Strategic Alliances and relationships between organisations in the public sector: Understanding the challenges of delivering excellent (public) service quality through managing relationships as alliances

Abstract This paper considers the issues of managing relationships in the business to business environment of the healthcare supply chain. It incorporates the dimensions of relationships between purchasers and providers which may lead to optimum user satisfaction. This theme is developed to consider how an understanding of strategic alliances might be utilised to facilitate partnership approaches to managing public services. We examine how service providers and purchasers perceive their organisational relationships and how the concept of strategic alliances might provide insight to understand and enhance the delivery to consumers of excellent healthcare. Presenting results from recent research studies, the paper explores the perceptions of the different partners in the supply chain and suggests how relationships and alliances might be managed more proactively towards service quality throughout the value chain. The paper argues that effective relationships and alliances are essential to delivering excellence in public service.