Shifting the Prism: Case Explications of Institutional Analysis in Nonprofit Organizations

Abstract

Teachers of nonprofit organization studies, nonprofit practitioners, and consultants are increasingly dissatisfied with the standard management model approach to solving organizational problems in nonprofits. The standard model provides rational "fixes" to complex organizational issues that miss the contextual, dynamic, and varied environments in which nonprofits operate. This article proposes that an institutional analysis approach represents an important alternative to the standard model because it views nonprofit organizations as embedded in and subcomponents of larger communal and organizational systems. The article explores five elements that distinguish the institutional analysis approach from the standard model: (1) the organization should be considered to exist in social systems, (2) cultural influences that shape organizational behavior must be sought out and analyzed, (3) a variety of constituencies are likely to be important and powerful, (4) coercive influences often shape nonprofits, and (5) organizations operate simultaneously within horizontal and vertical interorganizational networks. Five case studies explicate each of these elements, providing new strategies for resolving the complex organizational issues facing nonprofit organizations.

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