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This study explores how local governments and their development partners-that is, donors, non-governmental organisations and private companies-structure their partnerships as they work together to provide services to communities. Cases of collaboration between four organisations working in the rural water supply sector and six local governments in Malawi are studied. Using a cross-case qualitative methodology, we illustrate how power and control translate into practices, leading to different levels of local government involvement in service delivery. This study contributes to the literature on cross-sector partnerships in particular by developing empirically-based propositions that help explain the dynamic trajectories that partnerships between local governments and their development partners can take.

Research Summary We theorize the strategies that entrepreneurial actors employ to instill their endeavors with culturally resonant meanings and rally the support of key audiences (investors, analysts, or customers). In extant cultural entrepreneurship research, endeavors are assumed to achieve resonance and gain support when actors deploy the culture they share with their targeted audiences. But what if actors and audiences hold cultural repertoires that poorly overlap? We consider actors' efforts to “mobilize” and “enrich” the repertoires of both parties. Specifically, we introduce a typology identifying four strategies: anchoring, retooling, channeling, and seeding. Viewing culture as an engine of stability and change, we contend that each strategy addresses a distinct tension that actors must skillfully balance. We develop propositions to explain how and when actors manage these tensions. Managerial Summary Entrepreneurs must explain their endeavors in terms that audiences (investors, analysts, or customers) will understand and value. We know that entrepreneurs do so by telling stories and performing other symbolic actions, or by revising their stories and actions. However, prior insights assume a preexisting fit between what entrepreneurs and audiences value. How is this fit created? We identify four strategies by which entrepreneurs leverage a preexisting fit, and foster greater fit. We explain how entrepreneurs leverage a preexisting fit by presenting endeavors in familiar terms, and guiding audiences' interpretations. We explain how entrepreneurs foster greater fit by learning what audiences value, and educating audiences about their endeavors' value. Considering the inherent tension that each strategy entails, we explain how and when entrepreneurs use these strategies.

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