Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Business Administration

Advisor

Janice Garfield

Abstract

AbstractA business leader’s ability to establish and sustain effective relationships with organizational stakeholders affects business competitiveness and sustainability. Some executives of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) lack strategies to build relationships with external stakeholders to achieve financial viability for their organizations. Grounded in stakeholder theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies NPO executives use to build relationships with their organization's external stakeholders to achieve their organization's financial viability objectives. The participants were three senior executives of an NPO in Mississippi, United States, who have successfully managed financial viability objectives using external stakeholder relationship strategies for 3 years or more. Data from academic and professional literature, semistructured interviews, company documentation, and the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results indicated some NPO executives build relationships with external stakeholders to achieve their organization’s financial viability objectives effectively using strategic stakeholder optimization—the alignment of the organization’s activities, processes, and practices to achieve stakeholder-driven organizational objectives. A key recommendation is that NPO leaders use stakeholder optimization strategies to achieve stakeholder and strategic alignment. The implications for positive social change include the potential for NPO leaders to increase NPO financial viability to serve societal needs not fulfilled by the public or private sector.

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