Exploring Managerial Perceptions of Stakeholders : Case Study of a Project-Based Non-Profit Organisation

Abstract: For the past couple of decades, third sector organisations have registered a fast growth over the world with a focus on social, economic and political concerns whilst holding a presence in public matters. This study is mainly focused on non-profit organisations (NPOs). Organisations supporting social concerns on a not-for-profit (NFP) basis. Nowadays, NPOs are a social trend where people with different backgrounds and purposes aim to get involved in. Their participation is to either assist a community or a cause (as a contributor), or to obtain assistance when being part of a community (as a beneficiary). Nonetheless, the challenges as well as the opportunities faced by NPOs are widely acknowledged in both practice and theory, with a special focus on the different organisation’s participants involved, that is, stakeholders. In order to “do the right project” whilst “doing the project right” (Williams & Samser, 2010, p. 38), NPOs need the support and collaboration of stakeholders to obtain funds, operate, meet a community needs, and survive in the market. Aiming to find out how are relationships between stakeholders and NPOs managers stablished and maintained, the study analyses the managerial approaches undertaken by the organisation’s employees towards stakeholders. Further, in order to identify the characteristics of entrepreneurial project-based NPOs, the study explores the organisation requirements to properly develop within the mentioned sector. By hence, the NPO concept is analysed within the entrepreneurial context to understand and recognise the stakeholder management practices employed in such scenario. There is limited literature drawing on stakeholder management within NPOs. However, there is even less research done studying the link between NPOs and entrepreneurship. For the purpose of this study, which is to contribute to the general body of knowledge by analysing stakeholder management in an NPO within the entrepreneurship field, this study has selected a Swedish NPO as a main focus. With grounds on the existing literature discussing stakeholder classification and participation in the mentioned type of organisations, this study identifies the different groups of stakeholders and their different meanings to the organisation. At the same time, the lack of research in entrepreneurial project-based NPOs is highlighted, encouraging further research in related areas. This research is based on a single case study of an NPO operating in Sweden, given the particularity and uniqueness of the phenomenon studied. Qualitative data is collected through the implementation of unstructured and semi-structured interviews with top management team (TMT) members and managers in the NPO selected as study focus, a total of five people contacted out of twelve employees. Then data is analysed and the study findings are presented and linked to existing literature. Further, the suggestion of five propositions for further research are presented. Finally, the study conclusions are outlined, along with the managerial and theoretical implications, and the study limitations.