Ways out of the sewage sludge dilemma: Connecting administrative and participatory decision making

This paper examines the problem of decisions about the disposal of sewage sludge, in the face of stakeholder groups with varying viewpoints, based on a current case from the state of Lower Saxony in Germany. Like other developed countries, Germany faces the dilemma that sludge arisings are increasing (e.g., because of better water treatment) while disposal options are becoming more scarce. Lower Saxony relies heavily on landfill and agricultural application, but landfill of untreated sludge will be banned after 2005. The state Environment Ministry sees agricultural application as having various advantages, but it faces scepticism from various stakeholders. The ministry has therefore taken steps to encourage a long-term dialogue process with the main stakeholders, including farming organizations, food processors, other landowners such as the churches, and environmental and consumer organizations. The process began with a discussion forum in 1995 that led to the proposal of specific discussions with stakeholders. This paper focuses in particular on the dialogue with environmental and consumer groups. It analyzes the initial positions of the various stakeholders, describes the concrete steps taken so far, describes the ongoing efforts, and critically evaluates the procedures used as well as their implications in terms of the ideas of deliberation and analysis.     

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.     

State Promotion of Community Advocacy Organizations:

State bureaucracies create community advocacy organizations in an attempt to increase constituency support and promote local citizen efforts to organize and advocate for service needs. Relationships between a state bureaucracy and community advocacy organization can be expected to follow a variety of patterns. Using a sample of four case studies in which state human service bureaucracies promoted community advocacy organizations in Georgia, this exploratory, qualitative study demonstrates that loosely bounded bureaucracies are consistent with the promotion of autonomous community advocacy organizations and tightly bounded bureaucracies are consistent with the generation of dependent and closely coordinated community advocacy organizations. The converse situations of tightly bounded bureaucracies attempting to generate autonomous community advocacy organizations or loose bureaus trying to organize dependent community advocacy organizations will produce confusion and conflict.     

Toward a Model of Environmental Scanning

Scanning is the communication activity through which organizations learn about trends and events in their environment. In this exploratory study, I examined how individuals from many different departments, including public relations and human resources, conduct environmental scanning in 16 large U.S. organizations. Specifically, I examined the formality of environmental scanning in 16 organizations and its relation to the number of issues monitored and the length of time those issues are monitored. I also considered the role of organizational culture and environmental complexity in shaping the structure of environmental scanning efforts. Findings indicate that organizations with formal environmental scanning systems tend to monitor a larger number of issues in their environments for shorter periods of time, when compared to organizations with informal environmental scanning systems. In addition, findings suggest that although both organizational culture and environmental complexity are related to the structure of environmental scanning efforts, culture is more strongly related to scanning efforts than is environmental complexity.     

Indirect consumer activism and politics in the market

ABSTRACT

Social movement organizations use consumer activism to mobilize public pressure and cause economic or reputational damage to their target. However, current frameworks fail to explain why organizations would use indirect consumer activism: targeting one firm to elicit change from a third party. This paper aims to explain this choice, drawing upon theories of opportunity structures to explain why groups choose to use indirect strategies. I examine three campaigns using indirect strategies: US-based Grab Your Wallet and Sleeping Giants, and UK-based Stop Funding Hate. Groups use indirect strategies to reach inaccessible targets and to mobilize the public; these strategies help social movement organizations to raise public awareness at the beginning of a campaign. I conclude with some expectations for future research.     

The “Income Gap” and the Health of Arts Nonprofits

This article addresses the widening gap between costs and revenues for many arts nonprofits; it examines the most common explanations for the problem, categorizes possible solutions, and suggests practical strategies for implementation. This study suggests that a critical difference exists between large and small arts firms, which in turn implies a different set of strategies for each. Whereas large organizations do well to leverage technological innovations, diversify product lines, and expand audiences through educational outreach, smaller organizations tend to see greater returns from efforts to expand their philanthropic base.     

A brief history of ‘customers,’ or the gradual standardization of markets and organizations

This article focuses on the history of the ‘actor-customer’ and his/her place in the functioning of organizations and markets. Big business first ‘invented’ the customer in order to better control a global marketplace where fluctuation was too strong; lawmakers then created a rights-endowed consumer to protect citizens from potential abuses by commercial enterprise. This hybridization of business and law was quickly followed by standardization, which, working to reconcile the interests of business, the state, and consumers, ended up giving final customers a ‘consumerist’ voice. The new requirements pertaining to product ‘quality’ and ‘traceability’ have had the effect of subordinating the industrial customer to the consumer customer, and they are transforming relations between organization and marketplace.     

Through community eyes: the transition of international organizations from community aid to development in postconflict Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone experienced an 11-year civil war, brutalizing its people and destroying its communities. With the cessation of violence, international organizations helped to secure peace, deliver aid and supplies, and, after, assist with development projects. This grounded theory study, which aims to understand the role these organizations played from the viewpoint of community members in 2 communities, posits that community members’ regard of international organizations lessened as their efforts transitioned from securing the peace and relief efforts to aid for development. Highlighted are the successes and challenges of this work and a broad discussion of implications and recommendations.     

What Helped Nonprofits Weather the Great Recession?

This study examined the effectiveness of several financial strategies for nonprofit organizations in fighting the Great Recession. Using data from human services and community improvement organizations in the state of New Jersey, we tested hypotheses about the relationships between three measures of financial sustainability and various fundraising efforts and financial indicators. We found that (1) except for strong external funding relationships, funding efforts were generally not effective in enhancing financial sustainability during the crisis; (2) higher operating margin and equity ratio improved an organization's ability to generate revenue and maintain expense levels, but higher debt ratio and administrative cost ratio were generally harmful; and (3) revenue diversification might aggravate fiscal stress and cause more expense cuts in a severe crisis. These findings improve our understanding of the mechanics of nonprofit management during times of harsh fiscal conditions and suggest useful ways for nonprofit organizations to navigate future financial crises.     

Trust Me,Trust Me Not: An Experimental Analysis of the Effect of Transparency on Organizations

Seen as a solution to lapses of organizational ethics and misdeeds, transparency helps to restore trust and diminish reputational risk or damage. Research has identified 2 types of transparency: (a) an organization's reputation for transparency and (b) its efforts to communicate transparently. Using experimental design, this study examined the relationship between the 2 types of transparency on trust and behavioral intentions of stakeholders in a crisis situation. Results determined that organizations demonstrating both types of transparency achieved more than twice the levels of trust and positive behavioral intentions than organizations that demonstrated neither type of transparency.     

The Impact of Negative Endorser Information and their Facial Appearance on Advertising Effectiveness for Profit and Not-for-Profit Organizations

This study compared consumer reactions to positive and negative information about endorsers. We analysed the effects of positive versus negative publicity about a fictitious male or female endorser with either a cold or warm facial appearance in two conditions: an ad for a profit organization and an ad for a nonprofit organization. The results show that consumers’ attitude toward the ad and the brand/charity organization is negatively affected by negative information about the endorser. Moreover, the impact of negative information of the same endorser is significantly greater for ads of profit organizations than for ads of not-for-profit organizations, especially for endorsers with a warm facial appearance. These results suggest that the risk of negative endorser information is much higher for profit organizations than for not-for-profit organizations.     

Assessing corporate planning of future sustainability initiatives in private healthcare organizations

PurposeThe research objective is to assess the corporate planning of future sustainability initiatives in private healthcare organizations.Design/methodology/approachPrivate hospital organizations have been selected using a judgmental sampling. A qualitative case study was followed in this research.FindingsThe findings shed light on corporate planning of future sustainability initiatives in private healthcare organizations.Research limitations/implicationsThe diversity of similarities and differences that has been uncovered between private healthcare organizations on corporate planning, reveals the complexity faced in trying to achieve sector-wide and or industry-wide uniformity of sustainability initiatives.Managerial implicationsThese findings offer opportunities to examine criteria to examine the corporate planning of future efforts and priorities in private healthcare sectors across countries and continents.Originality/valueThis paper distinguishes between corporate planning approaches in relation to the assessment criteria to examine future sustainability initiatives in private hospitals.     

Cross‐Movement Coalition Formation: Bridging the Labor‐Environment Divide*

Relations between the labor and environmental movements exist within a complex web of clashing interests, electoral politics, and attempts to form enduring blue‐green coalitions. Unions and other labor organizations are often portrayed as solely interested in economic growth. Environmental organizations are often seen as solely interested in preserving the natural world at the expense of economic growth, thus creating a direct conflict between the interests of labor and environmental organizations. Despite these perceived differences, efforts to bridge the divide between the two movements are increasingly common. This article examines the formation of a collective identity shared by workers and environmentalists participating in the coalition. I develop this argument through an ethnographic analysis of the formation of a blue‐green coalition, the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow, using in‐depth interviews, observations, and content analyses. I demonstrate how coalition leaders and bridge brokers work to bridge and consolidate the identities of labor and environmental groups to campaign for environmental health regulatory changes in Massachusetts.     

Cause-related marketing,fundraising, and environmental nonprofit organizations

This article provides policy guidance to environmental nonprofit organizations, and, secondarily, to other nonprofits, that are considering entering into a cause-related marketing (CRM) alliance. Toward that end, insights into establishing CRM committees, sponsorship development, and regulatory awareness are offered to environmental nonprofit managers. The author argues that strong consumer support for local environmental concerns translates into strategic fundraising opportunities for regional, state, and local environmental organizations that have underutilized CRM in the past.     

MOVING FORWARD BY LOOKING BACK: COMPARING LABORATORY RESULTS WITH EX ANTE MARKET DATA

We compare individual consumer response between ex ante market data collected by a water utility and ex post experimentally generated data. The experimentally generated data are matched to each participant's water bill history, which predates the experiment. This differentiates our research from prior efforts, which analyze market and experimental data with similar chronologies. For roughly 70% of the participants there is no statistical difference between water demand elasticities estimated using laboratory data and those estimated from market data. Our results provide initial support for the use of experimental procedures to generate missing data regarding hypothetical consumer response. (JEL C9, D12, Q25)     

Research on Consumer Well-Being in Malaysia

This research note provides an overview of consumer well-being research in Malaysia, and highlights a major research study on consumer well-being by Masud et al. (2010). Masud et al.??s data indicate that Malaysian consumers enjoyed their rights as consumers, held some level of acceptable consumer values, possessed reasonable levels of knowledge, and practiced good consumer principles. Nevertheless, some consumers indicated a low level of overall well-being. The data also revealed the need for strong support from government and market sectors to enhance the well-being of consumers in Malaysia. More studies on consumer well-being in Malaysia are suggested and universities and research institutes are urged to intensify their efforts to convince policy makers and grant providers to appropriate funds for research on consumer well-being in Malaysia.     

论我国当前加强和改善社会组织建设的关键环节

社会组织的发展及其功能的充分发挥对于我国社会主义和谐社会建设具有重要作用,应大力促进社会组织的发展。但我国社会组织发展还存在很多不足和问题,主要问题一方面是其内部资源能力不足,另一方面是其管理和监督机制不完善。为了促进社会组织的发展,应进一步厘清对社会组织的认识,转变对社会组织态度,并抓住重点大力推动社会组织的建设与发展。为此,从四个方面讨论了当前大力发展社会组织的意义,提出了应该从四个方面进一步转变对发展社会组织的态度和观念,在此基础上提出并论证了当前我国应如何在体制机制建设、能力建设和管理体系建设三个重要方面加强和改善社会组织建设。     

The Relational Production of Workplace Equality: The Case of Worker-Recuperated Businesses in Argentina

Work organizations are commonly studied as sites that produce and reproduce inequality. But we know much less about how organizations promote equality. This article examines efforts to broaden access to power, opportunity, and resources in Hotel Bauen, a worker-recuperated business that was converted from a privately-owned company into a worker-run cooperative. Drawing on extensive ethnographic and archival research, I analyze efforts to redesign and redefine work through collective decision-making, job rotation, and pay equity. The article concludes by identifying three mechanisms of equality—inclusion, opportunity distribution, and symbolic leveling—to theorize the relational production of workplace equality and complement the near-exclusive focus on inequality and its effects.

     

Relationships between organizations and publics: Development of a multi-dimensional organization-public relationship scale

Public relations has long struggled to develop an identity in both scholarship and practice. An increasing number of scholars are adopting the perspective that public relations should be viewed as the management of a relationship between organizations and publics. The current investigation was an attempt to design a multiple-item, multiple-dimension organization-public relationship scale. Results of this investigation show that organizations and key publics have three types of relationships: professional, personal, and community. The organization-public relationship measure developed in this investigation should provide an instrument that can be used to measure þe influence that perceptions of the organization-public relationship have on consumer attitudes, predispositions, and behavior, as well as an opportunity to track changes in organizationpublic relationship perceptions over time. Results of the investigation, conclusions, and suggested applications for future research are presented.Dr. Bruning and Dr. Ledingham are members of the Department of Communication at Capital University, Columbus, OH.     

Competing Corporate Cultures: A Multi-Method,Cultural Analysis of the Role of Internal Communication

A combination of 41 depth interviews and analysis of 453 surveys conducted in two organizations was done to examine the coorientation of organizational definitions and communication efforts. Interpersonal communication was both a product and a facilitator of communication between management and employees. Organizations with meaningful interpersonal communication may achieve a better shared definition of the organization and hence a better communication environment. Public relations practitioners should supplement traditional journalistic methods with interpersonal ones in addressing employee publics.