Managing public-private partnerships: the enactment of a new business venture

Phoenix was established to encourage nascent entrepreneurs to set-up technology-based companies. The project developed as an informal partnership between a small number of staff from X Business School and the business contacts of a retired entrepreneur. Data are drawn from participant-observation and interviews with all main actors to illustrate the process of enactment over an 18-month period. It is concluded that the failure of Phoenix was due to difficulties in reconciling substantially different objectives between public and private sector participants. In addition, the micropolitical activities of key actors associated with the new organization contributed to the lack of trust between the two groups.