The public manager as partnership manager

This chapter discusses why the role of the partnership manager is important in partnerships and presents an overview on the way the literature on partnership managers have developed. The role of the partnership manager has been singled out as one of the most important elements in making partnerships work in practice. There have been different stages in the research on partnership managers that also borrow from theories of governance networks and collaboration more generally. Today, there are now a variety of activities and expectations associated with being a manager of a partnership. The role of the partnership manager is linked to a number of balancing acts that make a partnership function in practice. Metaphors range from being a juggler and a boundary spanner to being a bridgebuilder. Today, a partnership manager is a complex one, embedded in a larger context of collective leadership.