Linking Organizational Values to Relationships with External Constituents: A Study of Nonprofit Professional Theatres

Abstract

This study explores the organizational values that characterize firms in the nonprofit professional theatre industry, and examines the links between firms' organizational values and their relationships with external constituents. Using grounded research methods, we uncover five value dimensions that are relevant to arts organizations: prosocial, artistic, financial, market, and achievement. Using a sample of 97 nonprofit theatres, we extend our qualitative inquiry with an empirical investigation of how firms enact their organizational values to build and maintain relationships with external constituents. Results from a two-wave survey design indicate consistent patterns of association between organizational values and (1) perceptions of values congruence with external constituents, (2) human resource allocation and programming decisions that firms make to support relationships with external constituents, and (3) the level of financial resources that firms obtain from their relationships with different external constituents. Interestingly, results from both investigations hint at underlying tensions between competing values in cultural firms, such as pressures to be both artistic- and market-oriented.