Abstract:
Collaborative activities among different sectors have become more prominent in international development in recent years. One type of collaborative engagement is the partnership between multinational corporations (MNCs) and non-profit organisations (NPOs) - two increasingly influential actors in global governance. Nonetheless, little research has been devoted to understanding the challenges of NPO - MNC partnerships in a particular developing country context. Grounded in network theories and adopting a Force Field Analysis framework by Lewin (1952), this study sets out to examine the motivations and the challenges of NPO - MNC partnerships in Vietnam. A qualitative approach is adopted with a comparative analysis of three cases of partnerships between NPOs and MNCs. The results suggest that changes in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies of MNCs at the global level encouraged them to partner with NPOs. Partnerships were also motivated by the internal needs of both parties to utilise their resources (expertise, funding, and visibility). The study identifies some of the challenges that influence the partnerships’ performance, most notably human and financial resource constraints, differences in expectations and lack of clarity in communication; however, most of the challenges were found at the early phase of the partnerships. The study also finds that both sectors consider partnerships as essential elements of their activities and are further diversifying their partnerships by engaging with various partners. Key words: Partnerships, Non-profit organisations, Multinational Corporations, Corporate Social Responsibility, Vietnam
