Alfred Vernis

The changing role of governments and the emergence of the relational state

Purpose – The paper aims to answer the question of what the new role of government in advanced democracies for the twenty-first century should be and what institutional and organizational capabilities are required for that role to face the challenges of globalization and the crisis of the welfare state. Design/methodology/approach – The literature on public management reform and modernization initiatives in developed countries over the last two decades, along with the growing body of literature on public governance, provide the reference framework from which the contents of the relational state are formulated. Findings – The relational state seeks to achieve the greatest possible synergy between the resources, knowledge and capacities of the public sector and those of civil society and business organizations. It does so by its ability to articulate social interrelationships and the intangible aspects involved (by using competitive or cooperative arrangements to incorporate civil society and business organizations in particular policy fields, raising society’s awareness of its own responsibility, promoting social self-regulation, acting as intermediary between different social actors, providing strategic direction, etc.). Hence, the relational nature of its activities becomes the core attribute of the process of public value creation. Originality/value – The relational state locates the relations between the state, the market and civil society in the field of co-responsibility, which is a crucial but missing feature in the neo-liberal state and the welfare state models. The paper analyses emerging forms of the relational state and highlights the challenges that confront its adoption.

The dynamics of public networks

Purpose – This paper, by carrying out a review of the existent literature, tries to answer the question: what is the process an inter‐organizational public network undergoes?Design/methodology/approach – First, different linear‐sequential network process models proposed by different scholars and disciplines are reviewed. Thereafter, grounded on the existing literature, some basic dimensions are identified, used to compare the different models proposed, highlighting complementarities and contradictions.Findings – Different authors expect contradictory evolutions of the relations between actors along the stages. Complementing linear process models with other types of approaches, e.g. dialectical models, may well synthesize the opposing findings.Originality/value – The gap in knowledge on public network process makes the study of network process both theoretically relevant and significant to practice. The main contribution of the paper is a comparative study of the conceptualizations of the process a network...

May the Economic Downturn Affect Corporate Philanthropy? Exploring the Contribution Trends in Spanish and U.S. Companies

The study purpose is to gain insight into changing diverse management approaches to corporate philanthropy in a period that spans both from economic boom and recession. First, the authors present an overview of Spanish corporate philanthropy and compare it to U.S. corporate philanthropy. The authors find a significant gap between the U.S. and Spain’s corporate philanthropic spending as a percentage of profits and different trends between the two. A significant similarity is that the economic downturn is having a lower impact on spending than was predicted. The authors then focus on eight Spanish companies to explore how firms manage their philanthropy. The authors present a management model matrix that provides a framework for philanthropy management types and throws up divergent results for both society and companies. It seems that those companies that are managing philanthropy in a more sustainable way are not cutting their spending in this field despite falling profits.

Enterprising Local Market-Based Initiatives

This article starts by introducing the examples of three nonprofits currently engaging in social innovation globally. These examples illustrate the notion of social innovation, providing the grounds to compare three definitions. Next, several key features that characterize third sector innovation are explained. The article’s central focus lies on a study of 24 innovative social organizations that have launched market-based initiatives involving low-income sectors in Ibero-America. Finally, the article sketches some initial ideas on local social innovation, revisiting the definition of social innovation.

Accountability Elements in Nonprofits

“NGOs are influential. Nevertheless, in the future, their lack of accountability and legitimacy will curtail — or, at least, restraint — their influence capabilities.” Many of the people who collaborate with or work at nonprofit organizations will surely agree with this statement by University of Oxford Professor Alan M. Rugman (2001). Civil society organizations still need to prove to a significant share of western societies that they are not mere charitable institutions, service providers or anti-establishment activists.

Collaborations Among Nonprofits: An Immediate Challenge

The nonprofit sector, which is extremely diverse and plural, includes a large number of organizations of different sizes, cultures, origins and resources offering often similar services in very different areas, and features social awareness and relationships with administrations as key operating elements, should also focus on developing coordination links among its members.

The Human Team

The greatest asset of nonprofit organizations lies in their people. It is safe to say that, regardless of their access to economic resources, they find their key to success in a prepared and committed human team.

Collaborations Between Public Administrations and Nonprofits: Towards a Relational Society

Since the late 1980s, as a result of the problems in the welfare State, we have witnessed a significant shift in the social and political attitudes associated with the public sector in virtually all OECD countries (Prats, 2000). Along with the environment changes described in the introduction to the first section of this book, two other phenomena also stand out. First, the classic State funding model has experienced a severe crisis, which has translated into widespread budgetary emergency and has driven administrations to seek new paths for efficiency improvements. Second, governmental legitimacy has also become profoundly questioned. The State is still perceived as necessary, but it has ceased to be viewed as the foremost driver in economic and social transformations. In other words, governments no longer have all the answers to all the problems, on account of their nature and complexity. Actually, now there are multiple agents that should be taken into account for the search for and development of solutions to the challenges faced by current societies. This is what some analysts have defined as “welfare pluralism”.

Nonprofits’ Governance Bodies and Governability

One of the specific elements in nonprofit organizations that differentiates them from other private, for-profit and public organizations is the presence of volunteers in their governance bodies. Nonprofit boards’ governance bodies include volunteer individuals who devote a portion of their time to leading social organizations.

Collaborations Between Businesses and Nonprofits: Approaching Corporate Citizenship

As mentioned in the introduction, social organizations face a significant challenge that entails looking beyond the individual advantages to be reaped by collaborations in an attempt to promote sustainable development through contacts with business companies. Both sectors are increasingly aware of the mutual dependence tying them both. Just as companies need nonprofits to approach the civil society, the third sector should not neglect the opportunity to design sustainable development in collaboration with companies.