ESSEC Working Paper 1319

The institutionalization of corporate philanthropy in France In this research project we aim to understand the role of institutional entrepreneurship across multiple levels – field, organization, and micro levels – in the institutionalization of a new professional role within organizations. Specifically, we study the rise of the “corporate philanthropy manager, ” a position inspired by nonprofit values and goals which developed within large French corporations during the period 1979 to 2011. The process of creating, maintaining and legitimizing this new role – philanthropy as a new business function – is the central focus of our study, and we explore how elements of the nonprofit and for-profit worlds came together in this new role, as well as the role of various actors across multiple levels in influencing this combination