Modalities of Managerialism: The “Double Bind” of Normative and Instrumental Nonprofit Management Imperatives

Mitchell, G. E.

doi:10.1177/0095399716664832

Cited by 38 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 135 publications

(178 reference statements)

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“…We suspect the overhead ratio has had staying power largely for institutional reasons, but hope the current study ads to a push for a more instrumental approach to nonprofit strategy and financial management (Mitchell, ). We think the implications for more instrumental management approaches have implications not just for nonprofit management research, but the third‐party organizations that rate nonprofits worthiness and legitimacy either directly (i.e., Charity Navigator) or as a qualification for resources (i.e., governments or foundations).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Nonprofits are typically managed with both institutional and instrumental priorities, such that strategic and financial decisions can mean balancing norms and expectations of stakeholders with the operational consequences of such decisions (Mitchell, ). External stakeholders can impose ways of managing resources based on persistent institutional notions of good management and stewardship.…”

Section: Theorizing Efficiency: Beyond Cost Cuttingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Toward a valid approach to nonprofit efficiency measurement

Coupet

Berrett

2018

Nonprofit Mgmnt & Ldrshp

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Past literature in nonprofit management uses the overhead ratio of nonprofits as a measure of efficiency. Although the overhead ratio might measure top-heaviness, we argue that it does not measure nonprofit efficiency. To investigate this, we use financial and operational data to rank the efficiency of Habitat for Humanity affiliates with the overhead and administrative ratio, as well as data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA), two of the most popular efficiency measures. While the DEA and SFA rankings are statistically correlated, overhead ratio rankings are negatively correlated with both SFA and DEA rankings. We argue that nonprofit scholars, managers, and donors should move away from concepts and measures of efficiency based on financial ratios, and toward ones that embrace maximizing what nonprofits are able to make and do.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Theorizing Efficiency: Beyond Cost Cuttingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a valid approach to nonprofit efficiency measurement

Coupet

Berrett

2018

Nonprofit Mgmnt & Ldrshp

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“…Die andere Seite, die der Managerialismus alter Schule betont hat (Meyer/Buber/Aghamanoukjan 2013), bzw. die der ‚normative Modus' des Managerialismus (Mitchell 2016, näheres dazu siehe unten) betont, sind die Ressourcen, die zur Ergebniserreichung benötigt werden. Den Kern dieser Ressourcenorientierung bildet die Norm der Effizienz, das ökonomische Prinzip, mit möglichst geringem Mitteleinsatz einen definierten Output zu erreichen, oder mit gegebenem Mitteleinsatz einen möglichst hohen Output zu erreichen.…”

Section: Sachdimension: Die Zentralen Themen Des Managerialismusunclassified

“…gen des Managerialismus-Konzepts unternommen worden. Eine solche Verfeinerung stellt die Analyse von Mitchell (2016) dar, der zwischen einem normativen und einem instrumentellen Modus des Managerialismus unterscheidet (siehe Tabelle 2). Mitchell arbeitet in dieser Analyse die inneren Widersprüche des Managerialismus heraus.…”

Section: Erscheinungsformen Des Managerialismusunclassified

Managerialismus: Eine Herausforderung (nicht nur) für NPOs

Meyer¹,

Maier²

2017

Die Unternehmung

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Managerialismus-verstanden als eine Kombination von normativen Erwartungen, wie Organisationen mithilfe betriebswirtschaftlichen Wissens gestaltet werden sollen-betrifft Organisationen aller Sektoren: In gewinnorientierten Unternehmen sind Widersprüche zwischen managerialistischer Rationalität und den Rationalitäten fachlicher Professionen, lebensweltlichen Wertvorstellungen, oder Anforderungen sozialer und ökologischer Nachhaltigkeit nichts Ungewöhnliches. In Nonprofit-Organisationen zeigen sich solche Widersprüche noch stärker. Dies ist insbesondere seit den 1990er Jahren der Fall, als ein deutlicher Anstieg der Managerialisierung der Nonprofit-Praxis zu beobachten war, begleitet und auch befördert durch einen Anstieg der Forschung zu diesem Thema. Obwohl oder gerade weil das Phänomen lange Zeit definitorisch unscharf blieb, wurde es in der Diskussion zum Fluchtpunkt von Befürchtungen und Hoffnungen. Die Optimisten erwarten sich davon Effizienz-und Effektivitätsgewinne für Nonprofit-Organisationen (NPOs), die Skeptiker befürchten deren Kolonialisierung durch eine enge ökonomische Rationalität. In Forschung und Praxis wird ein polarisiertes Bild gezeichnet. Dieser Beitrag fasst die bisherigen empirischen Befunde zusammen und versucht zu einer Versachlichung der Diskussion beizutragen. Theoretisch basiert unser Verständnis von Managerialismus auf der Organisationstheorie Niklas Luhmanns (1988) und dem Konzept institutioneller Logiken (Friedland/Alford 1991).

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“…In short, the greater attention to capacity building and the role of management in the humanitarian arm implies a greater tendency toward managerialism within this section of the organization (Mitchell 2018) and it is possible to conclude that increased managerialism may lead to greater efficacy in the implementation of feedback and complaint mechanisms, if not in the deeper processes of beneficiary empowerment expected to flow from participation and consultation.…”

Section: Management Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Tale of Two Influences: An Exploration of Downward Accountability in World Vision International

McCollim¹

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International nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) face increasing accountability challenges stemming from past scandals and their claims to advance the public good. Since the 1990s, INGOs have responded with numerous reforms. The creation of the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership in 2003 and the INGO Accountability Charter in 2009 reflect sector-wide efforts to enhance accountability to mission, intended beneficiaries, and peer organizations. Many INGOs have adopted a broad range of accountability reforms. This dissertation focuses on how World Vision, the world's largest INGO, has done so. Downward accountability remains elusive due to such factors as INGOs' lack of transparency toward beneficiaries; the power imbalance between them; donor pressures; and competition with other INGOs.In the first phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 past and present staff members across nine countries and a wide range of seniority levels, using these sensitizing concepts: downward accountability, social accountability, humanitarian relief, development. The second phase comprised analysis of an internal dataset summarizing annual reports from 64 country offices; and review of documents including annual reports spanning 18 years.Using a within-case comparison, the study demonstrates that World Vision has experienced most progress in the area of beneficiary feedback and complaints (as opposed to consultation, participation, or information provision). This has typically taken place within emergency relief rather than development projects. A principal reason is the comparative simplicity of relief aid, contrasted with the difficulty of achieving long-term change through consultation and participation. Another is the greater role of institutional funding (vs. individual donations) in humanitarian relief. However, these donor pressures can lead to a "tick-the-box" mentality in which routinized compliance substitutes for authentic accountability.This study suggests that current downward accountability practices fall short of accomplishing a reconfiguration of power relations between the INGO and beneficiaries.They risk becoming another technical component in a large apparatus used to meet donor requirements. This is not surprising when we consider that service delivery comprises a significantly greater proportion of World Vision's work than does advocacy.Consequently, the relationships between agency and beneficiaries are potentially more susceptible to clientelistic tendencies. Keywords: Downward accountability; international nongovernmental organization; international development; humanitarian assistance. vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the support of many people. I would like to thank, first and foremost, the members of my dissertation committee, Drs.

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Modalities of Managerialism: The “Double Bind” of Normative and Instrumental Nonprofit Management Imperatives

Cited by 38 publications

References 135 publications

Toward a valid approach to nonprofit efficiency measurement

Toward a valid approach to nonprofit efficiency measurement

Managerialismus: Eine Herausforderung (nicht nur) für NPOs

A Tale of Two Influences: An Exploration of Downward Accountability in World Vision International

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