The pyramid of nonprofit responsibilities: The institutionalization of organizational actorhood across sectors

• Main Authors: POPE, Shawn, BROMLEY, Patricia, LIM, Alwyn, MEYER, John W.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
• Subjects: Nonprofit accountability; Nonprofit social responsibility; Corporate social responsibility; Organizational actorhood; Nonprofit ethics; Mission statements; Political Science
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2764; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4021/viewcontent/ThePyramidofNonprofitResponsibilities__1___2_.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Observers have noted that organizations in allsectors, whether business, nonprofit, or government, havebeen moving toward rationalized structures that presupposeand express empowered organizational actorhood. Wedraw upon neo-institutional theory in this paper to extendthe argument: The arrival of organizational actorhood hasprecipitated a concomitant, cross-sectoral movementtoward organizational social responsibility. Whereasexisting research has tended to theorize the social responsibilities of businesses, we develop a pyramid conceptualschema to array the social responsibilities of nonprofits.We then document the coevolution of organizationalactorhood and responsibility across both sectors with ametastudy of nearly 200 extant surveys. We chart theinstitutionalization of a slate of formal structures thatexpress organizational actorhood (i.e., mission statements,vision statements, and strategic plans) and that profess anddefine organizational social responsibilities (i.e., core values, ethics codes, and responsibility communications). Weclose with implications and future directions for organizational studies and research on corporate socialresponsibility.