Managing Microinsurance Partnerships (Brief Note)
This note analyzes microinsurance partnerships and identifies key themes based on the experiences of various organizations. Good partnerships have been identified as one of the key factors in the success of a microinsurance program. Insurers often need to form partnerships with organizations that can serve as distribution channels to achieve scale. The number of multi-stakeholder partnerships in microinsurance is also growing, as governments and donors become active players. These partnerships are particularly difficult to manage as partners have distinct (sometimes conflicting) priorities and very different organizational cultures. The note provides a framework to analyze partnerships, and provides recommendations and strategies to monitor and improve them. Conclusions include:
- Partnerships tend to be easier to manage at the beginning when everyone is excited about the new venture, but become more challenging as issues arise and need to be solved;
- Partnership can grow stronger over time, since trust and commitment develop through solving challenges together;
- After some problem-solving partners should have a better understanding of the areas in which they need to collaborate more;
- Partnership challenges need not be viewed as obstacles, but as necessary elements of a sustained, successful partnership.
