Ram A. Cnaan and Diane Vinokur-Kaplan (eds.): Cases in Non-profits: Organizations that Make a Difference

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations -     

Organisation Workshop. Beyond the Workplace: Large Groups,Activity and the Shared Object

Organisation Workshop stands for a body of practice derived from the pioneering work that Clodomir de Morais did with the Brasilian Peasant Leagues starting in the early 1960s and shown to be relevant today in situations of high unemployment. Two essential ingredients are a large group and a common resource pool. The Organisation Workshop method is illuminated by Leontiev’s “objectivised activity” concept, as well as important insights from 3 generations of activity theory (CHAT). Moraisean thought and practice are shown to open up new avenues to community development and to break new ground in the social psychology of the large group.     

Nonprofit Management Principles and Practice,by M. J. Worth

A qualitative case study of two urban neighborhood-planning processes contributes to knowledge regarding citizen participation in the context of public housing redevelopment. The data were collected and triangulated from multiple sources including participant observation, field notes, artifacts, and 24 hours of semistructured interview data (n = 26). Data provided context for understanding engaged residents’ and professionals’ experience of participation in a Resident Advisory Council (RAC) and influence during neighborhood redevelopment planning. Study participants reported the benefits of inclusion in the RAC community planning process including: (a) being engaged by attending meetings and dialoging, (b) maintaining and building relationships, and (c) maintaining organizing pressure and fighting back.     

Angela M. Eikenberry,Roseanne M. Mirabella,and Billie Sandberg (eds.), Reframing Nonprofit Organizations: Democracy,Inclusion, and Social Change. Melvin & Leigh

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations -     

John Casey: The Nonprofit World. Civil Society and the Rise of the Nonprofit Sector

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations -     

Book Review: Strategic Management for Voluntary Nonprofit Organizations,by Roger Courtney. Routledge,New York, 2002

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations -     

Sensegiving,Leadership, and Nonprofit Crises: How Nonprofit Leaders Make and Give Sense to Organizational Crisis

This study examined how 43 nonprofit leaders across 15 U.S. states make sense of organizational crises in nonprofit contexts, as well as what they think effective leadership is during crises. Findings revealed perceived nonprofit organizational crises emerging from disasters, disruption of mission delivery, internal stakeholder challenges, and unanticipated occurrences, while six major characteristics of effective crisis leadership emerged including being a team player, being strategic, being transparent with stakeholders, being quick to respond, being self-composed, and being prepared. Comparisons to previous empirical investigations of nonprofit leadership and crisis response yielded additional insights into effective crisis leader sensemaking in nonprofit contexts—most notably that nonprofit crisis leaders leverage sensegiving frameworks of instrumental knowledge, normalcy, and dynamic learning. Further analysis demonstrated these diagnostic and prognostic sensegiving activities to be more clearly observed than motivational sensegiving activities across crisis leaders in nonprofit contexts.     

Old Paths and New Directions: Studying Emotions in the Workplace

The study of emotions in the workplace is a vibrant area of research that has grown considerably over the last 25 years. This research has traveled far, but it has not run its course. This article maps the different paths that have been explored, beginning with Hochschild's classic work on emotional labor in the form of surface and deep acting, and charts new directions for future research. We start by reviewing the literature on emotional labor and emotion management in the workplace. Next, we discuss new theoretical developments in the sociology of emotions – interaction ritual chain theory, theories of identity and affect control, and theories about power, status, and exchange – and their potential utility for understanding emotions at work. Finally, we discuss new methodological directions that can be pursued in future research on emotions in work and organizational settings.     

Deception in the Workplace: Recent Research and Promising New Directions

This review identifies some of the promising new directions that scholars are pursuing in current research on deceptions in places of work. I identify and explore five main emphases that have emerged. These directions are comprised of studies that count the pervasiveness of deceptions; examine deception in service provision and emotional labor; identify varied workplace cultures of deception; examine accounts for deception in the wake of corruption, financial misconduct and other misbehaviors; and studies of Internet and computer technologies as new territories for deception. I conclude by suggesting some additional arenas for research into workplace deception, specifically, on professions that produce deception as a form of legitimate work; on deceptions in non‐profit organizations, and research into the technical and dramaturgical efforts that people put into making lies appear believable.     

Testing an Economic Model of Nonprofit Growth: Analyzing the Behaviors and Decisions of Nonprofit Organizations,Private Donors,and Governments

This study draws an economic model of the growth of nonprofit organizations by analyzing the behaviors of three major actors—nonprofit organizations, private donors, and governments—in making decisions on the allocation of limited resources for nonprofit services. Since decisions made by each actor affect resource allocation, it is important to understand what drives these decisions. The model was tested using an unbalanced, 463 panel dataset collected from 28 OECD countries over a 23-year period. The results indicated that macro- and micro-economic trends and government policies framed the decision premises of the three major actors, which led them to leverage the supply and demand for goods and services and, in turn, determined how they allocated limited resources for nonprofit services. This result implies that understanding the interdependencies of all sectors of the economy is critical to comprehending the size and development of the nonprofit sector. Effective management of micro-economic policies and macro-economic stability is necessary. More important, however, is understanding how a decision in one part of the economy will have intended and unintended effects on the nonprofit sector.     

Globalization,Flexibility and New Workplace Culture in the United States and India

The literature on globalization of services has tended to focus on advanced industrial nations, underestimating the important role Southern markets have played. Given the complexities of the global economy, much can be gained from exploring the ways in which flexible management practices and workplace culture in the United States and India have increasingly conjoined under an emerging set of common principles. In particular, one finds similar phenomena contributing to patterns of job insecurity in both countries: non‐standard employment contracts, long working hours, growing emphasis on individualization, and increasing control over workers. Interestingly, workers in both countries have similar strategies in staying employed as well as dealing with the growing insecurity. In neither country, however, has employment precariousness resulted in a backlash against the government. I posit the reason for this is that even as workers recognize the structural sources of job insecurity due to globalization, they individualize their failures and inability to cope with the changing market.     

Public Policies,Stakeholder Interest,and Nonprofit Development: The Case of Trade Associations in Shanghai,China

This study examines the reform and development of trade associations in Shanghai, China, one of the main economic hubs of the country and marked by a substantial growth in trade associations since the reform and “opening-up” in 1978. We analyze public policies pertaining to trade associations, survey data collected from 212 local trade associations in Shanghai, and interviews of government officials and trade association leaders. The research results show that trade associations are significantly less dependent on the government and they seem to be more oriented to providing services for and representing corporate members. We trace these changes to public policy reforms and growth in private businesses. The transition reflects the dynamic and changing relationship among the government, trade associations, and business in China. We conclude with a model of these dynamics and a discussion of the implications of this study.     

Managing the Foreign: The Drive to Securitize Foreign Nonprofit and Foundation Management in China

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - In recent years, China has sought to tighten regulation of foreign nonprofit organizations and foundations operating or...