IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v33y2019i2p244-261.html

‘You Can’t Win’: The Non-Profit Double-Bind and Experiences of Organisational Contradictions in the Non-Profit and Voluntary Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Katharine Venter

    (University of Leicester, UK)

  • Denise Currie

    (Queen’s University Belfast, UK)

  • Martin McCracken

    (Ulster University, UK)

Abstract

There is growing evidence that in the UK demands for non-profit and voluntary sector organisations to comply with funders’ target driven priorities are often in tension with organisations’ social goals. The implications of this for employees are not yet sufficiently understood. The present article builds on Bateson et al.’s theory of double-bind to develop a socially contextualised model to understand employees’ experiences of workplace contradictions in the sector. Drawing from data provided by 49 individuals working in three case study organisations, our conceptualisation of a ‘non-profit double-bind’ provides a new and novel way of understanding how social meta-communicative processes serve to embed or reframe contradictions within intense employment relationships.

Suggested Citation

  • Katharine Venter & Denise Currie & Martin McCracken, 2019. "‘You Can’t Win’: The Non-Profit Double-Bind and Experiences of Organisational Contradictions in the Non-Profit and Voluntary Sector," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 33(2), pages 244-261, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:33:y:2019:i:2:p:244-261
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017017713949
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0950017017713949
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0950017017713949?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Conroy, Kieran M. & Collings, David G., 2016. "The legitimacy of subsidiary issue selling: Balancing positive & negative attention from corporate headquarters," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 612-627.
    2. Ian Cunningham & Gary Hearne & Philip James, 2013. "Voluntary organisations and marketisation: a dynamic of employment degradation," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 171-188, March.
    3. Rod Dacombe, 2011. "Can we argue against it? Performance management and state funding of voluntary organizations in the UK," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 159-166, May.
    4. Parush, Tamar & Koivunen, Niina, 2014. "Paradoxes, double binds, and the construction of ‘creative’ managerial selves in art-based leadership development," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 104-113.
    5. Smith, Wendy K. & Gonin, Michael & Besharov, Marya L., 2013. "Managing Social-Business Tensions: A Review and Research Agenda for Social Enterprise," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(3), pages 407-442, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Reeti Kulshrestha & Arunaditya Sahay & Subhanjan Sengupta, 2022. "Constituents and Drivers of Mission Engagement for Social Enterprise Sustainability: A Systematic Review," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 31(1), pages 90-120, March.
    2. Emmanuelle Reuter, 2022. "Hybrid business models in the sharing economy: The role of business model design for managing the environmental paradox," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 603-618, February.
    3. Kirsti Iivonen, 2018. "Defensive Responses to Strategic Sustainability Paradoxes: Have Your Coke and Drink It Too!," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 309-327, March.
    4. Céline Bérard & Christelle Bruyere & Séverine Saleilles, 2015. "Sustainability-driven and high-growth SMEs: A paradox approach [Las PYME de sostenibilidad impulsada y el alto crecimiento: Un enfoque por las paradojas]," Post-Print halshs-01354704, HAL.
    5. Sommeno, Tigist Woldetsadik & Mersland, Roy & Randøy, Trond, 2024. "The impact of liability of foreignness on performance in hybrid organizations," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 1-22.
    6. Najafi-Tavani, Zhaleh & Robson, Matthew J. & Zaefarian, Ghasem & Andersson, Ulf & Yu, Chong, 2018. "Building subsidiary local responsiveness: (When) does the directionality of intrafirm knowledge transfers matter?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 475-492.
    7. Xing, Yijun & Liu, Yipeng & Lattemann, Christoph, 2020. "Institutional logics and social enterprises: Entry mode choices of foreign hospitals in China," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(5).
    8. Elizabeth A. R. Fowler & Betty S. Coffey & Heather R. Dixon-Fowler, 2019. "Transforming Good Intentions into Social Impact: A Case on the Creation and Evolution of a Social Enterprise," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 665-678, October.
    9. Tippmann, Esther & Sharkey Scott, Pamela & Reilly, Marty & O’Brien, Donal, 2018. "Subsidiary coopetition competence: Navigating subsidiary evolution in the multinational corporation," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 540-554.
    10. Mikołajczak, Paweł, 2022. "Determinants of precarious employment in social enterprises in Central and Eastern Europe," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 398-408.
    11. Charles Amoyea Atogenzoya & Anna Comacchio, 2019. "Nature and Management of Social-business Tensions: A Study of Micro and Small Social Enterprises in Developing Countries," Proceedings of Business and Management Conferences 8612069, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.
    12. Bhattarai, Charan Raj & Kwong, Caleb C.Y. & Tasavori, Misagh, 2019. "Market orientation, market disruptiveness capability and social enterprise performance: An empirical study from the United Kingdom," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 47-60.
    13. Saskia Crucke & Adelien Decramer, 2016. "The Development of a Measurement Instrument for the Organizational Performance of Social Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-30, February.
    14. Tina C Ambos & Sebastian H Fuchs & Alexander Zimmermann, 2020. "Managing interrelated tensions in headquarters–subsidiary relationships: The case of a multinational hybrid organization," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(6), pages 906-932, August.
    15. Guillaume Dumont, 2024. "Evaluating the Credibility of Entrepreneurs’ Impact Promises in Early-Stage Impact Investing," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 48(6), pages 1525-1555, November.
    16. Collings David G. & McDonnell Anthony, 2025. "Irish Business and Management Research: Towards the Post Irish Journal of Management Era," The Irish Journal of Management, Sciendo, vol. 44(2), pages 155-164.
    17. Vishnu K. Ramesh & A. Athira, 2023. "Real effects of social trust on firm performance during COVID‐19," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(1), pages 671-693, January.
    18. Brett R. Smith & Amanda Lawson & Jessica Jones & Tim Holcomb & Aimee Minnich, 2022. "Trying to Serve Two Masters is Easy, Compared to Three: Identity Multiplicity Work by Christian Impact Investors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(4), pages 1053-1070, September.
    19. Ryan, Paul & Giblin, Majella & Andersson, Ulf & Clancy, Johanna, 2018. "Subsidiary knowledge creation in co-evolving contexts," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 915-932.
    20. Céline Bérard & Christelle Bruyère & Séverine Saleilles, 2015. "Les PME axées sur la durabilité et à forte croissance : une approche par les paradoxes," Post-Print hal-04010385, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:33:y:2019:i:2:p:244-261. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.