How organizational characteristics affect the adaptive tactics used by human service nonprofit managers confronting financial uncertainty

The way that nonprofits respond to funding uncertainty is crucial to their ability to meet goals and position themselves for future success. This article investigates how structural, managerial, and financial characteristics affect the adaptive tactics used by human service nonprofits during times of financial stress. These tactics include adding new programs, reducing programs or staff, expanding or starting joint programs, pursuing earned income, and expanding advocacy involvement. Using longitudinal data on human service nonprofits collected on either side of the 2002–2003 economic downtown, we find that larger size provides organizations with a unique ability to choose among different adaptive tactics, as larger size was significantly predictive of adding new programs, reducing programs, expanding advocacy, and pursuing earned income. Strategic planning was positively associated with innovative tactics such as starting joint programs or pursuing earned income. Financial stress or declines in an organization's major funding source led to cutbacks, as expected, but managers who foresaw these challenges were able to respond proactively by adding programs or starting joint programs. However, managers with more training did not respond much differently than did other managers, and organizational age and use of performance management tools had no effect in guiding organizational responses to financial uncertainty.     

High value manufacturing (HVM) in the UK: case studies and focus group insights

This paper studies the internal mechanisms that allow organisations to become high value manufacturing (HVM). Using a qualitative methodology, three UK manufacturing companies formed in-depth case studies with semi-structured interviews, observations and historical data. The HVM value matrix of Martinez and co-workers is used to categorise each organisation’s value proposition. Wider benchmarking of the three organisations was carried out against a focus group with an additional seven manufacturing organisations. Thus, data from 10 manufacturing organisations are included in this research. The cases follow the ‘customer intimacy’ HVM discipline. The business processes supporting these value propositions were identified. Interestingly, each organisation’s desired value proposition differs from their current one. ‘Technological integrators’ predominantly rely on new product development (NPD) and Strategy processes, whereas ‘Socialisors’ rely predominantly on Strategy and Customer Relationship processes. Companies can use the findings to better understand their current HVM value proposition and, where necessary, plan their transition to a future desired HVM value proposition.     

策略延迟下众筹项目的定价和激励决策

本文研究了投资者的策略延迟行为对众筹项目的定价以及激励决策的影响。策略延迟是指投资者在投资过程中自动按照估值在相应阶段投资,并且部分投资者会刻意延迟投资来搭便车的行为。本文采用了一个两阶段模型来刻画投资者的投资行为,并进一步对比序列到来模式（投资者没有策略延迟）与同时到来模式（投资者有策略延迟）中的贝叶斯均衡。研究结果表明,当发起人采用价格激励的方式提高成功率时,投资者的策略延迟行为可能会影响最优的激励策略。当存在固定目标约束时,如果投资者没有策略延迟行为,发起人应该激励前期投资者,通过弥补他们等待成本的方式提高成功率;反之如果投资者出现策略延迟行为,对项目估值较高的投资者会自动在前期投资并且愿意承受更高的价格,此时发起人应该反过来激励后期投资者。当不存在目标约束时,不论投资者是否有策略延迟行为,发起人都应该始终激励前期投资者以获得更高的成功率以及期望收益。     

Engaging with Comparative Risk Appraisals: Public Views on Policy Priorities for Environmental Risk Governance

Communicating the rationale for allocating resources to manage policy priorities and their risks is challenging. Here, we demonstrate that environmental risks have diverse attributes and locales in their effects that may drive disproportionate responses among citizens. When 2,065 survey participants deployed summary information and their own understanding to assess 12 policy‐level environmental risks singularly, their assessment differed from a prior expert assessment. However, participants provided rankings similar to those of experts when these same 12 risks were considered as a group, allowing comparison between the different risks. Following this, when individuals were shown the prior expert assessment of this portfolio, they expressed a moderate level of confidence with the combined expert analysis. These are important findings for the comprehension of policy risks that may be subject to augmentation by climate change, their representation alongside other threats within national risk assessments, and interpretations of agency for public risk management by citizens and others.     

基于战略视角的教学研究型大学绩效评估体系研究

本文分析了非营利组织绩效评估的概念与方法,总结了国内外学校绩效评估的理论与实践.在此基础上,从大学的使命和战略出发,提出了教学研究型大学的绩效评估模型,指出绩效评估应从学校的政府与社会满意度、师生满意度、内部流程绩效和战略绩效四个方面展开,且四个方面之间存在着内在的联系,最后提出了具有可操作性的绩效评估指标和内容.这将为中国高等教育管理与教学改革提供一种全新的思路和方法.     

The state and the development of an information society: Greek policy and experience

The paper looks into the dynamics of information society policy and its implementation in the Greek context. It argues that information society development is a contested process, influenced by pre‐existing state, economy and society relations. Based on this, it looks into the different aspects of the idiosyncratic path which the evolution of the Greek information society has followed, particularly after 2000. Using Bob Jessop's strategic‐relational approach (SRA) to the state as an analytical framework and drawing on a number of in‐depth interviews with relevant political actors, it provides insights into policy implementation by examining: the public management of information technology projects, how such projects were received in bureaucratic structures and practices, as well as the relationship between the state and the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in public procurement processes. The emphasis is on the period 2000–2008, during which a major operational programme on the information society in Greece was put into effect. The paper also touches upon the post‐2008 experience, suggesting that information society developments might include dynamics operating independently and even in contradiction to the state agenda.     

The Legal Regulation of Irrational Elements in the Operations of Boards of Directors

The operating processes of boards of directors are delicate and complex, so corporate legislation cannot simply equate board structure law with board governance law. It is therefore necessary to start from China’s actual conditions and grasp the operating processes of Chinese boards with a sober appreciation of the irrational elements in their operating mechanisms. Board governance has entered a new stage of institutionalization, and the law should shift from its emphasis on structure to give equal attention to structure and process in optimizing institutional structure. In the construction of board operating mechanisms, we should treat differently such “living laws” as customs, experiences and traditions, give full play to the functionality of boards’ strategic choices, and provide legal regulation of irrational elements, so as to distinguish between different roles, develop consensus, select strong points and improve efficiency. We should build control over board operational procedures, improve the system of functional allocation, correct assessment mechanisms, develop a mechanism for judicial scrutiny of the affective relationships in society and curb such behavioral tendencies as relational identity, structural bias and group polarization, with a view to controlling such “living laws” within the framework of the basic values and principles of board governance.     

Poking a sleeping bear: the challenge of organizational recruitment for controversial topics

ABSTRACT

Researchers often approach employers to investigate employees’ work and family experiences. Organizational willingness to grant access to employees can vary, especially when the research topic is seen as controversial or contentious for the employer. This paper explores this methodological challenge using a research example from Manitoba, Canada, which explored the use of parental leave by male employees and the impact of managerial attitudes and corporate culture on usage. Sixty large employers were recruited with only seven of those organizations agreeing to participate. In this paper, the reasons organizations gave for declining to participate and the implications of their decisions for the research are examined. Although the final sample included 905 managers and employees, participating organizations tended to be employee-focused and family-friendly employers. Organizations declined participation for a variety of reasons: avoiding raising the issue with unions, awareness that their policies unfairly benefited female leave takers, and simply not seeing the relevance of a topic relating to men’s work–family experiences. A dialogue often absent from the literature, it is important to understand how employers can limit researchers’ access to employees on controversial topics. The existence of such barriers suggests alternative avenues to recruit participants directly when topics are contentious for employers.     

Getting to Where You Want to Go: Designing Information Systems and Using Your Data Through the Application of Analytics and Informatics

ABSTRACT

This article, based on the closing session from the 2017 NC Serials Conference, describes a systems perspective where data serve as both real-time and summative information and knowledge about how an organization is performing, what services and resources its users are using and interacting with, and areas for which the organization is doing well or needs improvement. The author posits that data are most useful when the context is informed by clear goals that provide a direction to where the organization is and wants to be. Applied examples are discussed for several environments, including an academic department, school of education, regional libraries, and public libraries.     

高管团队决策效力与在华子公司战略导向的关系研究

在决策理论与子公司发展理论基础上,分析提出在华子公司高管团队决策效力的三个构成变量分别为高管团队的管理连结、决策全面性和决策自主权。对决策效力与在华子公司战略导向的关系及环境动荡性的调节作用进行了辩析1,06家在华子公司样本检验的结果表明,在华子公司高管团队决策效力的三个代表变量均正向影响子公司战略导向,环境动荡性负向调节决策全面性与战略导向的关系、正向调节决策自主权与战略导向的关系,而对管理连结与战略导向的关系没有调节作用。