategic capabilities.

The reason these benefit are so large (and growing) is because customers and employees are ever more responsive to promoting a social cause, companies are getting better at partnering with outside organizations, and the expertise of nonprofits is growing.

Businesses can gain by getting low-cost recognition from customers that will increase sales, obtaining low-cost resources, making work more meaningful to employees (helping to retain them), attracting employees more easily, and learning how cause-based leadership can transform an organization. When you look at it from a dollar and cents point of view, these partnerships would pass any accounting test you want to use. Not to seek out these partnerships is to waste potential for growth and profits in your company. Corporate boards should be asking company CEOs to develop these partnerships!

Nonprofits can gain by learning how to increase outcomes they care about, gaining access to resources that would otherwise be unavailable, getting more exposure, and finding improved ways of meeting their missions.

Communities will gain by getting more resources, expertise, and attention from social entrepreneurs in companies and nonprofits.

So this is a win-win-win world, but somebody has to get it going. Chapter ten is excellent on that subject: It proposes a 5 step model for the nonprofit -- self assess, identify a partner, connect to that partner, test the relationship idea, and grow the relationship.

Although the initiative can come from the company, it usually won't. The executives already have other agendas, are receiving hundreds of requests for assistance, and don't know what many nonprofits can do for them. You can add some corporate executives to your nonprofit board who will understand companies to help you make these connections. The biggest hurdle will be the lack of corporate experience of your nonprofit's staff. Nonprofits are used to looking for a check, not a partnership. But that reliance on gifts alone is stalled thinking that will hold back the development of the public good.

The case histories include Home Depot and KaBOOM! (building playgrounds), Microsoft and the American Library Association (adding computers and Internet services to libraries in low-income areas), Denny's and Save the Children (raising money for poor children), BankBoston and City Year (sponsoring volunteers in community work), Ridgeview, Inc. and Newton-Conover Public Schools (creating better public schools and better parent involvement from employees with children), and Boeing and Pioneer Human Services (creating airplane parts by employing those with disadvantaged backgrounds). I found all of them to be interesting and well analyzed. Each one gave me ideas for how to pursue opportunties like these for the nonprofit on whose board I serve.

I especially recommend this book to company leaders, human resource executives, purchasing managers, and marketing planners. On the nonprofit side, this book will be a revelation to staffs and board members.

After you have read this book, please join the board of a nonprofit (if you are not already on one). Then, please use the processes in this book to create a strategic partnership with your company or another one in your community. You will gain strategic partnering skills and a sense of a job well done. The others will gain the benefits described above. If we each did this, our communities would soon be far more wonderful places to live and work.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Common Interest, Common Good, February 18, 2000

By 

Frank Mankiewicz, Vice Chairman, Hill and Kno... - See all my reviews

This review is from: Common Interest, Common Good: Creating Value Through Business and Social Sector Partnerships (Hardcover)

I'd strongly recommend this book both to corporate executives looking to improve corporate image and morale and to non-profit leaders seeking new funding mechanisms. Although the hokey title evokes past clichés like "doing good by doing well," the book is actually a practical, hard-headed approach to making companies run better by working with non-profits -- either through straight philanthropy, employee volunteer efforts, or joint ventures.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful thinking, February 28, 2000

By 

Jeff Swartz, President and CEO, Timberland - See all my reviews

This review is from: Common Interest, Common Good: Creating Value Through Business and Social Sector Partnerships (Hardcover)

Common Interest, Common Good represents powerful thinking that has already withstood many challenges and overcome many barriers. Corporate executives will benefit greatly from the book's clear and cogent lessons on the benefits of corporate/social sector partnership. This book is proof that goodness can endure.