This study inquires into the organizational characteristics and the social role of nonprofit
long-term care institutions. Nonprofit long-term care institutions are allowed to compete with
profit ones in the long-term care markets. The two different types of organizations have
known as different service providers having distinct organizational characteristics. Most of
all, profit long-term care institutions intensify the market competition among service
providers, focusing on their efforts to increase profits rather than to provide services for the
elderly. In order to get profits, profit institutions are tempted to run their organizations
illegally.
This study emphasizes on the social role of nonprofit long-term care institutions to
address the various problems caused by competition among long-term care service providers.
Nonprofit long-term care institutions have distinguished organizational characteristics from
profit ones. They are the social organizations characterizing social goal, social ownership,
and social capital. Nonprofit long-term care institutions, as the social organization, are able
to offset the problems raised by market competitions. They can set the standard of the care
quality that leads the profit organizations, ensure the publicity of long-term care service as
the welfare service not the profitable business, and protect the rights of care workers.
Nonprofit long-term care organizations should become the role model that all long-term
care organizations follow.