Partnership

This is a great book for businesses looking for unique opportunities to both make a difference and raise their community standing. It is comprised of real, powerful examples of how these partnerships can and do work. This book should be read along with Bill Shore's, "The Cathedral Within."

Every company I know is interested in getting and providing a great deal. Every nonprofit I know is committed to the greater welfare of the society. But almost no companies and nonprofits know how to link together to multiply their effectiveness in achieving their purposes.

This book provides outstanding examples and a superb template for creating partnerships of great value for all involved: companies, their employees, nonprofits, and the communities that everyone serves. Based on the examples in this book, it looks like the benefits can easily be 20 to 1 in the near term from the time and money invested. That kind of return is hard to find in business, philanthropy, or social entrepreneurship. The reason it happens is that the company can add value that the nonprofit cannot, and vice versa. The strategic partnership is not unlike the strategic alliances that companies create all the time with comapnies that offer unique strategic capabilities.

The reason these benefit are so large (and growing) is because customers and employees are ever more responsive to promoting a social cause, companies are getting better at partnering with outside organizations, and the expertise of nonprofits is growing.

Businesses can gain by getting low-cost recognition from customers that will increase sales, obtaining low-cost resources, making work more meaningful to employees (helping to retain them), attracting employees more easily, and learning how cause-based leadership can transform an organization. When you look at it from a dollar and cents point of view, these partnerships would pass any accounting test you want to use. Not to seek out these partnerships is to waste potential for growth and profits in your company. Corporate boards should be asking company CEOs to develop these partnerships!

Nonprofits can gain by learning how to increase outcomes they care about, gaining access to resources that would otherwise be unavailable, getting more exposure, and finding improved ways of meeting their missions.

Communities will gain by getting more resources, expertise, and attention from social entrepreneurs in companies and nonprofits.

So this is a win-win-win world, but somebody has to get it going. Chapter ten is excellent on that subject: It proposes a 5 step model for the nonprofit -- self assess, identify a partner, connect to that partner, test the relationship idea, and grow the relationship.

Although the initiative can come from the company, it usually won't. The executives already have other agendas, are receiving hundreds of requests for assistance, and don't know what many nonprofits can do for them. You can add some corporate executives to your nonprofit board who will understand companies to help you make these connections. The biggest hurdle will be the lack of corporate experience of your nonprofit's staff. Nonprofits are used to looking for a check, not a partnership. But that reliance on gifts alone is stalled thinking that will hold back the development of the public good.

The case histories include Home Depot and KaBOOM! (building playgrounds), Microsoft and the American Library Association (adding computers and Internet services to libraries in low-income areas), Denny's and Save the Children (raising money for poor children), BankBoston and City Year (sponsoring volunteers in community work), Ridgeview, Inc. and Newton-Conover Public Schools (creating better public schools and better parent involvement from employees with children), and Boeing and Pioneer Human Services (creating airplane parts by employing those with disadvantaged backgrounds). I found all of them to be interesting and well analyzed. Each one gave me ideas for how to pursue opportunties like these for the nonprofit on whose board I serve.

I especially recommend this book to company leaders, human resource executives, purchasing managers, and marketing planners. On the nonprofit side, this book will be a revelation to staffs and board members.

After you have read this book, please join the board of a nonprofit (if you are not already on one). Then, please use the processes in this book to create a strategic partnership with your company or another one in your community. You will gain strategic partnering skills and a sense of a job well done. The others will gain the benefits described above. If we each did this, our communities would soon be far more wonderful places to live and work.

Common Interest, Common Good represents powerful thinking that has already withstood many challenges and overcome many barriers. Corporate executives will benefit greatly from the book's clear and cogent lessons on the benefits of corporate/social sector partnership. This book is proof that goodness can endure.

BP is an excellent book for all those people seeking for inside information. To me it seems it was written for people who are willing to walk the talk. BP provides the reader with information about drivers towards partnering and the benefits of partnering but also of the threats if you don't select your partner right. Therefore it emphasizes the importance of selecting the right partner and offers first hand evaluation forms from successful companies giving you ideas how to do it right with your own company. The first step to walk the talk.

Provides people involved with an outsourcing strategy in manufacturing with an excellent, hands-on approach. Breakthough Partnering should be a part of the implementation process for companies looking for practical experience in manufacturing partnerships. Robert LeValley, Director of East Coast Operations, Solectron, Inc.

Breakthrough Partnering is loaded with contemporary examples ofsupplier partnerships and it contrasts them with the 'old time religion' of bidding, leverage, and voluminous planning. Readers should come away with insights on how to transition from their old tenets to a new-found faith in the power of teamwork in supplier partnerships. Robert W. Hall, Founder of Association for Manufacturing Excellence, and Editor-in-Chief, Target magazine

This book prepares buyers of custom software for the pitfalls inherent in developing a system. It explains why there must be give and take between buyer and developer, and why "tough" contracts offer little protection. I suspect this will come as news to many first-time buyers.

I have never seen such pithy insights into why major development projects fail - and succeed. Rarely does anyone speak to management with such candor about their mistakes. And provide such clear and well founded examples of both success and failure. Anyone in a position to make decisions about new systems development should read this book.

As a consultant involved in strategy change and training, I have seen the fruitless internal conflict over who is to blame when new systems are late or clumsy to implement. Any company involved in or considering new systems development will find Ripin and Sayles an invaluable resource for negotiating with potential vendors and facilitating IS development projects. They stress what is so often forgotten: the critical role of line manager and user participation ... including more realistic trade-offs between costs (and failure risks) and ambitious client wish lists. Their vivid case studies illustrate how client managers obtain new skills by project participation that enable them to make more effective use of these costly new technologies and even to fine tune applications. Outsourcer professionals and client staff and line managers will find Ripin and Sayles an engaging, well documented, and widely useful book on developing and implementing new information systems. A must read!

I love it when a book makes me stop in my tracks and think, "Wait a minute, that makes sense. Why haven't I ever thought to look at things that way?"

This book incorporates not only the premise that problems arise within a family system but also within the context of cultural assumptions. Our society values earning and power, thus the Golden Rule (She/he who has the gold, rules). Though each marriage partner has individual problems, these problems arise from the patterns of relating we learn from our parents and our families of origin. Until we understand them, we recreate them in our own marriages. This book, along with David Schnarch's book, Passionate Marriage, will really get your brain churning!

This extraordinary book is about much more than negotiation. It is really about the nature of marriage. Through her successful family therapy practice and her own personal growth, the author has achieved tremendous insights into the assumptions that Americans bring to marriage, how these assumptions can cause problems for us, and how we can rethink our assumptions in order to make our marriages work, or work better.

Carter shows how the traditional model of marriage has not changed fast enough to successfully support the other ways that society has changed. The traditional model is one breadwinner and one homemaker in a heterosexual first marriage. This is how most of us were raised, and perhaps more importantly, it is the model that society, for the most part, is currently set up to support and value. While many young people today intend to share expenses and responsibilities equally with their partners, when we get married, especially if we have children, we tend to unconsciously fall back into thinking according to the traditional model. There's nothing wrong with both partners choosing a traditional marriage; the problem is that many of us do not make fully conscious choices about marriage. Instead, we unwittingly buy into a model that does not in fact (usually) serve either party well.

What's particularly brilliant about the way that Carter explores these issues is that she shows the reader why it matters and how it can change. The book includes useful stories about real people's marriages, and the emphasis is on what was making these people unhappy, what was keeping them from seeing all of their options, how they learned to consider and embrace new options, and whether and how their marriages changed. Because the stories are selected so well and integrated so nicely with the broader exploration of social issues, the book is easy to read and the relatively complex social issues are made very accessible.

The book does not say that money always equals power, but points out that the two are generally equated in American society. It also points out that without autonomy, people do not generally feel equal -- because they really aren't equal in the sense of having the same options. Autonomy--being able to stand on one's own--is so linked with money, not just emotionally, but in reality, that it is important for us to understand the implications of who makes how much money and how the money is shared.

The book also makes it clear that there are two kinds of power, "power over and power to." The book does not advocate that anyone use power over another person, whether that power is in the form of money, affection, or anything else. It does show us why people sometimes do that, and how to think about and deal with people who come from that perspective. It also shows us how people can learn to use the "power to" make themselves happier. Many women are uncomfortable with any type of power, including the power to be happy and even to protect ourselves. This book helps us understand why it is a bad idea to pretend that there are no power issues or power struggles in a relationship, and why it is a good idea to learn more about these dynamics. But its focus is by no means how to win a power struggle. Rather, it shows us how a better understanding of these dynamics can help us negotiate a win-win marriage.

It also, by the way, describes how to negotiate a win-win divorce, with emphasis on how to best support and nurture children during and after divorce.

The book also emphasizes the importance of looking at the family as a system, and shows how our experiences in our families of origin play a shockingly large role in our relationships with our spouses. It includes very helpful examples of how people have reconnected with their "impossible" parents in order to learn more about themselves and the family themes that have shaped their expectations and assumptions (which are often hidden).

In short, this is a book about how to be happier. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn how to be happier in a committed relationship.

A great book for those who want to make changes in their marriage/relationships. The main issue that she puts forth is that money=power. That equation changes the way that people communicate and negotiate in relationship. Examples abound as well as helpful ways to boost your negotiating power.(the main one being - get and keep a job even if its only part time!) This book could change alot of relationships for the better.

If you're thinking about entering into a partnership, you're probably too close to your new venture to be able to see the pitfalls clearly - much like the early stages of a romance. The "partnership is like a marriage" theme may seem a trifle hackneyed, but when something is basically true it tends to get repeated. Azriela Jaffe's straightforward, easy-to-read book includes checklists you can use to see if you're really ready for partnership. You need objective advice to face the reality that you are entering a relationship that, no matter how exciting in the beginning, holds real potential for turning ugly later. This book will help you navigate territory that may be more hazardous than you think. We [...] recommend it to entrepreneurs who are considering a partnership, as well as to those wearing their current partners around their necks.

The book is very useful for small partnerships. For bigger partnerships it offers only a good step-by-step framework. All the very helpful lists how to select a good partner, how to discover your own and your partners motivation and how to define your values are not really useful for companies. However most of the secrets Azriela offers the reader will lead you to tranferable ideas and maybe solutions.

There's a cute expression that people use today, particularly when others share details of their personal lives: "That's more information than I wanted to know." These words express my feeling as I read this book. It's jam-packed! There's so much stuff in these pages, I found myself wanting some illustrations or graphics to break up the text.

Jaffe likens forming a business partnership to getting married. There are a lot of similarities, since the partners have to live with each other for-hopefully-a long time. Leaping into marriage without being very sure is a recipe for disaster . . . or divorce. The same situation faces anyone entering into business with another-for any reason. And there are more reasons laid out in this book than I'd ever thought of. In fact, there was a lot of material in this book that was new to me . . . which is good!

Before I tell you more about the book, I'll list the eight secrets. 1. Look before you leap. 2. Know yourself. 3. Know your partner. 4. Clarify your mission and vision. 5. Formalize your agreements. 6. Two heads are better than one. 7. Safeguard against conflicts. 8. Breaking up is hard to do.

The book is an interwoven combination of information, illustrative vignettes, and check-yourself quizzes. There is so much, I found myself wanting a summary. Aha! Chapter 10: The Secrets to a Successful Partnership in a Nutshell. Eight pages of recommended resources precede the index.

If you're considering going into business with someone else-anyone else, read this book first. Get a pad out before you read: you'll be taking a lot of notes. Jaffe's book may be more information than you wanted to know, but it will be just what you need to know.

This upbeat yet nuanced overview, appearing on the eve of an interesting Mexican Presidential election, summarizes recent developments in U.S.-Mexican relations and outlines the most challenging aspects. Smith's intended audience is the diverse mix of business people, students, government officials and thoughtful travelers who are curious about our increasingly important, but often troubled, relationship with Mexico. Just over 200 pages in length the book fits easily in a briefcase or a backpack. Smith grew up in Las Cruces, New Mexico, was a Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico in the 1970's, and is now a senior research associate at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research at Stanford.

A quick forty pages of historical background introduces the meat of the book, the last three decades years of our common history with Mexico leading up to in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). As Smith makes clear NAFTA seems to have been a success from the trade perspective. U.S.- Mexican trade has increased in both directions from $100 billion in 1994, when NAFTA went into effect, to $175 billion in 1998. In the U.S. the economy has been strong and the huge shift of jobs to south of the border, which had been forecast by Ross Perot and others never happened.

Meanwhile, during these same years the Mexican economy sagged and rebounded with only modest overall gains. The political scene has been unsettled and social order has deteriorated. The very day that NAFTA went into effect, armed Zapatista rebels seized six towns in Chiapas, Mexico's southernmost state. A few months later Luis Donaldo Colosio, the government party (PRI) candidate, who was advocating political reform, was assassinated. The replacement candidate Ernesto Zedillo was elected easily in a fair election, but shortly thereafter, the peso collapsed. Outgoing President Carlos Salinas, who had been campaigning with U.S. support to lead the World Trade Organization, fled Mexico surrounded by the stench of corruption. Meanwhile, Mexico has been plagued by an escalating crime wave. Drug trafficking, despite some strenuous efforts on both sides of the border, continues largely unabated. The rebels have been driven from the towns but still hide out in the mountains of Chiapas. The minimum wage in Mexico is $4 a day and a third of workers earn less. Emigration, either legal or illegal, to the US is an answer for some workers, the majority of whom find work in construction, household services or the restaurant industry. Although the newcomers often cause tension in communities which must house and provide public services for what seems like a flood of foreigners, on balance the immigration flow is a net plus to the U.S. economy.

Smith, looking to NAFTA, greater freedom for private business and nascent changes in what has heretofore been a one-party political system, calls the change in Mexico profound. The reviewer, thinking of the struggling Mexican worker making less than five dollars a day and coping with a deteriorating physical environment, an escalating crime wave and an often corrupt court system, sees Mexico as still stuck in the Third World. The reviewer agrees with Smith that the U.S.-Mexican relationship will be a major challenge to the two new Presidents, whomever they may be, who will take office in January. Lets hope they rise to the challenge. Inevitable Partnership is an excellent starting point for anyone who wants to watch or join in the drama.

This an excellent book and the timing is perfect to read it NOW, given the advent of a new Administration in Mexico and the up-coming US electoral campaign.

Dr. Smith briefly and concisely reviews the history of US-Mexican relations, providing a well-documented and objective background for understanding how we have dealt with US-Mexican relations historically and have arrived at today's relationship. He convincingly makes the argument that our bilateral relationship is probably the most important one the US has, given the myriad of economic, political, geographical, social, and cultural factors which tie us together.

In addition, Smith catalogues and describes the most important bilateral issues which we face together. He discusses the economic/trade/financial topics of which the NAFTA is only one; the environmental question, which is so important given the 2000 mile cross-polluitng border; the drug-trafficking and other criminal issues which we damage our societies; the immigration and labor issues which bring potential advantages and disadvantages to both countries; the Mexican political and human rights situation which affects US policy-making; and a host of other bilateral problems. These problems have been with us for decades and will not be solved quickly, if ever, but they must be faced.

The above background provides the most important reason for reading and digesting Smith's book. It provides us with the factual and backgound data which will be required as we attempt to understand and analyze the election victory of Vicente Fox and his future policies. Basically, the book can be used as a primer for watching Mexico over the next year, as well as understanding the US response to Fox policies and policy initiatives. As Smith so effectively points out, bilateral policy can not be implemented successfully without the input and action of both countries. Fox's policy initiatives will of course be based on the history and background of the most important bilateral isses. Another Smith insight is that there are few domestic policies in Mexico which are not somehow tied to US policies. The status of the US eocnomy is of course one of the most obvious one.

This essential need for bilateral policy formulation and implementation more and more includes the role of US non-Federal Agencies (US States and Municipalities)such as the state of California. (In fact one of Fox's campaign promises is to de-centralized government in Mecico.) Smith includes a full chapter on California, which will be all-important to a successful US-Mexican relationship, given the state's huge economy and large Mexican-Ameican population. The background of immigration proposition 187 is only one of the issues covered by Dr. Smith.

Also, California will be a key factor in the up-coming US Presidential election with millions of its voters concerned about policy on US-Mexican issues, especially business and trade, and immigration. Again, the book seves as a primer for the US electoral campaign as it might be concerned with US-Mexican relations.

In summary, I have rarely seen such a concise book provide so much valuable material in such a useful form. As opposed to many books about Mexico, this one also provide some tentative policy prescriptions for the near and mid-term.

................................................... Mr. McCormick's excellent treatment of the subject. Nonprofit Mergers is also an excellent work, but very different in style and tone.

This is a serious book on a difficult subject by someone who has been there. The author's experience and his ability to weave his experience into the narrative was very helpful in establishing his credibility and his "hands-on" as well as his theoretical knowledge of the subject.

I was especially impressed by his assertion, which I share, that nonprofit mergers rarely save any significant money, and should not be advocated or undertaken for economic reasons. There's an easy 4% or so in savings that can be realized from almost any merger; expecting more usually leads to disappointment. The reasons to merge may be "positive:" enhancing efficiency, effectiveness, community image, fundraising ability, etc.; or the reasons may be "negative:" Mr. McCormick has a good explanation of how factors unrelated to mission can lead to a spiral from liability concerns to viability concerns to survivability concerns.

The merger process is detailed, with cogent explanations of the rationale for each step. There are serious legal, financial, and organizational/administrative issues to be faced all along the way, and tips on selecting and working with competent and experienced counsel are included, along with case studies, tables, forms, and samples.

His caution about using counsel specifically trained in nonprofit mergers is well-take, Many specialists in working with for-profit mergers don't appreciate the importance of the emotional issues involved in mergers, and how a single volunteer with (seemingly) no "power" can scuttle the entire process. Nonprofit mergers must be a far more open process than their for-profit counterparts' could ever be.

The book is well-sourced and well-researched, though the attributions sometimes impede the flow of the narrative. Nevertheless, it's a good "hands-on" sourcebook for serious executives and board members contemplating nonprofit mergers.

Ours is an age of extensive consolidation within and often across specific industries. Regrettably, a majority of corporate mergers and acquisitions do not achieve the desired objectives. In this book, McCormick limits his attention to nonprofits, sharing many valuable lessons he learned from his involvement with various mergers such as divisions of the American Cancer Society. His approach to the subject is not from a legal perspective ("you can get a technical checklist from many competent law firms"); "it is not the contracts that make nonprofit organization (NPO) mergers work, it's the context. It's more about how it feels to the participants than how it is legally structured." (We can only speculate how many more mergers of for-profits would succeed if the focus were on the human context rather than on the legal structure.) McCormick encourages his reader to think about a merger as a strategy to "increase capacity, advance mission, and ensure long-term viability." He notes that NPOs which merge are beginning to "put pressure on small organizations and gradually out-compete them for volunteers, donors, media attention, advocacy, and impact on their cause." Moreover, mergers "produce the capital and capacity for inventiveness. Mergers take competition through cooperation to what I call 'co-operation.' a nonprofit corporate structure that competes better just because of the way it is organized."

The word "mergers" is in the title but the word "partnerships" is in the subtitle and I think much of this book's substantial value is found in what McCormick has to say about partnerships or, if you prefer, strategic alliances. Great benefit can also be derived from the process of determining whether or not to merge with a given candidate. Due diligence may perhaps reveal more information about your own organization than it does about a given candidate. McCormick organizes his material within nine chapters:

Deciding to Merge

Selecting a Merger Partner

Laying the Groundwork with Staff and Volunteers

Negotiating and Determining Structure

Dissolution vs. Merger

Technical and Legal Aspects

Working with Consultants and Attorneys

Transition to Merge

Evaluation and Stewardship

After his Conclusion, McCormick provides 12 appendices which include relevant case histories, informative sample documents, and practical checklists. Who will derive the greatest benefit from this book? Obviously, governing board members as well as senior-level executives in an NPO which is an active merger candidate, either to acquire or be acquired. I also highly recommend this book to governing board members and senior-level executives of all other NPOs which could soon become involved (voluntarily or involuntarily) in merger negotiations or at least in preliminary discussions.

At this point, I presume to offer a suggestion to decision-makers in any NPO: Schedule a 2-3 day off-site workshop and require all participants to read this book in advance. Use its "Table of Contents" for the agenda. The group's objective is to collaborate on a Game Plan (if an active merger candidate) or a Contingency Plan ("just in case"). Here is how McCormick concludes: "There is an old saying that 'ships are safe in port, but that is not why they are built.' Merger is a time for leadership to set sail and captain the organization to a new land. A land of opportunity is made available by the increased capacity of merger with a dynamic partner." To which I add, Bon Chance! When appropriate, Bon Voyage!

Nick Fashon, the young, handsome and charmingly vain co-owner of a clothing store called Love & Fashion, with his partner, Vince Love, finds himself sole heir to the estate of his barely-known grandfather, a desert rat whose invention, the doohickey of the title, may possibly be a money-maker. This drives a plot with wacky, funny, wise-cracking characters like an ambitious Latina TV cooking show hostess, an archaeologist girl-friend, a hick lawyer who is a wannabe dude, all in a mildly twisted mystery plot.

There is an awful lot of talk about mouth-watering food in the book and you'll find yourself inexplicably hungry throughout, hankering for menudo or huevos rancheros washed down with margaritas grandes. And you'll enjoy the well-described Tucson scene.

Not in the same league as mysterydom's big-hitters, but worth an evening's read nonetheless.

Scott Morrison

Pete Hautman is able to create distinctive, often loony, characters who drive an engaging plot that wraps up all of the loose ends by its conclusion. Nicholas Fashon, around which the plot revolves, has inherited the rights to his grandfather's all-purpose kitchen gadget the Handy Mate (one of many doohickey inventions the old man fiddled around with). Getting the Handy Mate manufactured and marketed is Fashon's goal to make it big, but there are many roadblocks in his way, including a violent loanshark, a sexy female chef, and the police who suspect Fashon of torching his apparel store for insurance money. The book's humor is derived from twists in the plot and nonsensical situations between Fashon and a number of secondary characters, in a similar vein to earlier Hautman books. It is highly enjoyable, and good for a laugh or two every few pages.

Pete Hautman has a real knack for creating off-the-wall characters and great plots. Nick Fashon must deal sexy gals, a shady lawyer (of course!), a barrio thug, and friends who desert him in his time of need. The twists and turns of this novel will keep you reading (and chuckling) with every page. It has a similar comedic punch as Hautman's other fun read, Mrs. Million. Highly recommended!

There are better books out there about being an assistant to a boss. This book does not go into depth. It's too basic, and not meaty enough.

Being a corporate coach who specializes in the relationship between executives and assistants, I find this book very useful. While it is not the end-all, be-all solution, it is a perfect start to building a partnership. The book is easy to read with realistic tips; I give it to my clients to augment our coaching sessions. I especially like the stages of partnership model explained in the book. It builds on the basic stages of management and is useful for both the executive and assistant. Well done! righthandresources.com

This book is outstanding. I highly recommend it if you want to take your working relationship with your manager up to the next level. If you think you're working relationship is great now, this book can make it even better. I liked the way the author lists the steps in preparing this concept to your manager. It was easy to follow and really makes you put a good deal of careful thought in the preparation process. I also liked the idea of action items not just for the assistant, but for the manager too. Remember a good working relationship involves both assistants and managers. Just working through this process together improves the relationship. Luckily, my boss endored it!

I want to make it clear. I am a supporter of greater utilization of faith-based congregations and organizations delivering welfare services. When reading A Limited Partnership I had preconceived opinions about what to expect from Bob Wineburg. I just knew he would use his wit and persuasive voice to stifle the momentum faith-based initiatives has been gaining around the country. Another social work scholar pushing his extreme liberal agenda. By the end of Chapter one (Devolution or Devilution), the reader will be surprised (as was I) by the author's recognition of the extensive network of services already delivered by faith-based organizations. Likewise, while summarizing the history of devolution he is clear in making the distinction between the Christian right and mainstream religious efforts. Particularly enlightening is the distinction between the political attention and policy debate drawn by the Christian right in shaping welfare reform and the actual provision of services being delivered more by the domain of mainline American religious denominations. This becomes support for the general thesis of the book. Politicians and the Christian right's ideological political agenda is an agenda without prudent planning or understanding of what is already in place and how it will play out at the local level. Dr. Wineburg does not criticize politicians or the Christian right for their lack of data that can guide policy development. Instead, he quickly turns in Chapter two (A Blip in History or a Slip in the Academy), to an apparent archaic system in higher education that finds value only in research that can be generalizable and devoted only to issues at the national level. Policy-makers and the public need solid objective information about the cultures and operations of welfare service delivery at the local level. In the author's words, "The academic community skipped by the most dramatic shift in policy in more than half a century because it was not geared up to study local changes, even though most of the action took place locally." He ends chapter 2 with a list of ten areas of research in need before moving further with policy implementation at the local level. The academic world would be wise to heed his advice to collaborate with colleagues of different disciplines, create incentives for conducting local research, and slowly build models of new and testable policy theory by comparing research done at the local level one community at a time. In Chapters three through six Dr. Wineburg reviews his experiences and results of over twenty years of studying the human service system of Greensboro, North Carolina. He narrows the lenses of readers to consider the complex, interconnected, formal and informal relationships of this one mid-sized city. At the completion of chapter six, there is little doubt that to consider welfare policy from the top down, without understanding unique cultures of each local system will result in chaos. This view is further substantiated by references to similar findings in other areas. The most disturbing being an account of First Baptist Church of Philadelphia where policy makers, without any initial planning or assessment, cut a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program and assumed that people could be diverted to AA and NA programs provided at the church. The result being vandalism and stolen property, added expense of having to hire a security firm to protect the facility, and worse the church becoming a place not of voluntary giving and love, but more like any other governmental service, the politicians were hoping to end. Using the metaphor of a superhighway infrastructure in any urban area the point is made vividly clear in chapter7. Again in Dr. Wineburg's words, "The volume of traffic does not dwindle because of road construction or an accident - it may go elsewhere - but just as an unaddressed social problem leads to other problems, the diverted traffic will eventually stack up somewhere else." As a strong supporter of faith-based organizations, I believe the book does not give enough credit to the biblical merits of providing human services through more informal faith-based methods. The delivery of charitable services as an expression of ones religious beliefs should not be minimized, nor should it be viewed as secondary to any other consideration when developing public welfare policy. Nevertheless, A Limited Partnership is a timely book. This is not an intellectual exercise by an uninformed academician. Instead, it is a relevant, to the point account of the realities of welfare policy from the federal government to the local community. I would advise policymakers, present and future scholars, clergymen, and anyone interested in developing partnerships with faith-based communities to read the book before taking another step towards implementing any community partnership or program.

I want to make it clear. I am a supporter of greater utilization of faith-based congregations and organizations delivering welfare services. When reading A Limited Partnership I had preconceived opinions about what to expect from Bob Wineburg. I just knew he would use his wit and persuasive voice to stifle the momentum faith-based initiatives has been gaining around the country. Another social work scholar pushing his extreme liberal agenda.

By the end of Chapter one (Devolution or Devilution), the reader will be surprised (as was I) by the author's recognition of the extensive network of services already delivered by faith-based organizations. Likewise, while summarizing the history of devolution he is clear in making the distinction between the Christian right and mainstream religious efforts. Particularly enlightening is the distinction between the political attention and policy debate drawn by the Christian right in shaping welfare reform and the actual provision of services being delivered more by the domain of mainline American religious denominations. This becomes support for the general thesis of the book. Politicians and the Christian right's ideological political agenda is an agenda without prudent planning or understanding of what is already in place and how it will play out at the local level.

Dr. Wineburg does not criticize politicians or the Christian right for their lack of data that can guide policy development. Instead, he quickly turns in Chapter two (A Blip in History or a Slip in the Academy), to an apparent archaic system in higher education that finds value only in research that can be generalizable and devoted only to issues at the national level. Policy-makers and the public need solid objective information about the cultures and operations of welfare service delivery at the local level. In the author's words, "The academic community skipped by the most dramatic shift in policy in more than half a century because it was not geared up to study local changes, even though most of the action took place locally." He ends chapter 2 with a list of ten areas of research in need before moving further with policy implementation at the local level. The academic world would be wise to heed his advice to collaborate with colleagues of different disciplines, create incentives for conducting local research, and slowly build models of new and testable policy theory by comparing research done at the local level one community at a time.

In Chapters three through six Dr. Wineburg reviews his experiences and results of over twenty years of studying the human service system of Greensboro, North Carolina. He narrows the lenses of readers to consider the complex, interconnected, formal and informal relationships of this one mid-sized city. At the completion of chapter six, there is little doubt that to consider welfare policy from the top down, without understanding unique cultures of each local system will result in chaos. This view is further substantiated by references to similar findings in other areas. The most disturbing being an account of First Baptist Church of Philadelphia where policy makers, without any initial planning or assessment, cut a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program and assumed that people could be diverted to AA and NA programs provided at the church. The result being vandalism and stolen property, added expense of having to hire a security firm to protect the facility, and worse the church becoming a place not of voluntary giving and love, but more like any other governmental service, the politicians were hoping to end.

Using the metaphor of a superhighway infrastructure in any urban area the point is made vividly clear in chapter7. Again in Dr. Wineburg's words, "The volume of traffic does not dwindle because of road construction or an accident - it may go elsewhere - but just as an unaddressed social problem leads to other problems, the diverted traffic will eventually stack up somewhere else."

As a strong supporter of faith-based organizations, I believe the book does not give enough credit to the biblical merits of providing human services through more informal faith-based methods. The delivery of charitable services as an expression of ones religious beliefs should not be minimized, nor should it be viewed as secondary to any other consideration when developing public welfare policy. Nevertheless, A Limited Partnership is a timely book. This is not an intellectual exercise by an uninformed academician. Instead, it is a relevant, to the point account of the realities of welfare policy from the federal government to the local community. I would advise policymakers, present and future scholars, clergymen, and anyone interested in developing partnerships with faith-based communities to read the book before taking another step towards implementing any community partnership or program.

I want to make it clear. I am a supporter of greater utilization of faith-based congregations and organizations delivering welfare services. When reading A Limited Partnership I had preconceived opinions about what to expect from Bob Wineburg. I just knew he would use his wit and persuasive voice to stifle the momentum faith-based initiatives has been gaining around the country. Another social work scholar pushing his extreme liberal agenda. By the end of Chapter one (Devolution or Devilution), the reader will be surprised (as was I) by the author's recognition of the extensive network of services already delivered by faith-based organizations. Likewise, while summarizing the history of devolution he is clear in making the distinction between the Christian right and mainstream religious efforts. Particularly enlightening is the distinction between the political attention and policy debate drawn by the Christian right in shaping welfare reform and the actual provision of services being delivered more by the domain of mainline American religious denominations. This becomes support for the general thesis of the book. Politicians and the Christian right's ideological political agenda is an agenda without prudent planning or understanding of what is already in place and how it will play out at the local level. Dr. Wineburg does not criticize politicians or the Christian right for their lack of data that can guide policy development. Instead, he quickly turns in Chapter two (A Blip in History or a Slip in the Academy), to an apparent archaic system in higher education that finds value only in research that can be generalizable and devoted only to issues at the national level. Policy-makers and the public need solid objective information about the cultures and operations of welfare service delivery at the local level. In the author's words, "The academic community skipped by the most dramatic shift in policy in more than half a century because it was not geared up to study local changes, even though most of the action took place locally." He ends chapter 2 with a list of ten areas of research in need before moving further with policy implementation at the local level. The academic world would be wise to heed his advice to collaborate with colleagues of different disciplines, create incentives for conducting local research, and slowly build models of new and testable policy theory by comparing research done at the local level one community at a time. In Chapters three through six Dr. Wineburg reviews his experiences and results of over twenty years of studying the human service system of Greensboro, North Carolina. He narrows the lenses of readers to consider the complex, interconnected, formal and informal relationships of this one mid-sized city. At the completion of chapter six, there is little doubt that to consider welfare policy from the top down, without understanding unique cultures of each local system will result in chaos. This view is further substantiated by references to similar findings in other areas. The most disturbing being an account of First Baptist Church of Philadelphia where policy makers, without any initial planning or assessment, cut a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program and assumed that people could be diverted to AA and NA programs provided at the church. The result being vandalism and stolen property, added expense of having to hire a security firm to protect the facility, and worse the church becoming a place not of voluntary giving and love, but more like any other governmental service, the politicians were hoping to end. Using the metaphor of a superhighway infrastructure in any urban area the point is made vividly clear in chapter7. Again in Dr. Wineburg's words, "The volume of traffic does not dwindle because of road construction or an accident - it may go elsewhere - but just as an unaddressed social problem leads to other problems, the diverted traffic will eventually stack up somewhere else." As a strong supporter of faith-based organizations, I believe the book does not give enough credit to the biblical merits of providing human services through more informal faith-based methods. The delivery of charitable services as an expression of ones religious beliefs should not be minimized, nor should it be viewed as secondary to any other consideration when developing public welfare policy. Nevertheless, A Limited Partnership is a timely book. This is not an intellectual exercise by an uninformed academician. Instead, it is a relevant, to the point account of the realities of welfare policy from the federal government to the local community. I would advise policymakers, present and future scholars, clergymen, and anyone interested in developing partnerships with faith-based communities to read the book before taking another step towards implementing any community partnership or program.