Not-for-profit Organizations Research Articles

Entrepreneurship in a Non-Profit Healthcare Organization

Columbus regional health (CRH), a not-for profit organization located in Columbus, Indiana, evolved from a traditional local hospital to an award-winning regional community health-care provider by embracing the concept of innovation and its systematic implementation. The “A” case includes a detailed account of the innovation journey undertaken by CRH and the impact of the devastating flood in 2008. On the other hand, this second (“B”) case deals with WellConnect, an innovative health-care venture that CRH considered for investment in 2013. This new health-care concept was aimed at providing differentiated health-care services in downtown Columbus, away from CRH's main satellite campus. Students, thus, have the opportunity to step into CRH's President and CEO, Jim Bickel's shoes to decide the feasibility of investing $1.5 million in WellConnect based on a thorough assessment and synthesis of multiyear data provided in the case, including community demographic, income and poverty data, competitor information, and CRH's select financial statistics. This case tested in several undergraduate and graduate courses was received well. A unique aspect of this case is that it can be used in online as well as traditional face-to-face classes.

Analysis Grid of Adjustment Strategies of Non-profit Organizations Benefiting From Microcredit to the Constraints of Microfinance Institutions: The Case of Burundi

Based on the work of Henderson and Venkatraman (1993) on strategic alignment, the objective of this article is to explain that the strategic alignment of microcredit beneficiary not for profit Organizations (NPOs) is achieved through their adjustment to the constraints of their lessors. We thus discuss the adaptation of Burundian NPOs benefiting from microcredit by taking into account a specific attribute of a difficult economic environment: the threat of their survival. The physiological needs of their members are at the origin of their reactions of adaptation to the constraints of the lessor. This adaptation enables them to acquire and maintain the resources necessary for their survival. This article explains this adaptation by highlighting the strategic actions of the members of the NPOs who are beneficiaries of microcredit.

Strategic analysis of CSF’s for not-for-profit organizations

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to analyze how strategic planning is used as critical success factors (CSF’s) in not-for-profit (NFP) organizations. This was because many nonprofits had to innovate their operations owing to the global fiscal crises, the continuing international economic instability, natural disasters or the increasing man-made worldwide terrorism. Additionally, the objective is to identify what successful nonprofit organizations actually do to remain effective at the national association level of analysis.Design/methodology/approachA constructivist research design ideology is applied (in contrast to the customary positivist philosophy to collect quantitative). The literature is critically reviewed to identify NFP CSF’s and terms such as capacity building. NFP institutions are theoretically sampled using US-based retrospective data to identify practitioner CSF activities. Applying a constructivist research design ideology, the theoretical CSF’s from the literature review are compared to practitioner activities. Representatives of NFP organizations are invited to participate in a strategic planning exercise to identify the most important CSF’s from the literature and practice that would be needed in the future.FindingsSeven of the nine United Nations NFP capacity building CSF’s are similar to NFP nine practitioner best practices. In comparison to the general literature, NFP practitioners applied leadership, strategic planning, innovation, documented procedures/training, human/technology resource management, financial management, accountability practices, ethical standards with professional communications policies, collaborative fundraising and marketing initiatives along with performance success evaluations.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample was drawn theoretically from 44 nonprofit state-centered institutions in the USA. Although statistically the results pertain strictly to US-based nonprofits, the principles should generalize to other countries as revealed by the similarity with United Nations innovation and strategic planning recommendations.Originality/valueThe authors applied a strategic planning exercise with the 44 participants at their recommendations to prioritize the CSF’s. The result was an innovative SWOT-TOWS diagram that summarized how the nine CSF’s were prioritized and grouped into the three categories of market performance, ethical responsibility and human resources.

Accountability and not‐for‐profit organisations: Implications for developing international financial reporting standards

AbstractThis paper provides empirical evidence which informs contemporary debates on developing international financial reporting standards for not‐for‐profit organisations (NPOs). Drawing on a global survey with respondents showing experience of NPO reporting in 179 countries, we explore: practice and beliefs about NPO financial reporting internationally; perceptions of accountability between NPOs and stakeholders; and implications for developing international financial reporting standards. Interpreting our research in the context of accountability, we find considerable support for developing international financial reporting standards for NPOs, recognising broad stewardship accountability to all stakeholders as important, but prioritising accountability upwards to external funders and regulators.

How performance measurement influences stakeholders in not-for-profit organizations

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the influences of performance measurement (PM) on not-for-profit (NFP) organizations’ stakeholders by studying how PM practices interact with understandings of legitimate performance goals. This study invokes institutional logics theory to explain interactions between PM and stakeholders.Design/methodology/approachAn in-depth case study is conducted in a large NFP organization in the UK. Managers, employees, and external partners are interviewed and observed, and performance-related documents analyzed.FindingsBoth stakeholders and PM practices are found to have dominant institutional logics that portray certain goals as legitimate. PM practices can reinforce, reconcile, or inhibit stakeholders’ understandings and propensity to act toward goals, depending on the extent to which practices share the dominant logic of the stakeholders they interact with.Research limitations/implicationsA theoretical framework is proposed for how PM practices first interact with stakeholders at a cognitive level and second influence action. This research is based on a single case study, which limits generalizability of findings; however, results may be transferable to other environments where PM is aimed at balancing competing stakeholder objectives and organizational priorities.Practical implicationsPM affects the experience of stakeholders by interacting with their understanding of legitimate performance goals. PM systems should be designed and implemented on the basis of both their formal ability to represent organizational aims and objectives, and their influence on stakeholders.Originality/valueFindings advance PM theory by offering an explanation for how PM influences attention and actions at an individual micro level.

Blue Ocean Versus Competitive Strategy: A Systematic Approach for an Afghan NGO

For many organisations in a war-torn and poor developing countries, finding and implementing a suitable strategy in conducting operational activities in an effective manner is a steep hill to climb. This is especially overwhelming when an organisation has limited financial resources, limitations in attracting knowledge workers as well as operating in an unstable economic and political environment. The previous is the case concerning an Afghan not-for-profit organisation (NGO), set-up several years ago with donor funding from the European Union, and operating in conjunction with two foreign universities. Moreover, developing a competitive edge structure, and adding customer value is also crucial in a developing country with unstable amenities and complex cultural and socioeconomic characteristics, where available money is low. In the context of this paper, it has been identified that there are various organisational shortcomings in developing an understandable structure in identifying external variables that should enhance sustainability, and add additional value to customers. The literature inspired for this paper was mainly found in blue ocean strategy, competitive strategy, and ethics, and further highlighted by reviewing cultural characteristics relevant to the NGO’s current situation. However, the main objective of this paper was the construction of a generic framework identifying internal and external variables to enhance a better understanding of the NGO’s market players and other perceived commonalities as a platform for sustainability. The outlines and comments in this paper are based on the author’s practical experiences and through observations as a business mentor and business advisor in various organisational settings in Afghanistan. Therefore, the constructed framework should not only benefit the NGO, but also act as a catalyst for its member businesses, and should not be seen as a means to an end. Nevertheless, more empirical studies are needed in better understanding tribal behavioural elements that exist within an organisational setting, and how they conduct their business transactions with external actors. This paper contributes to the management decision literature by instigating a generic framework that can be used by other commercial or non-commercial entities as a foundation for further organisational development.

The Impact of Public Policy on Support Services for Indigenous Families with Children with Special Education Needs

In Australia and Europe, government agencies and not-for-profit organisations (NFPOs) have had long involvement in the funding and provision of community disability services. Significant change has occurred in Australia over the past two decades in the way government funds are expended, with marketplace mechanisms increasingly being used. As a consequence of economic and governance imperatives, funding of services via NFPOs has changed significantly with a move away from the provision of grants to the contracting of these organisations for the provision of services. In 2013, a new national policy, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), was introduced that has impacts for the provision of disability services for children and their families. In particular, Indigenous families are likely to experience barriers in accessing services. This paper reviews the impact of international changes in policy and associated funding models and considers the impacts and research implications of Australia's initial experience of implementation of the NDIS.

Delivering Long‐term Surgical Care in Underserved Communities: The Enabling Role of International NPOs as Partners

The efforts of not‐for‐profit organizations (NPOs) toward enabling health care delivery in underserved communities across the globe are well‐acknowledged. To date, little is known about the workings and sustenance of NPO‐enabled long‐term health care delivery in underserved communities, and even less about NPO‐enabled surgical care delivery. Further, health care delivery in underserved communities is a context that is often characterized by primitive and poor record keeping, data scarcity and poor data quality. Therefore, conducting research on health care delivery in such contexts is particularly challenging. The central question motivating this study is: How can international NPOs enable the long‐term delivery of surgical care in underserved communities? To overcome the data challenges, we use multi‐method triangulation as the research design to conduct this study. Specifically, we adopt a grounded theory approach with small sample statistical analysis for empirical validation. We triangulate insights from qualitative and quantitative data analyses to develop and validate an integrative framework for an international NPO‐enabled long‐term surgical care delivery in underserved communities. The setting for this study is Children's HeartLink, an international medical non‐profit organization based in the United States, which partners with health care delivery organizations in developing countries to enable the diagnosis and treatment of children with congenital heart disease (CHD). The focus of this study is the Children HeartLink's partnership with the First Hospital of Lanzhou University (FHLU) located in the underserved and impoverished Gansu province of China. In Gansu province, the CHD incidence rate is six times China's average. The time‐period of this study is 11 years, 1998–2008. The key contribution of this study is the integrative framework for an international NPO‐enabled long‐term surgical care delivery in underserved communities. The framework demonstrates how an international NPO's efforts related to affordability, provider awareness, and physical access are interdependent, and how the efforts interact and impact the surgical care delivery outcome. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the framework provides new and nuanced insights such as the following: (i) an international NPO's efforts related to affordability (e.g., funding) or provider awareness (e.g., knowledge transfer) alone has limited direct impact on long‐term surgical care outcome; (ii) instead of having a direct impact on the volume of surgeries, an international NPO's effort related to affordability moderates (positively interacts with) the positive association between its efforts related to provider awareness and physical access to surgical care delivery infrastructure, thus impacting the volume of surgeries; and (iii) an international NPO's efforts related to provider awareness and physical access are complementary for long‐term surgical care delivery – i.e., the effort related to provider awareness moderates by way of strengthening the positive association between the effort related to physical access and the volume of surgeries. Limitations of the study – e.g., small sample size for empirical validation of the grounded theory research findings and issues of generalizability – are acknowledged, and the directions of future research to address the limitations are discussed.

비영리법인의 회계정보의 유용성 향상을 위한 요구사항분석

비영리법인의 회계정보의 유용성 향상을 위한 요구사항분석

NFPOs and their anti-corruption disclosure practices

Major Australian overseas aid not-for-profit organizations (NFPOs) were found lacking in their disclosures of anti-corruption measures. The authors conclude that this is due to a break down in regulatory oversight as a result of a lack of mandatory reporting standards. The key lesson from this paper is that there is a need for significant improvement in anti-corruption regulations, and the associated disclosure practices within the NFPO sector.

The Effects of Volunteerism on Self-Deception and Locus of Control

This study examines whether volunteering for not-for-profit Organizations (NPOs) which are involved in providing social welfare services and which actively promote sociobehavioral factors like social responsibility, leadership, and self-confidence among its volunteers, reduces an individual’s likelihood of engaging in corrupt practices. We identify two psychological traits: propensity to rationalize (as evidenced by self-deception) and an external locus of control (as compared to an internal LOC) that facilitate unethical behavior. With the help of volunteers from two NPOs, we investigate whether engaging in social welfare activities organized by such NPOs would create awareness about the adverse consequences of corruption faced by large segments of the society, which in turn would make it difficult to rationalize unethical and corrupt acts. Additionally, most NPOs actively strive to develop self-confidence and leadership skills among its volunteers. Prior literature indicates that individuals possessing such qualities are more likely to have an internal LOC and also that individuals possessing an internal LOC are less likely to act in a corrupt manner. The overall results indicate that greater experience with such NPOs leads to a significant reduction in propensity to rationalize and leads to a higher likelihood of having an internal LOC.

Corporate social responsibility as relief from responsibility

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to get a deeper understanding how not-for-profit organizations (NPOs) discursively legitimize their corporate engagement through cross-sector partnerships (CSPs) in general, and particularly how they construct legitimacy for partnering with firms involved in the commodification of water. The paper seeks to shed light on the values embedded in these discursive accounts and the kind of societal effects and power relations they generate, and the authors are particularly interested in understanding the role of modernity in shaping their responsibilities (or lack of them) via various technologies and practicesDesign/methodology/approachDrawing on critical discourse analysis (Fairclough 1995), the authors analyze the discursive accounts of three water-related CSPs involving the three biggest bottled water producers in the world (Nestlé, Coca-Cola and Danone) and three major non-profits (The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the World Wildlife Foundation and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).FindingsThe NPO’s legitimate their corporate engagement in the water CSPs through the use of two global discourses: global governance discourse and the global climate crisis discourse. Relief from responsibility is achieved through three processes: replacement of moral with technical responsibility, denial of proximity and the usage of intermediaries to whom responsibility is outsourced.Originality/valueThis paper explores the processes of legitimizing accounts for CSPs, particularly focusing on NPO discourse and their use of CSR elements and the consequences of such discursive constructs, and this has received little to no attention in previous research.

CEO values, stakeholder culture, and stakeholder-based performance

This study examines how CEO values affect organizational performance. We examine organizational performance in terms of stakeholder-based performance (SBP) comprising four components of quality of goods and services, organizational justice, stakeholder affiliation and opportunity cost; and focus on one key CEO value orientation, specifically whether CEOs are “self-interested” or “other-regarding” in interactions with organizational stakeholders. We also hypothesize that the effect of CEO values on SBP is not direct, but indirect through the mediating factor of stakeholder culture. Data from 621 CEOs of not-for-profit (NFP) organizations in Australia are collected through a mail-based survey questionnaire, and analysed using structural equation modeling. The results support our hypotheses and have implications for organizational managers in creating and distributing stakeholder value in NFP organizations and potentially beyond the NFP context, as well as for future research concerned with how ethical characteristics of top managers affect organizational success.

Financial reporting by charities: a matched case study analysis from four countries

This paper analyses financial reporting requirements applicable to charities in four jurisdictions—Australia; England; Ireland; New Zealand—using case study analysis which compares the actual financial statements of four charities operating in the same field and with similar levels of total income. The authors highlight common issues and implications in terms of the concepts underpinning not-for-profit organization (NPO) financial reporting and argue the case for harmonized international NPO accounting standards.

An Attitude Model of Environmental Action: Evidence from Developing and Developed Countries

This paper analyzes the determinants of individual attitudes towards environmental action by means of an original PLSPM model of Environmental Awareness-Social Capital-Action (EASCA). Estimates build on survey data on 34.612 individuals from 42 different countries, as provided in the fifth wave of the World Value Survey (2005-2009). Besides the benchmark global estimates, we perform subsample analysis for developed and developing countries, as well as country analyses for four major economies: China, India, Germany and the United States. Doing so allows us to underline structural differences between countries or main groups of countries. In particular, we find that environmental awareness and trust in not-for profit organizations are the main determinants of individual action in support of environmentally friendly policies. The quality of environmental policymaking should improve if these cultural differences are better understood and taken into account.

Social Transformation of Indian Tribal Community: Unlocking the Potential by Healthcare

The case documents the evolution of an eye care hospital promoted by a not-for profit organization located in Mandvi, Surat, close to the tribal community of Gujarat state, India. In a short span of five years (as of 2016), the trust has evolved as a community hospital. The value proposition of the trust is a portfolio of activities, which includes awareness by education, prevention of eye care diseases through eye screening camps, treatment, and rehabilitation on need basis and addressing direct and indirect healthcare needs of the community. The managerial challenge before the board of trustees is to carefully balance (a) The purpose for which the trust was created, (b) the gap between the ground realities and the need in the relevant tribal community (c) the accomplishments of the eye hospital so far.

Conservation Credits—Evolution of a Market-Oriented Approach to Recovery of Species of Concern on Private Land

When species are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, there are often real or perceived negative consequences for landowners that may produce perverse incentives and lead to the elimination rather than protection of habitat for the species on private land. In Texas, where approximately 95% of the land is privately owned, the listing of one species and the potential listing of another led to the creation of two innovative programs aimed at incentivizing landowners to protect and improve habitat for the two species: Recovery Credit System for the Golden-Cheeked Warbler and Conservation Recovery Award System for the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard. Both programs were based on multistakeholder collaborations that included federal and state agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and private landowners, and which resulted in quasimarket mechanisms for the voluntary protection of habitat by landowners for the species of concern. Key components of both programs included confidentiality of landowner conservation agreements with the state’s wildlife management agency and the creation of not-for profit organizations to implement contracts with landowners and disseminate payments for habitat conservation actions to landowners. These two programs have also informed efforts to protect the Lesser Prairie-Chicken and Greater Sage-Grouse, which are under threat on private land in multiple states. Seven lessons learned from protection programs for the four species presented in this article provide useful guidelines for the conservation of other at-risk species on private land elsewhere.

PATH: pioneering innovation for global health at the public–private interface

Seattle-based PATH is one of the world’s largest not-for profit organisations focused on improving health in low-income countries. This article argues the history of this understudied organisation is critical to understanding how collective action focused on facilitating developing countries’ access to essential health technologies is structured. Since its establishment almost 40 years ago, the organisation has been a catalyst for multidisciplinary public–private collaboration that has produced affordable, culturally appropriate health technologies. From its origins in reproductive health, enabling contraceptive technology transfers and advising on regulatory standards, to its more recent managerial roles in the development of inexpensive vaccines produced in developing countries, PATH has repeatedly illustrated how public–private collaboration in product research and development can increase poor populations’ access to essential health technologies. This in turn has provided substance to the contested narrative that engaging business is critical to reducing global health disparities.

Management's Commitment, Education and Ethics on Organisational Entrepreneurship: The Case of South African Non-Profit Organisations

The objectives of the study were to explore the management characteristics that are related to organisational entrepreneurship in not-for-profit organisations (NPOs) in Gauteng, South Africa as well as the relationship between organisational entrepreneurship and the organisational performance. The methodology involved a quantitative approach of collecting and analysing research data. A field study was conducted in Johannesburg, South Africa whereby research data were collected from 257 NPO managers from voluntary organizations. Using the SPSS 22 and the AMOS 22 software program, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was performed to analyze the research data. The study noted implications for NPO management teams, including the renovation of business model structures to incorporate continuous learning and constructive risk-taking in order to take advantage of the performance benefits derived from organisational entrepreneurship. The study also recommends further research into potential citizenship bodies for NPO management teams to foster commitment to their occupation in the non-profit sector. The research makes a significant contribution by providing a framework in which management's commitment to NPOs can be measured and analysed.

Cooperative Dynamics During the Financial Crisis: Evidence From Basque and Breton Case Studies

In the recent financial crisis period, when traditional economic organizations were not able to meet stakeholders’ expectations, not-for profit organizations such as cooperatives became an optimal solution as they are expected to serve social and economic performance simultaneously. This theoretical assumption is questioned based on the downturn pressures that may weaken cooperatives’ social performance in favor of economic performance. This degeneration process is countered by some traditional cooperatives that have developed regeneration dynamics. The aim of our study is to explore how small and medium cooperatives face degeneration and develop regeneration dynamics in periods of crisis. To fulfill the objective of the article, four small and medium Basque and Breton cooperatives are studied in depth.