On the basis of a detailed, in-depth study of the operations and strategic decisionmaking
of Centraide, a charitable organization in Greater Montreal, this paper
suggests that dependency on the environment can be a stimulus to organizational
adaptation. Two major changes over a 10-year period are studied to show that
strategicmanagement in high dependency situations requires a continual attention
to the organization’s relationships and interactions with the forces in its environment,
and a continuous management of the process by which change takes place.
The basic position advanced is that: strategy in philanthropic organizations is
more effective in ensuring survival and growth when the search for autonomy
is seen as irrelevant and when dependence is seen as an unavoidable fact that
should shape behavior. A set of propositions helps conceptualize the findings and
is offered as a guide for further research.