The Need for Clear Boundaries
Collaboration , Collective Impact , Hybrid Organizations , Impact , Leadership , Nonprofit , Outcomes , Philanthropy , Revolution No Comments »Guest post by Phil Buchanan, president of The Center for Effective Philanthropy
This is the second in a series of six blog posts, which were originally featured on the CEP Blog.
It has become an article of faith that the “boundaries are blurring”
between nonprofits and companies, and that this is inarguably positive.
But what we need, today, is a clarifying – not a blurring – of what
differentiates the sectors.
The proponents of boundary-blurring
are often business school faculty, and they’ve been at it a while.
Harvard Business School (HBS) Professor James Austin predicted,
hopefully, more than a decade ago that, “We’ll see the stark
differences between NPOs and business diminish, revealing a new world of
integrated, rather than independent, sectors.” (Note: I feel compelled
to say that I took a course with Professor Austin while a second-year
student at HBS and he was among the best professors I had during my time
there, but I disagree with him on this issue.)
