Managing conflict between marketing and other functions within charitable organisations

Abstract

Extensive research has been undertaken into the proposition that certain organisational arrangements and working methods (e.g. centralisation, functional specialisation, multi-disciplinary teamworking and training, organisation-wide reward systems) influence the levels of dysfunctional conflict in businesses. The present study assessed the relevance of these variables for explaining the existence of conflict between marketing and other departments within non-profit organisations. Additionally the investigation examined the role of "psychological distance" (a construct borrowed from the international marketing literature) as a possible determinant of conflict. A total of 148 marketing managers of large UK charities completed a questionnaire exploring these matters. It emerged that several of the factors known to mitigate dysfunctional conflict in the commercial world exerted similar effects in many of the sample charities. Psychological distance was significantly associated with both the presence of dysfunctional conflict within a charity and the manners whereby conflict resulted in adverse organisational consequences.

Developing a Marketing Strategy for Nonprofit Organizations: An Exploratory Study

“…An important stumbling block to NPO marketing is the fact that individual donors and many large funders often do not see the importance of marketing and view marketing expenses as a waste of money (Helmig et al, 2004;Bennett & Savani, 2004). Many funds are restricted, and NPOs wanting to do marketing have to solicit money specifically for that purpose (Pope, 2006).…”

A Proposed Model of Antecedents and Outcomes of Brand Orientation for Nonprofit Sector

“…"Stakeholders of nonprofit organizations mainly include government agencies, donors, volunteers, beneficiaries, politicians, trustees, program managers, employees, funding bodies, and etc." (Bennett & Savani, 2004). They implement a kind of pressure on the managers and their decisions, which affects managers to a great extend.…”

“…Nonprofit organizations mainly depend on resources they obtain from various bodies within the society, which necessitates strong relationship between the organizations and these bodies (Bennett & Savani, 2004;Hou et. al., 2009).…”

Influence of Personal and Task Interdependence on Task Conflict and Team Effectiveness

“…In general, individuals' reactions to conflict differ considerably (Bennet & Savani, 2004;Jehn & Chatman, 2000). Bennet and Savani (2004) reported that individuals may react to conflict with sulkiness, resentfulness or withdrawal, while others may retort to compromise and accommodation (McKenna & Richardson, 1995).…”