Having outlined the resource requirements and surveyed the local capabilities and MNC resources that might be deployed, the focus shifts to formalizing the network of partners that will support the enterprise. The process of growing the ecosystem should be documented and the “findings” kept in the local community.
Four primary tasks comprise this process: identifying and selecting network partners, formalizing and localizing the network, bridging the MNC’s resources, and expanding the MNC’s absorptive capacity.
Identifying and Selecting Partners
Utilizing participatory methodologies, the Core Team should engage in a process of mapping potential partners against the various tasks and activities throughout the enterprise’s value chain. Appendix 3 contains various categories of actors that should be explored as potential providers of needed resources and capabilities. Appendix 4 provides a matrix useful in analyzing these different ecosystem actors and the roles they may play in the enterprise.
There will likely be multiple actors and solutions for the various tasks identified in the enterprise’s value chain. Two criteria would assist in choosing partners. First, one of the central goals guiding the venture is to build community capacity by leveraging and expanding local capabilities to fulfill needed functions. Therefore, as much as possible, local partners should be emphasized over “foreign” organizations*. Second, choice of partners should also be based on the mutually agreed-upon metrics (e.g., retaining and expanding wealth in local community, empowerment and capacity building, equitable distribution of benefits throughout the community, benign or positive impact on ecological systems) against which the initiative was originally screened (see “Opening Up”, Needs and Asset Identification). Thus, if gender equity was identified as an important performance dimension, then one possible selection rule might be women-run organizations.
Indeed, as the ecosystem evolves and the venture takes shape, new activities and actors will suggest themselves and roles may shift. For this reason, the evolution of the network should be constantly monitored in order to maintain its diversity and the richness of its ties. In addition, the Core Team should periodically review the list of actors in Appendix 2, being sure that changes in the stakeholder environment are reflected in the network’s composition.
*The local community should make the decision of whether an organization is deemed local or foreign.
Formalizing & Localizing the Network
As the partners are identified and selected, it is important to establish a locally-based “office” which provides a common contact point among the partners, as well as between the network and the greater community. This local enterprise office helps to increase transparency and accountability and can also serve to make available the data and documentation relating to the venture – knowledge that might be of value to other community members wishing to launch new enterprises.
In addition, the members of the network need to be linked together in some fashion (perhaps using information communication technologies) to foster dialogue and communication. Finally, the Core Team should be expanded to reflect the ecosystem partners, with thought given to an organizational design that fosters transparency.
Establishing the MNC’s Role
In collaboration with the Core Partners, the MNC Team should determine the MNC’s role in the new venture and the specific capabilities and resources that it will provide. This decision should take into consideration not only what the MNC is currently capable of doing, but also the competencies the MNC wants to acquire and the implications for the greater community. Indeed, there may be situations when it is better for a local partner to provide a skill that the MNC also possesses for reasons of building local capacity or providing local employment opportunities.
As a rule of thumb, the enterprise should utilize and build off of locally-based resources and systems as much as possible, being mindful of the need to establish a sustainable business enterprise. At this point, the MNC team might be expanded to include additional key resource holders in the MNC.
Expanding the MNC’s Absorptive Capacity
To facilitate the acquisition of new competencies, the MNC Team needs to build a baseline of knowledge and skills that act as a scaffolding for higher-order, more tacit skills and competencies. Therefore, it is important that the MNC Team recruit into the partner network individuals and organizations that possess such knowledge and experience. In addition, the MNC Team should make sure that the network structure presents opportunities for significant engagement and collaboration with these “competency-carrying” partners.