NGO-Corporate Alliances: Testing the Symbiotic Sustainability Model.

In recent years, the number of alliances between non-profit, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and corporations has dramatically increased. The purpose of this research is to test three of the propositions of the Symbiotic Sustainability Model (SSM), a recent theory which describes several dimensions of NGO-corporate alliances. From a sample of 155 Fortune 500 corporations and 695 NGOs drawn from corporations' websites, this research examines a) the number of NGOs with which corporations are likely to report alliances, b) the relationship between corporate stakeholders and the selection of particular NGO alliance partners, and c) the patterns of alliances that exist between corporations in economic industries and NGOs in social issue industries. This research provides support for the SSM. In particular, this research demonstrates that most corporations only form a few alliances with NGOs and with one NGO in an issue industry. In addition, the results suggest that corporations with similar stakeholders are likely to form alliances with different NGOs in the same issue industries. Finally, this research reports preliminary findings about alliances between corporations in 11 economic industries and NGOs in 59 social issue industries. Implications for corporate social responsibility and the study of cross-sector communication relationships are drawn. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]