Facing Newness and Smallness: A Multiple Case Study of Nonprofits Creating Schools

This paper utilizes the literature on liability of newness and smallness to examine new nonprofit school venture creation and explore what challenges new school ventures face. We ask the following research questions: What challenges and obstacles do new nonprofit school ventures face? How do new no...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ebba Henrekson, Fredrik Andersson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Midwest Public Affairs Conference 2023-04-01
Series:Journal of Public and Nonprofit Affairs
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.jpna.org/index.php/jpna/article/view/840
_version_ 1797817709866516480
author Ebba Henrekson
Fredrik Andersson
author_facet Ebba Henrekson
Fredrik Andersson
author_sort Ebba Henrekson
collection DOAJ
description This paper utilizes the literature on liability of newness and smallness to examine new nonprofit school venture creation and explore what challenges new school ventures face. We ask the following research questions: What challenges and obstacles do new nonprofit school ventures face? How do new nonprofit school ventures manage to maneuver, mitigate, or overcome these challenges and obstacles? To answer these questions, we conducted a comparative case study of three nonprofit organizations operating schools in Sweden. Our material consisted of semi-structured interviews and archival documents. The article illuminates two salient challenges for new school ventures: the need for legitimacy from a diverse set of stakeholders and the marshalling of sufficient resources. To cope with these challenges, the organizations combined an outward conformist strategy with an inward resource replacement strategy. Moreover, even though all ventures experienced obstacles, the character and magnitude of these obstacles differed depending on their mode of emergence.
first_indexed 2024-03-13T08:57:27Z
format Article
id doaj.art-782fce3f41dd46178df1aca29c2b2ae2
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2381-3717
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-13T08:57:27Z
publishDate 2023-04-01
publisher Midwest Public Affairs Conference
record_format Article
series Journal of Public and Nonprofit Affairs
spelling doaj.art-782fce3f41dd46178df1aca29c2b2ae22023-05-28T14:04:34ZengMidwest Public Affairs ConferenceJournal of Public and Nonprofit Affairs2381-37172023-04-0110.20899/jpna.9.2.1-17Facing Newness and Smallness: A Multiple Case Study of Nonprofits Creating SchoolsEbba Henrekson0Fredrik Andersson1Marie Cederschiöld University Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) This paper utilizes the literature on liability of newness and smallness to examine new nonprofit school venture creation and explore what challenges new school ventures face. We ask the following research questions: What challenges and obstacles do new nonprofit school ventures face? How do new nonprofit school ventures manage to maneuver, mitigate, or overcome these challenges and obstacles? To answer these questions, we conducted a comparative case study of three nonprofit organizations operating schools in Sweden. Our material consisted of semi-structured interviews and archival documents. The article illuminates two salient challenges for new school ventures: the need for legitimacy from a diverse set of stakeholders and the marshalling of sufficient resources. To cope with these challenges, the organizations combined an outward conformist strategy with an inward resource replacement strategy. Moreover, even though all ventures experienced obstacles, the character and magnitude of these obstacles differed depending on their mode of emergence. https://www.jpna.org/index.php/jpna/article/view/840Nonprofit SchoolsEducation EntrepreneurshipLiability of NewnessLiability of SmallnessSweden
spellingShingle Ebba Henrekson
Fredrik Andersson
Facing Newness and Smallness: A Multiple Case Study of Nonprofits Creating Schools
Journal of Public and Nonprofit Affairs
Nonprofit Schools
Education Entrepreneurship
Liability of Newness
Liability of Smallness
Sweden
title Facing Newness and Smallness: A Multiple Case Study of Nonprofits Creating Schools
title_full Facing Newness and Smallness: A Multiple Case Study of Nonprofits Creating Schools
title_fullStr Facing Newness and Smallness: A Multiple Case Study of Nonprofits Creating Schools
title_full_unstemmed Facing Newness and Smallness: A Multiple Case Study of Nonprofits Creating Schools
title_short Facing Newness and Smallness: A Multiple Case Study of Nonprofits Creating Schools
title_sort facing newness and smallness a multiple case study of nonprofits creating schools
topic Nonprofit Schools
Education Entrepreneurship
Liability of Newness
Liability of Smallness
Sweden
url https://www.jpna.org/index.php/jpna/article/view/840
work_keys_str_mv AT ebbahenrekson facingnewnessandsmallnessamultiplecasestudyofnonprofitscreatingschools
AT fredrikandersson facingnewnessandsmallnessamultiplecasestudyofnonprofitscreatingschools