Background and Goals of the Three Sector Collaborative Initiative


Three Sector Initiative Among Business, Government, and Nonprofit Sectors

Purpose and Goals of Several Public and Private Organizations Form Three Sector Initiative
Confront Changing Roles and Relationships Initiative

To address the value of collaboration among the three sectors of society; and create strategies by which leaders from each of the three sectors could address important civil issues in concert.

Background Statement
As the twentieth century draws to a close, it is clear that the roles among the three sectors (business, government, and independent) have begun to blur. Each of these sectors operates in a new and changing context marked by the promise and threat of the information age. This context, which may seem obvious, is an important influence on both the way we do business and the business we must do. How are the roles of each sector related?

The goals of the initiative are:

to explore new and evolving relationships among the three sectors
to recognize the value added by working together and
to discuss best practices in working together and to identify opportunities for future initiatives

As we approach the twenty-first century, we mark our progress largely by the enormous technological advances of this century, the resulting expansion of information and communication and their importance in contemporary society. These same advances produce some of the major tensions of our era. We are, for example, torn by competing interests of interdependence and isolation, of globalization and localization. Our access to a global community — for information, for trade, for intergovernmental relations, for scientific research — has become instantaneous, without boundaries.

These tensions also are seen in our most basic interactions: our economy, the workplace, and the family. The global economy means that the market for our products is international and that we are consumers in an international marketplace. It also means that our economy is built upon a labor market which is significantly international.

Obviously, there are transitions taking place globally in all economies which require changes in how we work, changes in the types of industries, and changes in the relationships between institutions, sectors, and individuals. There is also a simultaneous continuing rise in the diversity of our culture and our interactions. These factors are not necessarily negative, though they admittedly can be unsettling. There is a danger of greater disconnection and anonymity, rather than conversation, connection and community.

While consumers in the United States enjoy the price and quality of products manufactured in the global marketplace, those at the bottom of the economic scale, those with the fewest skills and least resources, are most adversely affected. The Census Bureau reported in September that the expansion of the national economy continues, but it also reported that the number of people considered very poor grew in the mid 1990's. Households in the top fifth of the income scale had a record high 49 percent of all earnings in 1996, according to The Census Bureau, while the share going to the lowest fifth remained flat. The gap between the haves and the have-nots in the United States continues to grow.

Examples of Key Issues
Education

Education becomes more important than ever to the success of the individual and to the strength of the economy. Once the province of government and the nonprofit sectors, education and training spending by and in business now outpaces that in the public or nonprofit sector. Distance learning has changed who learns, who teaches, who regulates, who finances, and how we do each.

Welfare Reform
Welfare reform is built upon a model which decentralizes services from the federal to the local level. The resulting local welfare reform, in turn, frequently is based on built-in expectations for the nonprofit sector to be the service provider of last resort, to manage certain parts of the caseload, and to fill gaps left by changing public policy. Reform is built upon the assumption that business will provide employment for those previously dependent. Assumptions about the ability of local governments and the nonprofit sector to meet the expectations of reform may be optimistic. The capacity of business to absorb non-skilled, inexperienced, former welfare recipients as long-term employees at a living wage is yet to be proven.

Accountability
Accountability for results of spending is influencing not only the direction of public policy, but also the direction of business and philanthropy. Emphasis on the bottom-line in business reflects the growing demand for accountability by stockholders. Targeted giving in the nonprofit sector to narrower causes, which can demonstrate a specific result, is based on the objective of accountability. Donors and nonprofit organizations also are focusing on outcomes that must result from their efforts.

Devolution of Centralized Programs
The federal government increasingly proposes devolution of centralized programs to local governments and the private sector. Job training, unemployment insurance, specialized education programs, housing, and health are examples of programs which have been guided by federal policy and supported with federal funds. Each sector (business, government, independent) plays a significant role in the delivery of these programs. An important question is: How can the three sectors work together to make these programs more effective?

Future Leaders
Attracting, developing, and retaining competent future leaders who use collaborative and inclusive methods to address challenges and opportunities is critical. If we hope to use ingenuity and collective strength to lead in a global society, we must cultivate strong leaders (people power) now for tomorrow to maintain our competitive edge.

The above mentioned issues are merely examples to which collaborative leadership could bring new perspectives to the capacities of each sector involved and provide direction for the future. In addition, such leadership can result in a whole that is larger than the sum of its parts.

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