The Thai-Australian Health Alliance: A case study of inter-organisational collaboration

AIM: To describe early stages in the development of a cross-cultural strategic alliance known as the 'Thai-Australian Health Alliance'. The aim of the alliance is to improve rural medical workforce recruitment, retention,education and training. Early stage development focuses on achieving a sustainable set of relationships between participating organisations since June, 2004. DESIGN AND DATA COLLECTION: A qualitative research design with a descriptive account of stages involved in the development of the Thai-Australian Health Alliance. Data collection included author field notes, reports and meetings plus semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. SETTING: Rural medical workforce health training organisations in northern Thailand and north western New South Wales.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Perceptions of key stakeholders in December, 2005 as to the success of the alliance and factors influencing same. RESULTS: Evidence supporting the strength of the emerging alliance included: • Collaborative goal setting; • Support of senior management; • Satisfaction of key stakeholders with exchanges between members of the alliance. CONCLUSIONS: The research findings suggest that the implementation of cross cultural strategic alliances need to consider the needs of member organisations, undertake visionary goal setting, gain senior management support, commence with pilot collaborative projects and build linkages based on trust and mutual respect.