6 ASAC 2007 John Peloza Ottawa, Ontario School of Business Administration Simon Fraser University Loren Falkenberg Haskayne School of Business University of Calgary BEST PAPER – MEILLEURE COMMUNICATION A FRAMEWORK FOR FIRM-NGO COLLABORATION We propose a framework for structuring corporate-NGO collaborations that are directed at responding beyond economic and philanthropic responsibilities to addressing ethical responsibilities. The framework outlines four different types of relationships that for- profit organizations and not-for-profit organizations can develop to more effectively address different types of social and environmental issues. The Need for Change The increasing emphasis on corporate social responsibility is creating pressure for corporations and NGOs to develop mutually beneficial relationships. Firms are able to provide funds to support the work of NGOs in solving societal problems such as literacy, nutrition, health care, disease and build public infrastructure such as hospitals, roads, bridges and sanitation facilities (Walsh, 2005). As a consequence, the number and scope of NGOs has increased dramatically, as has their clout with the business community (Argenti, 2004; Edwards, 2006; Teegan, Doh & Cachani, 2006). There are now over two million NGOs in the United States, and 190,000 in the U.K. Further countries like Russia, where many such organizations were excluded under communism, are now home to tens of thousands of NGOs (Edwards, 2006). Although firm/NGO relationships should represent a “win-win” outcome for corporations, NGOs, and society, pessimism has also grown as CSR initiatives are often viewed as public relations efforts, even lowering social welfare (The Good Company, 2005). Growing stakeholder pessimism of CSR activities is partially related to two trends in corporate philanthropic activities. The first is that economic objectives, in the form of enhanced firm reputation, are often prioritized at the expense of social objectives. This is often associated with corporate donations to NGOs that have engaged in negative advocacy campaigns. The second is the relatively little attention given to measuring social impact because it is assumed that economic and social objectives are mutually exclusive (Porter & Kramer, 2002). Managers argue that NGOs are best equipped to determine social impacts, and that the role of the firm should be limited to passively supporting their missions. This has led to the current state of CSR, where the majority of relationships between firms and NGOs are characterized by philanthropic donations (Austin, 2000). Recently, researchers have argued that businesses can contribute more than financial resources, as they possess specific expertise in solving social issues and should be more intimately involved in the work of their NGO counterparts (Hess, Rogovsky & Dunfee, 2002). Rondinelli and London (2003), for example, cite relationships where data and business practices are shared (e.g., between firms such as Dupont and United Parcel Service and NGOs) as examples of intensive firm-NGO relationships that result in such far-reaching activities as product