Organizational Identity Implications of Cross-Sector Partnerships: A Nonprofit Perspective

Abstract

Nonprofit organizations frequently cooperate with profit-oriented businesses in order to fulfil their goals and mission. Although collaborative activities such as nonprofit-business partnerships can benefit both non- and for-profit organizations, they are also a potential source of inter- and intra-organizational controversy, conflict, and even disruption when social objectives clash with business interests. Taking on the perspective of nonprofit organizations and their members, this tripartite dissertation investigates one particular risk associated with nonprofit-business partnerships: organizational identity threats (i.e., experiences that call into question members’ perceptions of their organization’s identity). Building on and connecting research on inter-organizational collaboration, nonprofit organizations, and organizational identity, this dissertation first develops a conceptual model that outlines the conditions under which nonprofit-business partnerships may arise as organizational identity threats. Second, a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews explores nonprofit members’ sensemaking and organizational identity threat appraisal processes in the context of nonprofit-business partnerships. Third, a subsequent qualitative study investigates how nonprofit members manage potential identity-related tensions arising from these partnerships through identity work. Taken together, this dissertation provides insights into how members of nonprofit-organizations perceive, evaluate, and manage potential identity threats in cross-sector partnerships with corporate actors.