Patsy Kraeger

Socioconomers: New Organizational Actors in Hybrid Corporations

Not every actor for social good in structured organizations is seeking to break systems or patterns to create social good. Much of the work of social good has been accepted and institutionalized in the study of social entrepreneurship and microfinance, corporations have incorporated social responsibility as a key component of valve for the firm. In fact, recent scholarship has considered corporate social responsibility, “firms of endearment”, firms which enjoy both social and financial profits (Sisodia et al., Wharton School Publishing, Upper Saddle River, 2003). These organizational forms have led to the conceptualization of private firms with a social benefit overlay. Hybrid organizations will meet the dual needs of profit maximization and social good. Perhaps then there is a need to distinguish these organizational actors from social entrepreneurs. In this article, I consider who are the socially minded business people working and co-creating financial and social returns in today’s economy. They may not be social entrepreneurs. They are not necessarily seeking large-scale social change; agents instead they seek to drive the economic engine while co-producing social good and revenue. We might call these organizational actors “socioconomers” rather than social entrepreneurs. The term “socioconomer” derives from social and economics. It is a hybrid term just like the actors own, operate and work in social enterprise firms. The paper first discusses who is a “socioconomer” and where he or she might work. Specifically, the paper posits that a socioconomer might own, operate or work in a U.S. hybrid corporation (such as a Benefit Corporation or a Low Profit Limited Liability (L3C) company in order to maximize profit as well as personal and societal purpose in the workplace.

An Integrated Framework for Intersectorality: Nonprofitness and Its Influence on Society and Public Administration Programs

Cross-sector interactions have long occurred in the public delivery of goods, services, and interests. While scholars have often addressed cross-sector interactions using the dimensions of publicness (state) and privateness (market), an intersectoral framework necessitates the understanding and incorporation of nonprofitness to account for the dimensions of nonprofits along the public-private continuum. This article proposes a framework for identifying the dimensions of nonprofits in an intersectoral world and draws on relevant examples to illustrate the presence and influence of nonprofitness. The article then focuses on the future of education in the field of public administration and, in light of the proposed framework, makes and considers recommendations to help educational programs better equip students to appreciate work across sectors.