Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly
Volume 42, Issue 5, Oct 2013
1. Title: How Values Shape and Are Shaped by Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations: The Current State of the Field
Authors: Katherine K. Chen, Howard Lune, and Edward L. Queen II
Abstract: To advance understanding of the relationship between values and organizations, this review synthesizes classic and recent organizational and sociological research, including this symposium’s articles on voluntary associations. We argue that all organizations reflect, enact, and propagate values. Organizations draw on culture, which offers a tool kit of possible actions supported by institutional logics that delineate appropriate activities and goals. Through institutional work, organizations can secure acceptance for unfamiliar practices and their associated values, often under the logic of democracy. Values may be discerned in any organization’s goals, practices, and forms, including “value-free” bureaucracies and collectivist organizations with participatory practices. We offer suggestions for enhancing understanding of how collectivities advance particular values within their groups or society.
2. Title: The Fate of Whistleblowers in Nonprofit Organizations
Authors: Joyce Rothschild
Abstract: What has come to be called ‘whistleblowing’ has grown enormously in the US over recent decades and it is spreading rapidly around the world. The research on which this paper is based develops a sample of whistleblowers from all walks of life and all regions of the US. This article focuses specifically on the treatment of whistleblowers in the non-profit sector.In examining the political meaning of the act of whistleblowing, the author describes whistleblowing as an act of parrhesia. In ancient Greece this was a citizen request to speak freely and frankly. In the case of the whistleblowers, they are moved to speak publicly and candidly, even without permission to do so, in defense of the substantive purposes of the organization that employs them. This study finds that there is little difference in how whistleblowers are treated in the three sectors of our economy. In the majority of cases in this sample, the organizational managers against whom the whistleblowers level claims of wrongdoing, seek quickly to discredit, defame and terminate them. The author’s research does find that most employees in non-profit organizations view their employer as reasonably open to their inputs. Nevertheless, these positive perceptions of the employer are destroyed among those employees who witness what they define as wrongful or illegal conduct on the part of their employer, and particularly where the employee brings their observations of corruption to “higher-ups” in the organization and sees no corrective action take place. The retaliation that too often follows their disclosures of corrupt practices leaves them with a magnified sense of their own integrity, a new political identity, and an indelible sense of distrust toward senior managers and hierarchal organizations in general. The paper concludes with some suggestions as to how non-profit organizations could respond in a more constructive way to dissenting viewpoints.
3. Title: Storytelling: An Informal Mechanism of Accountability for Voluntary Organizations
Authors: Katherine K. Chen
Abstract: Using observations, interviews, and archival research of an organization that coordinates the annual Burning Man event, I argue that storytelling is a mechanism by which stakeholders can demand accountability to their needs for recognition and voice. I identify particular frames, or perspectives and guides to action, articulated in members’ stories. Deploying a personalistic frame, storytellers recounted individuals’ contributions toward a collective endeavor. Such storytelling commemorated efforts overlooked by official accounts and fostered bonds among members. Other storytellers identified problems and organizing possibilities for consideration under the civic society or anarchist frames. By familiarizing organizations with members’ perspectives and interests, stories facilitate organizational learning that can better serve stakeholders’ interests. Additional research could explore whether (1) consistent face-to-face relations (2) within a bounded setting, such as an organization, and (3) practices that encourage participation in organizing decisions and activities are necessary conditions under which storytelling can enable accountability to members’ interests.
4. Title: An Analysis of the Social Meanings of Conflict in Nonprofit Organizations
Authors: Elisabeth Naima Mikkelsen
Abstract: This ethnographic study illustrates how staff and management’s sensemaking in conflict in a clerical unit in a Scandinavian nonprofit organization is shaped by institutionalized meanings. Staff and management draw on three institutionalized frameworks when making sense of conflict: The defective personality framework, the diversity framework, and the status inequality framework. Similarly to the organization’s practice of framing “conflicts” as “frictions,” the diversity framework is guided by organizational ideology of egalitarianism and similar to the defective personality framework it emphasises nonconfrontation as a main strategy in processes of conflict management. Despite the organization’s strong commitment to egalitarianism, the clerical workers view status inequality as the origin of many conflicts and they thereby draw from the same institutionalized meanings of political economy of distributional conflicts that the organization was founded to change. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
5. Title: Revisiting Collaborations between Nonprofits and Businesses: An NPO-Centric View and Typology
Authors: Ruth S. Schiller and Michal Almog-Bar
Abstract: Collaborations between nonprofits and businesses (CBNB) are a developing field of action. Much of the research deals with the business’s perspective. Usage of third sector and nonprofit management methods is a relatively new field of research. This article presents a qualitative case study of a three year collaboration between a nonprofit organization (NPO) and a pharmaceutical company that focuses on the NPO’s unique perceptions and points of view about the partnership. The findings reveal that the most crucial element affecting the success or failure of a collaboration is the added value that the business partner brings to the relationship. Furthermore, power relations suggest that weak positioning might benefit the NPO. We introduce the Fields of Action Typology of collaborations between nonprofits and businesses that adds a content layer to current classifications of CBNB and is helpful for defining and examining the benefits NPOs can derive from CBNB.
6. Title: Collaboration of Nonprofit Organizations with Local Government for Immigrant Language Acquisition
Authors: Catherine E. Wilson
Abstract: This article maintains that local government and nonprofit organizations are key collaborative agents in the delivery of language access services in the City of Philadelphia. Based on research conducted from February 2009 through September 2010, this article utilizes personal interviews, document analyses, and other data to situate the shared responsibility forged between the public and nonprofit sectors in the realm of language access. Local government relies on a range of nonprofit networks for both public support and community outreach in immigrant neighborhoods. Nonprofits, on the other hand, rely on the welcoming political climate that protocols and municipal directives provide for immigrants at the local level. As Philadelphia touts itself as a reemerging destination for immigrants, this article highlights the prominent role that nonprofit organizations play in the work of immigrant accompaniment by ensuring equal access to city services, regardless of linguistic ability.
7. Title: Value as a Self-Sustaining Mechanism: Why Some Nonprofit Organizations Are Different From and Similar to Private and Public Organizations
Authors: Wenjue Lu Knutsen
Abstract: Empirical observations increasingly evidence that nonprofit organizations are becoming a less distinctive form of organization due to commercialization and the adoption of government practices. This fact challenges nonprofit theory development, which lags behind the development of practices in the field. This study examines one representative service nonprofit and asks how and why it is similar to and, simultaneously, different from private and public organizations. The purpose is to contribute to the debate on the assumption of nonprofit theory—should we study nonprofits as a distinct form of organization or perhaps as hybrids? The case study reveals that the case organization’s self-sustaining mechanism is based on value that generates many kinds of assistance at no cost. This mechanism, paired with a community base and a not-for-profit identity, formulates a distinct nonprofit model. However, due to the inadequacy of the value-based self-sustaining mechanism, the organization has to adopt business and government practices.
8. Title: The Use of Incentives in Nonprofit Organizations
Authors: Gerhard Speckbacher
Abstract: This article combines research on incentives with nonprofit organization theories to derive three “nonprofit characteristics” that influence the use and effectiveness of incentive mechanisms in nonprofit organizations: the lack of undistorted contractible measures for the organization’s overall performance, the relevance of identified employee motivation and the social relationships between the organization and its stakeholders. Building on research from social psychology, the article argues for a more deliberate use of implicit (i.e., not contractually defined) incentives rather than a shift toward the increased use of performance contracts. Because implicit incentives are often subtle (without the need of formal justification to others) and emergent rather than planned, managers are frequently not aware of these mechanisms, and their deliberate use creates a major challenge.
9. Title: Experience of Solidarity: Why Executive Directors Work for Market Driven Nonprofits
Authors: Urs P. Jäger, Hendrik Höver, Andreas Schröer, and Markus Strauch
Abstract: The more nonprofits become challenged by resource shortages, the higher the demand for highly skilled executive directors. Nevertheless, we do not yet fully understand what motivates executive directors to work in nonprofits challenged by market forces. This article explores the career context and individual biographies of executive directors. Introducing a career field and career capital approach to the study of careers in nonprofits, we analyze what influences the career of executive directors of German faith-based social service organizations. The results of 23 interviews and four focus groups with 60 participants are twofold. First, four types of career capital influenced the executive directors’ career: Experience of solidarity, orientation to social service, skills for executive function, and leadership by appointment. Second, all careers were highly influenced by the experience of solidarity. The article ends by explaining why experience of solidarity is important for training and selecting nonprofit executive directors.
10. Title: Nonprofit Virtual Accountability: An Index and Its Application
Authors: Georgette E. Dumont
Abstract: This article introduces the Nonprofit Virtual Accountability Index (NPVAI) as a tool for nonprofits to strategically plan their online accountability, as well as for researchers to empirically analyze nonprofit Web sites. The index is developed first from the theoretical literature on nonprofit accountability, on government virtual accountability, and on best practice in website design. An exploratory factor analysis is then carried out on the index adapted from these sources. The nonprofit virtual accountability components identified were accessibility, engagement, performance, governance, and mission. The index is applied to nonprofits in Illinois to test its validity. The findings confirm the validity of the index as a tool to measure nonprofit virtual accountability.
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11. Title: Book Review: Streetwise for Book Smarts: Grassroots Organizing and Education Reform in the Bronx, by C. Su
Authors: Roseanne Marie Mirabella
Abstract: The article reviews the book “Streetwise for Book Smarts: Grassroots Organizing and Education Reform in the Bronx,” by Celena Su.
12. Title: Book Review: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by C. Duhigg
Authors: Anita Casey-Reed
Abstract: The article reviews the book “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business,” by C. Duhigg.
13. Title: Book Review: Volunteer Tourism: Theoretical Frameworks and Practical Applications, by A. M. Benson
Authors: Joshua D. Bernstein
Abstract: The article reviews the book “Volunteer Tourism: Theoretical Frameworks and Practical Applications,” by A. M. Benson.
14. Title: Book Review: Rippling: How Social Entrepreneurs Spread Innovation throughout the World, by B. Schwartz
Authors: Malin Gawell
Abstract: The article reviews the book “Rippling: How Social Entrepreneurs Spread Innovation throughout the World,” by B. Schwartz.
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