Critical Success Factors of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in Iran Pharmaceutical Industry

The Public-private partnership is an increasingly popular choice for policymakers in implementing public projects and a solution to reform the health sectors in many countries, especially in the face of financial resource shortage. Currently, their success in achieving objectives has been questioned by both public and private partners' perspective. Exploratory research to investigate critical success factors in PPPs was conducted by interviewing PPPs experts and practitioners in the Iran Pharmaceutical industry. A thematic analysis was performed and 9 themes were identified namely: (1) transparent legal and regulation framework; (2) stable macroeconomic condition; (3) appropriate risk allocation and sharing; (4) government guarantees; (5) choosing the right partner; (6) strong commitment and trust; (7) Public mindset towards private sector; (8) clear goals and objectives; and (9) consistent monitoring. Among other findings, the research suggests the importance of PPPs evaluation and the lack of knowledge, specifically for pharmaceutical PPP projects. The research contributes to the theoretical development of PPP critical success factors. It points out several issues that need to be addressed when attempting to use the PPP approach, considering the partners' perspectives towards a partnership.