Urban congregations as incubators of service organizations

A growing body of research has begun to describe the variety and pervasiveness of community services offered by religious congregations across the United States. This study investigated the process whereby a congregation forms a new community service entity by tracing patterns in its development from formation through emancipation. Based on a sample of twenty‐three spin‐off organizations engaged in housing services in three cities (Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis), this exploratory study found that religious congregations provided very limited forms of incubation for new entities. Although the congregations exhibited considerable involvement in governance, their inability to undertake management of daily spin‐off operations notably contributed to the eventual separation between parent and organizational offspring.     

A framework of operating models for interdisciplinary research programs in clinical service organizations

A framework of operating models for interdisciplinary research programs in clinical service organizations is presented, consisting of a "clinician-researcher" skill development model, a program evaluation model, a researcher-led knowledge generation model, and a knowledge conduit model. Together, these models comprise a tailored, collaborative approach to enhancing research-informed practice in community-based clinical service organizations. The models place different degrees of emphasis on the development of research-related skills in practitioners, the generation of knowledge tailored to clinical practice, and knowledge sharing. The nature, philosophical basis, roles of research staff members, outputs and impacts, and strengths and limitations of each model are described, in the context of a long-standing, interdisciplinary research program in a children's rehabilitation service organization. The use of the model framework as a tool for the design of interdisciplinary, community-based research programs is discussed.     

Interorganizational collaboration in social service organizations: A study of the prerequisites to success

Organizational scholars have identified four prerequisites to effective interorganizational collaboration: incentive, willingness, ability, and capacity. This study analyzes data drawn from participants in eight family services collaboratives in order to assess the relationships identified in the literature. Our findings support the premise that each of these prerequisites is positively related to collaborative effectiveness. Implications for collaboration leaders are suggested.     

Accounting and the celebration of rationality in human service delivery organizations

Emerging perspectives of control in human service delivery organizations are facilitated by rational accountability formulations whose tenets and assumptions remain basically unquestioned in organizational and accounting literature. This paper critiques the underpinnings of rational accountability formulations and their appropriateness for human service delivery organizations. In turn, a non-rational metaphor of the role of management accounting information is proposed which recognizes uncertainty for what it is rather than assuming the very certainties that cannot be found in the delivery of human services.     

Children, families, and mental health service organizations: cultures in conflict

This paper applies the concepts of culture, organizational culture, and culture conflict to a study of relationships between children, their families and a number of mental health and other social service organizations. The culture of a specific children's mental hospital ward is examined and a sample of 12 patients is followed on their course through the service system (pre- and post-hospitalization). A cultural interpretation of current mental health service delivery problems is suggested.     

Strategy formulation in nonprofit social services organizations: A proposed framework social services organizations

This article proposes a framework for determining strategies in nonprofit social services organizations. A review of the literature concerning strategy choice models is combined with an analysis of the unique characteristics of nonprofit social services organizations to develop the proposed framework, which improves on existing models by encompassing a wider array of strategic factors and being applicable to a wide variety of nonprofit organizations. The author provides examples of the model's applications, discusses the usefulness and limitations of the model, and concludes with suggestions for future research.     

Building organizational supports for knowledge sharing in county human service organizations: a cross-case analysis of works-in-progress

Building on the literature related to evidence-based practice, knowledge management, and learning organizations, this cross-case analysis presents twelve works-in-progress in ten local public human service organizations seeking to develop their own knowledge sharing systems. The data for this cross-case analysis can be found in the various contributions to this Special Issue. The findings feature the developmental aspects of building a learning organization that include knowledge sharing systems featuring transparency, self-assessment, and dissemination and utilization. Implications for practice focus on the structure and processes involved in building knowledge sharing teams inside public human service organizations.     

Growth and resilience of pioneering nonprofit human service organizations: a cross-case analysis of organizational histories

Knowledge of organizational history is important for recognizing patterns in effective management and understanding how organizations respond to internal and external challenges. This cross-case analysis of 12 histories of pioneering nonprofit human service organizations contributes an important longitudinal perspective on organizational history, complementing the cross-sectional case studies that dominate the existing research on nonprofit organizations. The literature on organizational growth, including lifecycle models and growth management, is reviewed, along with the literature on organizational resilience. Based on analysis of the 12 organizational histories, a conceptual model is presented that synthesizes key factors in the areas of leadership, internal operations, and external relations that influence organizational growth and resilience to enable nonprofit organizations to survive and thrive over time. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal examples from the organizational histories illustrate the conceptual map. The paper concludes with a discussion of directions for future research on nonprofit organizational history.     

The impact of funding sources and board representation on consumer control of service delivery in organizations serving low-income communities

This article examines the influence of funding sources and board members on the degree to which an organization enhances consumer control of the organization or limits access to services for some groups of clients. Based on a study of decision making in organizations serving three low-income communities, a limited degree of board influence on an organization's choice of service strategies can be traced to both the power of donors to demand service strategies that reflect their interests and the efforts of staff members to limit the ability of the board to engage in policy-making. The high degree of dependence of low-income communities on external funding restricts the development of boards as decision-making bodies that effectively reflect community interests.     

Financial control in religious organizations: A status report

Several recent high profile cases of financial mismanagement in religious organizations have highlighted the need for all religious nonprofit organizations (NPOs) to have strong internal accounting controls. These organizations are often small, rely on a great deal of volunteer support, and as a result may not have the professional oversight to adequately monitor the resources of the organization or the behavior of its leaders. The purpose of this article is to assess the current state of financial control for one segment of religious NPOs, churches, and give some suggestions for improvement. In this study over 530 churches of widely varying sizes responded to an extensive survey about specific internal controls they may or may not have in place. The results are assessed in light of preferred practices. Readers can use this information to strengthen current practices and provide a greater level of assurance that an organization is directing its resources toward its mission.     

A computerized system to monitor resilience indicators in organizations

The concepts developed by resilience engineering allow the understanding and monitoring the functioning of organizations and, particularly, to map the role of human activities, in success or in failure, enabling a better comprehension about how people make decisions in unexpected situations. The capture of information about human activities in the various organization levels gives managers a deeper real-time understanding of what is influencing the people performance, providing awareness of the factors that influence positively or negatively the organizational goals initially projected. The monitoring is important because the correct functioning of complex systems depends on the knowledge that people have to perform their activities and how the system environment provides tools that actually support the human performance. Therefore, organizations should look forward through precursors in operating signals to identify possible problems or solutions in the structure of tasks and activities, safety, quality, schedule, rework, and maintenance. We apply the concepts of resilience engineering to understand the organization by the analysis of cognitive tasks and activities. The aim is the development of a computerized system to monitor human activities to produce indicators to access system resilience. The validation of the approach was made in a real organization and the results show the successful applicability of the system. Based on findings obtained after the experiment of the system in a real organization, and managers and workers opinions, it was possible to show that the use of system provided an anticipated (real-time) perception about how activities are effectively being performed, allowing managers and workers to make decisions more consistent with daily problems, and also to anticipate solutions to cope with unexpected situations.     

The Condom Fairy program: A novel mail-order service for condoms and sexual health supplies

Abstract

Objective: In recent years college health professionals have used a variety of innovative strategies to increase availability and accessibility of condoms and safer sex products. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and efficiency of a mail-order delivery program titled the Condom Fairy. Participants: Seven hundred thirty-three students (63.4% women, 86.1% heterosexual, and 59.2% Caucasian) completed a questionnaire assessing their overall experience with the program. Methods: Participants completed a 60 item questionnaire 30?days after receiving condoms and safer sex products. Results: Overall, 46,980 condoms were distributed over a six semester period. Almost all of the participants (97.4%) reported they ordered male condoms while 58.0% ordered sexual lubricant, 11.1% female condoms, and 10.2% latex dams. Nearly than three-quarters (73.9%) of participants reported they used the condoms provided. Conclusions: Findings support the implementation of innovative mail-in condom and safer sex product programs on college campuses.     

A method for applying cultural theory in the study of organizations

This research note proposes a method for determining the relative intensity of cultural theory's four ways of life within a concrete organization. The development of such a method is useful for the testing of hypotheses concerning concrete organizations that can be derived from cultural theory. The method is illustrated in an empirical test of a hypothesis regarding the occurrence of unethical behaviour within public‐sector organizations.     

A scale to assess board member motivations in nonprofit organizations

The purpose of this study was to develop a framework for identifying the motivations of board members in nonprofit organizations. Building on previous work of board member motivations (Searle, 1989; Inglis, 1994) and motivations of direct service volunteers (Clary and others, 1998), the results of the current study support a framework consisting of six components: Enhancement of Self‐Worth, Learning Through Community, Helping the Community, Developing Individual Relationships, Unique Contributions to the Board, and Self‐Healing. We discuss contributions by the panel of experts who reviewed the instrument and by the respondents who offered additional reasons for joining the board in view of how they can add validity to scale development. Frameworks such as the one reported in this article are valuable for understanding the complex involvement of attitudes and motivations as they relate to individuals' decisions to join boards. These insights may be applied in areas such as board member recruitment, training and development, and retention.     

A model for consulting to help effect change in organizations

Rapid change in an organization's environment creates barriers to needed change in strategy and culture. Managers, and the consultants who are invariably called on to assist such efforts, face difficult challenges in working together to effect change. They often fail to achieve the desired results. The author offers a new model of consulting to help guide general managers and consultants in the creation of the necessary conditions for successful management of change. This model is based on lessons learned from case studies in the health care industry.