A Phenomenological Study of V.A.-Affiliated Nonprofit Leaders: Experiences Navigating the Blurred Lines at the Boundary Between the Public and Private Sectors

U.S. Federal agencies pursue a variety of explicitly public missions, but through significant activity occurring at the boundary between—and including areas spanning both—the public and private sectors. This includes the network of more than 80 congressionally authorized, state-chartered, research and education nonprofit corporations (NPCs) that provide flexible funding in support to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In an effort to better inform both professional practice and future targeted research, a qualitative phenomenological study was conducted. A diverse sample of 18 NPC executive leaders were interviewed with a primary focus on their experiences and perceptions of the shared, multi-sector, organizational landscape, as well as the nature of the interpersonal and inter-organizational relationships they experienced working therein. Findings revealed a shared essence of their experiences that mapped to five primary themes, including: (1) consensus regarding the NPCs’ shared mission with VA; (2) blurred lines at the boundary between public and private sectors contribute to disparate views of NPC independence and autonomy; (3) recognition of the need for and value of reasonable oversight; (4) VA and NPC partnerships marked by imbalanced (VA-centric) organizational mixing; and (5) problematic governance and fiduciary environments on NPC Boards. In response, a four-part solution was proposed to promote more effective VA-NPC partnerships, both in structure and practice.Keywords: Public-private partnerships, quasi-governmental, nonprofit corporations, collaborative leadership, integrative leadership, autonomy, control, oversight, organizational mixing, institutional logics, board governance, fiduciary duties, qualitative, phenomenological

Grantor dc:publisher

Creighton University

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Abercrombie, Eric Neal

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Raynovich, William

• Board Governance
• Collaborative Leadership
• Integrative Leadership
• Organizational Mixing
• Public-Private Partnerships
• Quasi-governmental

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright is retained by the Author. A non-exclusive distribution right is granted to Creighton University and to ProQuest following the publishing model selected above.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://cdr.creighton.edu/handle/10504/153912

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:cdr.creighton.edu:10504/153912