Service Partner is agreements and actions made by consenting organizations to share resources to accomplish a mutual goal. Collaborative partnerships rely on participation by at least two parties who agree to share resources, such as finances, knowledge, and people. Organizations in a collaborative partnership share common goals. The essence of collaborative partnership is for all parties to mutually benefit from working together. There are instances where collaborative partnerships develop between those in different fields to supplement one another’s expertise. The relationships between collaborative partners can lead to long term partnerships that rely on one another.

As Don Kettl writers, “From Medicare to Medicaid, environmental planning to transportation policy, the federal government shares responsibility with state and local government and for-profit and nonprofit organizations, the result is an extended chain of implementation in which no one is fully in charge of everything”

Partnership and collaboration are often used inter-changeably, sometimes within the same paragraph or even sentence. Much use of the terminology is policy driven; giving way to the use of terms such as ‘joined-up thinking’ and ‘joined-up working’.

Collaborative arrangements occur based on more than just altruism. Mutuality and equitable engagement will not exist if one partner expects another to simply transfer their technological competitive advantage. A particular concern that arises in both for-profit and academic partnerships has been the failure to reap benefits of collaboration at meso- and macro-levels. In general, partnerships for sustainable development are self-organizing and coordinating alliances.

In a more strict definition; they are collaborative arrangements in which actors from two or more spheres of society- whether state, market, and civil society, are involved in a non-hierarchical process through which these actors strive for a sustainability goal. In recent times, partnerships are set up to solve societal problems and they do so on the basis of a commitment that is formalized to some extent Partnerships are perceived as arrangements that can further the drive for sustainable development.
In that role, they provide a managerial response to the general ethical ideal of societal progress. Collaborative arrangements in which actors from two or more spheres of society (state, market and civil society) are involved in a non-hierarchical process through which these actors strive for a sustainability goal. These practices may be seen as both idealistic and structural specifications of that philosophy in a more operational governance paradigm.

A business- business partnership is involvement between a business and business-industry, unions, governments and community organizations. These partnerships are established by agreement between two or more parties to establish goals, and to construct a plan of action for achievement of those goals. Business-business partnerships may involve entire company board and hundreds of employees as well. Others pair private partners with a single company or individual department only. Business-business partnerships serve business and industry by providing activities such as in-service training to employees, use of facilities, workers directed projects, marketing research. They also serve to strengthen instruction in academic skills through the talents and ideas of the personnel of participating businesses.