Determinants of the recovery of financially distressed nonprofits

Financial ratios are traditionally used to predict and diagnose financial vulnerability; this is helpful, but leaves unanswered how the vulnerable nonprofit should prioritize this information in order to survive. Using panel data, this empirical study observes the financial behaviors of distressed nonprofits for 4‐year periods where the first 2 years are financially vulnerable. Two definitions of vulnerability are tested: when liabilities exceed assets (insolvency) and when net assets shrink by more than 25% annually (financial disruption). In determining which nonprofits recover during the final 2 years, we find that the type of vulnerability impacts which financial indicators a nonprofit should target, and that common tactics such as improving profitability may be counterproductive. Finally, we do not find evidence for liabilities of newness or smallness in the statistical analysis.     

Financial decision-making abilities and financial exploitation in older African Americans: Preliminary validity evidence for the Lichtenberg Financial Decision Rating Scale (LFDRS)

ABSTRACT

This study examines preliminary evidence for the Lichtenberg Financial Decision Rating Scale (LFDRS), a new person-centered approach to assessing capacity to make financial decisions, and its relationship to self-reported cases of financial exploitation in 69 older African Americans. More than one third of individuals reporting financial exploitation also had questionable decisional abilities. Overall, decisional ability score and current decision total were significantly associated with cognitive screening test and financial ability scores, demonstrating good criterion validity. Study findings suggest that impaired decisional abilities may render older adults more vulnerable to financial exploitation, and that the LFDRS is a valid tool.     

Investing: the case for recognition as an independent capacity

In this article, we provide support for the need to recognize investing as an independent capacity. A comparison of the definitions and models of financial and investing capacities revealed significant differences between them. A review of the status of investing capacity assessment revealed that there are currently no investing capacity specific assessment instruments (ICSAIs). Implications for researchers and clinicians resulting from the lack of recognition of investing as an independent capacity are discussed and used as a rational for the need to develop ICSAIs. The benefits of ICSAI development for financial, legal, and clinical professionals as well as for investors are discussed, and a direction for future investing capacity research is proposed.     

Financial management: Development of scales

This study is a contribution to the development of family resource management scales, specifically financial management scales. Principal axis factor analysis, with varimax rotation, is used to assess underlying relationships in 23 family resource management variables related to time and money resources. Reliability and content, construct, and criterion-related validity of the scales are assessed. Two scales that are reliable and have some degree of validity are developed: frequency of financial problems and frequency of financial management. The scales could be used in future research, teaching, or counseling to organize financial management concepts.Preparation of this research was supported in part by the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station. Data were collected in conjunction with the cooperative regional research project NC-182, Family Resource Utilization as a Factor in Determining Economic Well-Being of Rural Families. Cooperating states are Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, and Minnesota.She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois; her current research interests include gender roles, family financial management, and economic well-being.Her current research interests include family financial management and consumer bankruptcy. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Missouri.Her current research interests include the economic well-being of various family forms. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Her research interests are economic well-being and quality of life.     

Ethnic Differences in Financial Outcomes Among Low-Income Older Asian Immigrants: A Financial Capability Perspective

ABSTRACT

This exploratory study examined ethnic differences in financial outcomes among low-income older Asian immigrants from a financial capability perspective. We used survey data collected from a convenience sample of Chinese, Korean, and “Other Asian” ethnic participants in a subsidized employment program (n = 159). We ran logit regressions of dichotomous financial outcomes. Regression analysis showed significant ethnic differences in some financial outcomes after controlling for financial capability and other factors. Findings did not support our hypothesis that financial capability explains ethnic differences in financial outcomes. Findings suggest the need to develop culturally suitable financial capability measures for future research.     

The State of Nonprofit Finance Research across Disciplines

The single largest determinant of nonprofit organization success is financial sustainability. Yet the study of nonprofit finance spans multiple disciplines, creating barriers for new researchers to the field. To address this challenge, this study addresses three primary questions across disciplines: How much nonprofit finance research has been conducted, what is the content of this research, and what is the impact of this research? This systematic literature search revealed 619 nonprofit finance research articles in twenty‐seven journals published in the disciplines of nonprofit management, public administration, accounting, and economics and finance between 1970 and 2014. The vast majority (415 of the 619 identified articles) were published in nonprofit management journals (either Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly or Nonprofit Management & Leadership ). Across disciplines, there is an emphasis on determinants of giving, but we note some variation; for example, there is more emphasis on government funding in journals outside of nonprofit management. The impact of this research is significant, with more than 32,630 citations, or an average of 52.71 times per article. The resulting bibliography may be helpful to researchers seeking to discern the status of extant nonprofit finance research across multiple disciplines.     

Varieties in developing sustainability: the case of the Israeli kibbutz

Kibbutz communities and organizations were originally structured to be egalitarian and democratic. The last two decades proved to be a major challenge for their sustainability due to a serious economic crisis. Many scholars have lamented the end of the kibbutz, some of them claiming that there is no place for utopias in the twenty-first century. Kibbutz communities were trying to survive within a turbulent economic and social environment. This article will attempt to analyse varieties in developing sustainability that were adopted by kibbutz communities. Focusing on the impact of the economic crisis, we will investigate processes of value change within the kibbutz, taking into consideration that the kibbutz does not exist in a vacuum but is rather embedded within a society that has undergone transformation processes from a socialistic to a capitalistic orientation. The article will look at different solutions that kibbutz communities have adopted and strategies that kibbutz members used in order to cope with this crisis. We will explain how these solutions and strategies are reflected in members' values and attitudes as well as taking into consideration in which areas value change was fast and in which it was slower. Our analysis will lead to a reflection on the different communitarian and non-communitarian models that might evolve in the kibbutz communities and their possible outcome. The discussion will focus on three dimensions of sustainability methods adopted by kibbutz communities that integrate value change, organizational change, and community processes.     

As You Sow,So Shall You Reap?

Foundations’ capacity‐building grant programs strive to bolster performance and outcomes for their nonprofit grantees. Yet with few outcome evaluations of such programs, we have limited understanding of whether these capacity‐building efforts achieve their intended result. This study evaluates fifteen years of data for one foundation's capacity‐building grant program to understand whether targeted capacity building for financial management and development contributes to nonprofit financial growth. The authors examine the management–performance link in this context and inform sector leaders who dedicate resources to capacity‐building programs about the outcomes of these efforts.     

Corporate sustainability as a hegemonic discourse of globalization: The discourse-historical approach as a critical issues and stakeholder analysis tool

Corporate social responsibility, and its other conceptual variants such as corporate sustainability, encourages businesses to act on a range of issues outside what the law and shareholders require. But what are the limits of the concept and its discursive practices in a globalizing world marked by accentuated asymmetrical power relations between businesses, and the communities they operate in and serve (especially corporations working in less powerful global peripheries), and the regulators who are expected to police them? This study uses the discourse-historical approach (DHA) and corporate sustainability framework (CSF) to analyze a British independent oil production firm’s—Tullow—communication. It illustrates the utility of the DHA and the CSF for doing critical stakeholder and issues analysis from corporate communication texts. Second, it argues that corporate sustainability illustrates the power asymmetry between the global and local, corporations and community. Specifically, we observe how a petroleum firm uses sustainability discourse, as a form of hegemonic globalization, to perpetuate dominant tropes and conceptions about African local communities as homogeneous and lacking agency, commodifying the lived experiences of the locals in the process while entrenching the superiority of the firm’s own position as a ‘benevolent dictator.’ We also illustrate how particular mitigation and intensification discourse techniques are employed to uphold Tullow as a ‘do-good’ actor. The corporation’s discursive strategies have a cumulative effect of cementing the power asymmetry that already exists between the firm as an agent of a dominant center of global power and Ghanaian communities as less powerful interests in the globalization process. Suggestions for disrupting the hegemony are provided.     

Economic Security and Financial Management Issues Facing Same-Sex Couples

Same-sex couples experience economic rights and responsibilities in a context that differs from that of married couples. Financial management and economic security issues facing same-sex couples have received little attention to date. These issues are examined in this article within changing legal and social conditions. Family professionals should be knowledgeable about the context and scope of these important issues facing same-sex couples to be able to educate their constituent groups appropriately, deal with clients in therapy, and inform and influence policy makers.     

Couples,Money, and Expectations: Negotiating Financial Management Roles to Increase Relationship Satisfaction

How couples handle money has become a popular subject among scholars, practitioners, and the popular press. However, little is known about how finances should be treated within a clinical context. This study examined the financial management roles in which couples participate and their satisfaction level with these roles as well as couples' communication tactics surrounding money and their impact on relationship and financial satisfaction. Results suggested that having shared goals and values about money were a stronger predictor of relationship satisfaction than were communication strategies. In addition, satisfaction with one's financial management role participation may be more important than self-reported financial management roles each partner performs. In this study, financial management roles included 19 areas, including responsibilities such as bookkeeping, financial decision-making, and taxes.     

基于工作任务的高职财务管理课程设计探析

当前高职课程改革的主要思路是根据实际工作任务进行课程设计,以使高职教育的教学活动更加贴近实际工作,进而培养符合社会实际需求的技能型人才。高职财务管理课程是一门实践性与技能性较强的财会类专业课程,对其进行基于工作任务的设计,就是以企业财务管理实际工作任务为起点,梳理财务管理工作技能,将财务管理工作任务加工成学习性工作任务,构建高职财务管理课程内容,设计＂学做一体＂的课程学习情境,最终使课程设计完成由工作领域向学习领域和学习情境的转化。     

The role of corporate social responsibility in strong sustainability

The aim of this paper is to analyze to what extent corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributes to strong sustainability, i.e. to what extent the use of natural resources and the environment is possible, given the current level of economic activity. We therefore examine responsibilities that corporations should take in order to fulfil the requirements of strong sustainability. Based on current CSR practices and theory as well as on businesses motivations regarding environmental and social investments, we will introduce the role of corporations in influencing consumption patterns. Furthermore, we will attempt to answer to what extent responsible corporate behaviour is determined by the current economic system.     

Supporting the sustainability of Mad Studies and preventing its co-option

Mad Studies is emerging as a new force in ‘mental health’ discourse and developments. Given the way in which other would-be progressive developments associated with attempts to include experimental knowledge in this field, such as ‘recovery’ and ‘peer support’, have been subverted, this article considers whether it is possible for Mad Studies to avoid this. Drawing on developments in Disability Studies and in relation to the social model of disability, we explore what can be done in order to safeguard the distinctiveness of Mad Studies and foster its unique contribution.     

Making sense of sustainability through an individual interview narrative

This paper closely examines how a particular individual makes sense of sustainability and how detailed analysis of enactments of sustainability at the individual level can contribute to understanding organisational-level enactment of sustainability practices. Taking a narrative approach, this paper selects and analyses one interview to understand how that person is responding to sustainability initiatives in her organisation. The findings suggest that the complex processes of meaning construction that underpin the enactment of sustainability involve identity validation, narrative support and reduction of polysemy. The paper argues that to boost the chances of success when implementing sustainability, organisations need to establish discursive space to engage with and support these three processes of sense-making. Methodologically, the paper demonstrates how a single interview/narrative can be analysed to progress the understanding of a complex, ambiguous and paradoxical problem like sustainability.     

Project beneficiary participation and behavioural intentions promoting project sustainability: The mediating role of psychological ownership

It is of great importance that development projects (especially those projects that target improving the livelihood of rural communities) continue to deliver their intended benefits over their intended economic life—we call this “project sustainability.” Applying an experimental design, our study reveals that active involvement of project beneficiaries during the needs assessment and planning stages has a significant positive influence on the behavioural intentions of the project beneficiaries toward project sustainability. Our study also finds that psychological ownership plays a mediating role in the relationship between project beneficiary participation and project sustainability. Implications for project sustainability and directions for future research are discussed.     

Corporate corruption of the environment: sustainability as a process of compromise

A key response to environmental degradation, climate change and declining biodiversity has been the growing adoption of market principles in an effort to better value the social good of nature. Through concepts such as ‘natural capitalism’ and ‘corporate environmentalism’, nature is increasingly viewed as a domain of capitalist endeavour. In this article, we use convention theory and a pluralist understanding of social goods to investigate how the social good of the environment is usurped by the alternate social good of the market. Through analysis of interviews with sustainability managers and corporate documentation, we highlight how organizational actors employ compromise to temporally settle disputes between competing claims about environmental activities. Our findings contribute to an understanding of the processes of empirically grounded critique and the under‐theorized concept of compromise between social goods. Rather than protecting the environment, the corporate promotion of sustainability facilitates the corruption of the social good of the environment and its conversion into a market commodity.     

Building Financial Knowledge Is Not Enough: Financial Self-Efficacy as a Mediator in the Financial Capability of Low-Income Families

ABSTRACT

Policymakers in many countries have taken an interest in population-level financial capability. Limited empirical work has examined how constructs that makeup financial capability relate and how they function for individuals with low incomes. Using a national sample of low-income Canadians, we investigate relationships between financial knowledge, financial self-efficacy, and savings outcomes. Overall, we find that financial self-efficacy fully mediated the relationship between objective financial knowledge and postsecondary-education saving. The association between objective financial knowledge and retirement saving and emergency saving passed through financial self-efficacy. Efforts to promote financial capability need to focus on more than objective financial knowledge.