The job creation initiative: a resource dependence perspective

The Job Creation and Community Building Initiative is a partnership between Goodwill Industries of Lubbock, Covenant Health Systems of Lubbock, and other local social service agencies and organizations. The explicit goals of the program is to increase the self-sufficiency of program participants over the course of a three year period. Program outcomes indicate the failure of Job Creation to reach stated program goals. However, Job Creation has managed to maintain sufficient legitimacy to continue garnering support within the local community. This outcome is examined and explained by resource dependency and institutional theories of organizational functioning and development. Specifically, Job Creation staff operated within an environment where Goodwill Industries had already attained a significant level of legitimacy. This legitimacy allowed staff to further build their legitimacy within the community and escape close scrutiny of program operations and outcomes. Therefore, program staff were able to substitute this legitimacy for substantial program impacts over time.