Chapter 7: An Inter-Organizational Case Study Between a Public American University and Six US Corporations

Corporate involvement in higher education remains highly visible and controversial. While best practices can be found, many gray areas exist in the actions motivating both parties. This organizational analysis examines corporate citizenship through the inter-organizational relationships of a public US doctoral university and six US corporate partners as framed through Cone’s (2010) corporate citizenship spectrum between 2006 and 2010. The literature has shown that little research exists regarding the behavior aspects of these inter-organizational relationships. Triangulation of data is provided by 36 interviews, 12,609 pages of documents and audio-visual materials, and a campus observation of 407 photographs. The research indicates three themes as to why higher education desires involvement with companies: viable resources, student enrichment, and real-world connectivity. Further, there are four themes explaining what motives and ROI expectations companies have to be involved with higher education and include: workforce development, community enrichment, brand development, and research. Finally, three themes emerged regarding ethical considerations between these inter-organizational relationships with higher education and companies. First, generally no ethical dilemmas were found. Second, several general ethics discussion topics created five clusters of interest: public relations, solicitation, policies and stewardship, accountability and transparency, and leadership behavior. Third, five ethical concerns were shared.