Beneficiary focused external processes as facilitators of a CSSP’s effectiveness.

Knight, Helena ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8537-214X and Wood, Bronwyn 2020. Beneficiary focused external processes as facilitators of a CSSP’s effectiveness. Presented at: 7th Biennial International Symposium on Cross-Sector Social Interactions (CSSI 2020), Limerick, Ireland, 23-26 June 2020.

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Abstract

Study Background This study reports on how a specific cross-sector social partnership (CSSP), the flagship economic diversification programme, Tanfeedh, delivers the goal of transforming Oman’s society to a sustainable economy, unconstrained by the reliance on hydro-carbons. Oil revenues currently contribute over 84 percent of the government income. The goal of Tanfeedh and its instutionalised follow-up unit (ISFU) is to implement solutions to the rapidly increasing socio-economic development challenges facing the country since the onset of the oil price crises in 2014 (Tanfeedh, 2017) which caused Oman’s real GDP growth to collapse from the high of 5.7 percent in 2014 to zero in 2017 (CIA, 2018). The study specifically examines tourism development as the backbone sector of Tanfeedh and ISFU and its outcomes as emergent from external contextual processes by building on Stadtler’s (2016) framework for analyzing Public-Private Partnerships for Development (PPPD). In PPPDs cross-sector partners (typically public and private) collaborate for the purposes of delivering tailored public good. To induce societal change, however, ‘the partners need to involve the target community group in the design and implementation of their operational model” (Stadtler, 2016: 71) and so secure local ‘buy-in’. However, power relations in partnerships tend to subordinate actors with less powerful voices (Bäckstrand, 2006; Seitanidi & Ryan, 2007; Reed & Reed, 2009). Bäckstrand (2006) sees CSSPs as ineffective as power relations at best benefit the dominant partners (Reed & Reed, 2009). Likewise, much ‘impact’ research examines perspectives and outcomes of these dominant partners (e.g. Gray and Stites, 2013; Clarke & MacDonald, 2016) at the expense of a full understanding of how outcomes for the target community emerge. We integrate Service-Dominant (S-D) logic (Vargo and Lusch, 2016) with Stadtler’s framework to help explicate how societal impact is operationalised through contextual processes. In S-D logic, value is considered to be a) co-created by multiple actors, always including the beneficiary; b) always uniquely and phenomenologically determined by the beneficiary; and c) coordinated through actor-generated institutions and institutional arrangements in the specific context (Chandler & Vargo, 2011). This arguably gives context urgency in PPPDs, yet how the process outcomes function in different contexts remains underexposed. This study considers how the process outcomes function in the context of sustainable tourism development as a key goal of ISFU by adopting the beneficiary perspective. The key questions are: How much local buy-in is there to policy and planning and how does this influence outcomes? How is local buy-in operationalised? Who, what, how and why operationalises local buy-in? Methodology We employ qualitative design (Patton, 2002) utilising a ‘unique case’ (Stake 1995). Data collection consists of three stages: Exploratory stage to understand how and why the PPPD was formed, organized and governed using publicly available documents and participant observation. An iterative approach between the data and literature informed the initial theoretical framing and beneficiary perspective, which informed the second stage of data collection, reported here. As the initial steps in gaining insights into the process outcomes, we conducted 30 semi-structured interviews in local communities across three tourism regions in Oman. Using thematic analysis, the data provide insights into the local’s perspective, degree of awareness and the perceived benefits/costs of tourism development as an economic diversification strategy in Oman overall and in their local communities. The final stage will incorporate views of a range of stakeholders of the PPPD. Findings We find a very positive view of the potential benefits of tourism among the local communities. The respondents across the regions were generally positive about the economy diversifying into tourism. The regions that have seen more development were more positive about the developments than in the region where development has been slow. In this region, respondents were significantly less well informed and more pessimistic. However, overall, the costs associated with tourism development were seen as far outperformed by the economic and employment opportunities. Most respondents were concerned about the speed of development and were sceptical about any meaningful contribution to the economy in the place of oil, or perhaps even as a strong partial replacement for it. Few respondents had heard of Tanfeedh or ISFU but felt that the public and private sector working together is positive. Conclusion The study aimed to gain initial insights into the local communities’ perceptions on tourism development as part of the economic diversification strategy enacted by the government of Oman via a PPPD approach. These initial insights will be used to design the final stage of data collection that will examine the external process outcomes as a facilitator of sustainable tourism development in Oman, the goal of the PPPD operationalised by Oman’s government via Tanfeedh and ISFU.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Related URLs:	https://www.ul.ie/media/25586/download?i...
Last Modified:	05 Jun 2023 10:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/159336

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