Historia del conflicto armado en Colombia

The following charts illustrate the respondents‟ rating of characteristics that might be crucial for successful corporate-humanitarian collaborations on a scale from 3 (“very important”) to -3 (“not at all important”). On the vertical axis the level of importance is depicted, while on the horizontal axis the total number of respondents in percentage terms can be read out. Each factor is coloured differently in the bar chart. Only the four most important and the four least important factors are presented (please refer to appendix 7.5.1 “Complete overview of rating of characteristics important to corporate-humanitarian

collaborations (commercial logistics industry)” and 7.5.2 “Complete overview of rating of characteristics important to corporate-humanitarian collaborations (humanitarian aid sector)” for a detailed overview).

The four most important factors that, according to the respondents from the commercial logistics industry, contribute to successful cross-sector collaborations are “Mutual trust” (73%), “Transfer of know-how and knowledge acquisition” (54%), “Partner‟s problem solving competence” (36%), and “Pooling of partner‟s material resources” (36%) (Figure 4.12). In accordance with responses to previous questions, the characteristics “Trust” and “Resources” once again rank highly on the importance scale for commercial logistics providers.

FIGURE4.12:RESPONDENTS‟ RATING OF CHARACTERISTICS IMPORTANT TO CORPORATE-

HUMANITARIAN COLLABORATIONS (COMMERCIAL LOGISTICS INDUSTRY)

The features ranked less important for a successful partnership are “Use of a Partnership Broker”, “Willingness to transfer decisive power to partner”, “Experience in collaborations”, as well as “Access to new networks and

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% Very Important Important Slightly Important Neutral Slightly unimportant Unimportant Not at all important

Willingness to transfer decisive power to partner

Experience in collaborations in general

Mutual trust

Use of partnership broker pairing commercial logistics company with humanitarian aid organisation Partner's problem-solving competence

Access to new networks and competitive advantage through collaboration

Pooling of partner's material resources

Transfer of know-how and knowledge acquisition

competitive advantage through collaboration”. It is, however, important to mention that clearly defining “unimportant” factors bears a difficulty since no definite majority is shown. Looking at the mean values (the sum of observations divided by the total number of observations), which range between 2.4 and 3.0 it can be seen that most of the respondents tend to rate the factors as only “moderately important” (please refer to appendix 7.5.3 “Mean and Median values” for a complete overview). The last element, “Access to new networks and competitive advantage through collaboration”, may be regarded as contradicting the fact that “Partner‟s geographic scope” (the organisation‟s worldwide presence and operations) was ranked as the most important factor when choosing a humanitarian aid agency. This may automatically imply the access to new networks and would provide the company a competitive advantage. Nevertheless, respondents may have interpreted “Access to new networks” differently: i.e. the emphasis may lie on the total number of potential business partners in a specific geographical area or field of expertise rather than on the geographical coverage.

Looking at the humanitarian aid organisation‟s point of view (Figure 4.13) the four most important qualities that help build successful corporate- humanitarian partnerships are “Rapid access to partner‟s resources and services” (58%), “Mutual trust” (58%), “Persisting independence of partners” (42%), and “Transfer of know-how and knowledge acquisition” (33%). Another important factor may be “Use of a partnership broker pairing commercial logistics company with humanitarian aid organisation”. Compared to the previous questions, the characteristic “Resources” is again ranked as a crucial requirement. It is, however, important to note that aid workers find “Mutual trust” equally as important as “Resources” although it was not mentioned as a feature their optimal partner would need to have.

Factors that are less important to humanitarian field personnel are again difficult to define, and only three characteristics could be found. Nevertheless, the three less essential factors may be “Willingness to transfer decisive power to partner”, “Experience in cross-sector collaborations”, and “Experience in

collaborations in general”. The median values of all three factors are 3 (“slightly important”) which illustrates that 50% of respondents believe that they are neither important nor unimportant or even unimportant for successful collaborations (please refer to appendix 7.5.3 “Mean and Median values” for a complete overview).

FIGURE4.13:RESPONDENTS‟ RATING OF CHARACTERISTICS IMPORTANT TO CORPORATE-

HUMANITARIAN COLLABORATIONS (HUMANITARIAN AID SECTOR)

Comparing the results from both sectors it can be argued that a similarity with regard to the most important characteristics ranked by each group exists. Both commercial logistics employees and humanitarian aid workers believe that a successful collaboration depends on the availability of resources, mutual trust, as well as the sharing of best practices and specialised knowledge. Furthermore, the independence of partners is essential for aid workers but not necessarily for commercials. This might be due to inexperience and a lack of trust with regard to

0% 20% 40% 60% Very Important Important Slightly Important Neutral Slightly unimportant Unimportant Not at all important

Willingness to transfer decisive power to partner Experience in cross-sector collaborations Experience in collaborations in general Mutual trust

Use of partnership broker pairing commercial logistics company with humanitarian aid organisation Persisting independence of partners

Rapid access to partner's resources and services

Transfer of know-how and knowledge acquisition

engaging in partnerships with businesses, and relief workers may also tend to avoid becoming too dependent on businesses in their operations.