Entrepreneurial Philanthropy Partnerships: Aligning Leadership, Strategy, and Culture

Jos Rath

doi:10.5539/ijbm.v13n6p195

Abstract

There is increasing recognition that an entrepreneurial philanthropy partnership (EPP) has become a modus operandi for non-profit organisations and for-profit companies, aligning their interactions according to societal expectations. While these partnerships offer many advantages in principle, there is little consensus by academics and practitioners on what it presents for action, and its practice varies. The purpose of this article is to address the characteristics of EPPs that are associated with its establishment and with maintaining the continuous dialogue of tacit and explicit know-how. Therefore, a theoretical Entrepreneurial Philanthropy Alignment Model has been developed and is empirically tested in the context of existing EPPs in The Netherlands. The model may inform continuing theory building and practical experimentation to refine defining the amplitude of partnership practice, and to enhance the responsiveness to partners’ expectations of an EPP.

Highlights

In today’s increasingly complex world, both non-profits and companies compete for the attention of many stakeholders like investors, donors, customers, suppliers, civil servants, communities and employees
The goal of the research reported in this paper is to explore and understand a developed theoretical Entrepreneurial Philanthropy Alignment Model in its daily practice among Dutch senior executives of non-profit organisations and their entrepreneurial business partners
This study was designed to determine whether or not a theoretical Entrepreneurial Philanthropy Alignment Model’ (EPAM) has the ability to explore the dynamics of the non-profit and for-profit partnership process by testing a number of key indicators derived from the domains of leadership, strategy, and culture and its hypothetical effects on alignment in entrepreneurial philanthropy partnership (EPP)

Summary

Introduction

In today’s increasingly complex world, both non-profits and companies compete for the attention of many stakeholders like investors, donors, customers, suppliers, civil servants, communities and employees. Both make strategic decisions about the level and nature of (financial) resources they will devote to reach their goals. The formation of an EPP between them can be seen as a pursuit of opposite attracting forces to tackle pressing societal issues that exceed the coping capacities of the individual actors (Maclean et al, 2012) It has been argued there are specific conditions under which a robust partnership is likely to emerge (Mohr & Spekman, 1994). The goal of the research reported in this paper is to explore and understand a developed theoretical Entrepreneurial Philanthropy Alignment Model in its daily practice among Dutch senior executives of non-profit organisations and their entrepreneurial business partners

Objectives

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Conclusion