Consider this scenario. At a political fund-raiser, the director of a national child-welfare foundation meets the executive vice president of a women’s clothing manufacturer. The two start talking about their work. The director describes her organization’s efforts to increase the public’s awareness of the need for early detection of and intervention in child abuse cases. She tells of her never-ending search for funding and the foundation’s inability to reach all the people who need to hear its message. The manufacturing vice president explains that he has been looking for new ways to portray the company as one that is attuned to the needs and concerns of women. Clearly, the two realize, each organization has something very valuable to offer the other.
A version of this article appeared in the November–December 1996 issue of Harvard Business Review.