IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/mimoxx/v46y2016i4p216-227.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Constructing Non-profit Identity in the Midst of Stakeholder Complexity

Author

Listed:
  • Trine S. Johansen
  • Anne Ellerup Nielsen

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to conceptualize the identity of nonprofit organizations as suspended between various stakeholders who present the organizations with different challenges, paradoxes, and dilemmas. Thus, it seeks to answer the questions: How do we define and study the relational identity of a nonprofit organization (NPO)? How do stakeholders participate in NPO identity constructing practices? Theoretically, the study draws on and contributes to the relational conceptualization of organizational identity as a discursive accomplishment. Based on a discourse analysis of an online discussion on the micro-lending NPO Kiva, the study’s findings point to complex articulations of both the organization and its stakeholders. Conclusively, the study suggests that NPO identity can be defined and studied through multiple discourses articulated by stakeholders. In addition, it points to understanding NPO identity alongside stakeholder identities, as stakeholders construct a number of different identities simultaneously.

Suggested Citation

  • Trine S. Johansen & Anne Ellerup Nielsen, 2016. "Constructing Non-profit Identity in the Midst of Stakeholder Complexity," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(4), pages 216-227, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:mimoxx:v:46:y:2016:i:4:p:216-227
    DOI: 10.1080/00208825.2016.1140518
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00208825.2016.1140518
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00208825.2016.1140518?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dennis J. Aigner & Luli Pesqueira, 2020. "The Effects of Organizational Traits on NGO–Business Engagement in Mexico," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-21, December.

    More about this item

    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:taf:mimoxx:v:46:y:2016:i:4:p:216-227. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/mimo .

    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.