PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show how, by looking within one group of nonprofits, perceptions of ethical climate may differ in the nonprofit sector, both within and between separate country contexts.Design/methodology/approachExecutive directors in two groups of social services nonprofits in the UK and Japan were surveyed, and several subsequently interviewed, in accordance with the Ethical Climate Scale developed by Agarwal and Molloy.FindingsThe paper finds that perceptions of the ethical climate types relating to “independence” and “law and codes” were polarized, with executive directors in the UK being more likely to base moral decisions on the evaluation of rights, values or principles than on public opinion. In Japan, however, such decisions were predominantly focused on how they would impact on others, both within and outside the organization, in the context of personal responsibility to society and the maintenance of social order.Practical implicationsSocial service nonprofits nowadays occupy a major role in the delivery of services which the state used to provide alone. It has therefore become essential for governments to be able to assess the internal culture of nonprofits in order to determine their trustworthiness and reliability, and the best yardstick for this is ethical climate. This research will help state and local government policy makers toward a better understanding of their contractors.Originality/valueThe originality of this study lies primarily in the fact that it was the first time that this type of research had compared similar nonprofit organizations in different countries.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to discuss the emergence of social enterprise in Japan by looking at the predominant types of social enterprise in the country, their industries and target groups, their challenges and strength. Design/methodology/approach -The paper adopts an analytical approach, building on previous work; it is grounded on the social construction theory, which has the advantage of apprehending social phenomena from different viewpoints. Findings -The study identifies three different conceptual approaches to explain the emergence of social enterprise in Japan. It then demonstrates that there exists a link between the approaches identified and the emerging social enterprise types in the country. Furthermore, it discusses the strategies used by those emerging social enterprise types in choosing their particular legal forms (in the absence of a specific legal form for social enterprise in Japan) and shows how this choice is normally determined by the constraints associated with those organisational forms. From this perspective, the paper outlines the major contemporary issues affecting social enterprises in Japan and focuses on two key challenges: the systems of regulation and the financial viability. In discussing the financial challenge it presents the dual attitude of the Japanese government towards the development of the social enterprise sector. Originality/value -This paper builds up the theoretical foundations for the understanding of the social enterprise sector in Japan and it will stimulate further researches on the future development of the sector.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe two recent investigations of social services nonprofits (SSNs) in Japan and UK shed light on the subject of autonomy in relation to accountability.Design/methodology/approachThis is effected through an exploration of questions such as: to what extent can we say that SSNs operate “autonomously” in Japan and UK? How do executives in these agencies perceive their own statutory organisation (SO)? To whom exactly are the SSNs accountable? What accountability mechanisms are in effect? How much time do these agencies spend on meeting the requirements of these accountability measures? Do SSN executives consider that accountability demands enhance or inhibit the ability of their organisation to fulfill its mission?FindingsA close relationship is found between the way in which executive directors view downward accountability demands (accountability to clients or society at large) and the way they perceive SOs. From the discussion of the findings, it became apparent that Japanese executives, who approached downward accountability from its external dimension (i.e. the community at large), appeared to experience a more positive relationship with SOs than their British counterparts, who approached downward accountability almost exclusively from its internal dimension (i.e. in terms of their organisation's users), resulting in their perception of statutory accountability demands as a positive or negative influence on their organisation's mission.Originality/valueThis research makes an important contribution to the understanding of collaborative relations between government and nonprofits, as well as providing meaningful insights in the search for an alternative governance system for the provision of social services under a post welfare‐state regime.

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Purpose -This is a study of ethical climates in nonprofit and government sectors in Japan, the aim of which is to determine the extent to which similarities (and differences) exist in ethical climate dimensions, what drives the differences and what are the implications for the sectors in this country. Design/methodology/approach -Using survey data and structural equation modeling techniques, the factors structure equivalence and measurement invariance of ethical climates in the two sectors were tested. The original sample was made by 1,012 participants (500 public officials and 512 nonprofit executive directors). Due to some missing values, a net sample of 441 questionnaires (for nonprofit) and 321 questionnaires (for government) were used for the final analysis. Findings -Results of this study indicate that there was a significant overlap in shared perception of all ethical climates in the two sectors. There should be an effort to continue building on these commonalities so as to provide an effective framework to build trusting relationships between the two sectors.Practical implications -This study provides important insights that would allow policy makers in government to better understand the implications of using nonprofit partners to deliver services. It would also provide a theoretical and empirical starting point from which government-nonprofits relationships in Japan can be better understood. Originality/value -This was the first time that such a type of research was conducted in Japanese nonprofit and government sectors. Furthermore, among all the empirical studies on ethical climate, this is based on one of the largest sample of respondents in both sectors.