Constructing Non-profit Identity in the Midst of Stakeholder Complexity

Trine S. Johansen and Anne Ellerup Nielsen

International Studies of Management & Organization, 2016, vol. 46, issue 4, 216-227

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.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1080/00208825.2016.1140518

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