CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.3 Key Implementing Factors for Sister City Relationship
2.3.1 Sister City Relationship’s Key Implementing Factors
Figure 2.1 Process of the Establishing Sister City Relationship Model
(2009) explains further that if an organization chooses to limit the partnership, the organization will be able to properly allocate its resources for further initiative.
3) Broad-based community involvement, such as institutions, universities, and business sectors, which are required to make the sister relationship successful
4) Community awareness - the level of community awareness has a significant impact on the success of the sister city relationship. In his study on South African sister cities, the results have shown that community awareness has a strong correlation with success.
5) Committed community leadership
6) Effective organizational strategy and staff
7) Signed agreements (MOUs) - the signed agreement is intended to be a long-term focus with clear objectives, goals, projects, and planned activities.
8) Commitment and regular exchange - “relationships are formed and maintained through reliable and regular communication involving all stakeholders…This implies that the relationship should be actively marketed and promoted among the relevant parties” (p. 150).
9) Reciprocity - both parties receive mutual benefit.
10) Access to resources - ability to access community-based financial resources
Gibbs et al. (2015) have conducted case studies on 11 successful Australian sister city relationships and have identified the key success factor as follows:
1) Contain a strategic plan or policy - an organization that conducts activities based on a strategic plan with a realistic outcome tends to have a chance of becoming successful.
2) Appropriate match - establish a criterion for selecting a partner that matches priorities and shares common areas of interest.
3) Matching expectations - both organizations have the ability to achieve expectations and objectives; for example the local government has a greater degree of autonomy in implementing activities.
4) Providing certainty and continuity - long-term commitment, committed leadership, adequate staffing and resources
5) Recognizing the importance of the role of leadership - it is important to regularly conduct face-to-face visits when establishing a sister city relationship to show openness and transparency across the rage of activities.
6) Building a multi-faceted relationship - integrating multi-areas of cooperation, including cultural, educational, and economic development.
7) Recognizing that the relationship can benefit both partners - both equally receive benefits from the partnership.
8) Engaging with the media and the community - it is important for the local community to understand the value of international relationship with full support in order to attain an active community-based committee structure and governance support.
Cremer et al. (2001) also introduced key success factors based on the integrated approach utilized by the New Zealand sister city relationship. The integrated approach is a sister city relationship that “strives for a balance of cultural, political, social, and economic development for both cities and insists on tangible results in all of those priority areas” (p. 383). Cultural understanding can enhance business investment, as Cremer et al. state: “By understanding culture can contribute to trade and investment and while engaging in business investment provide cultural understanding” (Cremer et al., 2001, p. 383). This approach concerns sociability as a supplement to the profit motive.
Cremer et al. (2001) explain further that for the sister city relationship to be sustained, economic benefit needs to be included in the initiatives. This concept is also supported by O’Toole’s model on the evolvement of sister city relationship from culture to economic purpose (phase 3). Many researchers have emphasized phase 3 of the sister city relationship (the commercial exchange phase)—that a relationship with economic development and trade purposes is more likely to be sustained than a relationship with solely educational and cultural exchange. Culture serves as a strong foundation for the relationship but the economic factors are what make the relationship last indefinitely. Cremer et al. (2001) claimed that “in the long run, the most reliable and strongest drivers for international understanding and exchange are economic and business links and work opportunities” (p. 384). Cultural ties are built over time through different ranges of activities that create cross-cultural
understanding, build trust, and reduce uncertainty, which even eventually become grassroots for economic development such as trade and investment.
In addition to the integrated approach, Ramasamy and Cremer (1998) identified other key success factors for managing the sister city relationship in New Zealand as follows:
1) Strategic plan - an organization needs to have a clear objective plan that can be quantified and realistically achieved as well as determine the budget, human resources, facilities, the organization structure, and process required to manage sister city
2) Concentration of resource to limited number of partnerships 3) Commitment leadership and support of city affiliation 4) Budget and Staff
Some other researchers also identified similar key success factors for sister city relationship. Tjandradewi, Marcotullio, and Kidokoro (2006) for example share similar key success factors, explaining that “cost sharing cost effectiveness, free-flow of information, raising public awareness, demand-driven focus, and reciprocation play an important role in creating sustainable relationship” (p. 372). Tjandradewi et al.
(2006) also suggested that political support from higher levels of government, as well as consistent leadership from senior level officials and decision-makers, are required for creating long-term relationships and that raising public awareness also plays an important role in creating sustainable relationships.
Baycan-Levent, Gülümser Akgün, and Kundak (2010, p. 1187) suggest in their study on urban networking that “the visible contribution of the relationship to economic benefit and new business and investment opportunities” also contribute to the success of a partnership.