Survival in local voluntary associations

Abstract

Past analyses of organizational failure and success include studies of traditional social movements (Sandell, 2001;Stern, 1999), interest organizations Lowery, 1995, 1997;Haider-Markel, 1997;Nownes and Lipinski, 2005), and new social movements (Edwards and Marullo, 1995;Minkoff, 1993Minkoff, , 1997. Most of these, however, focus exclusively on factors outside the organization' s control or on organizational design and strategy. Some explore hypotheses derived from organizational ecology such as density dependence or the liabilities of newness and smallness, but do not investigate how successful design or leadership may help overcome such liabilities. Conversely, studies that focus on organizational design often fail to take into account how environmental factors limit the options available to organizational leaders. This article argues, and offers findings to support, that neither approach is sufficient to understand organizational survival; factors both outside and within the organization' s control contribute crucial pieces to the puzzle.Note: I thank Roger A. Lohmann, Per Selle, and the anonymous reviewers for invaluable comments on previous drafts.

Democratic Values and Civic Engagement of Local Voluntary Associations

“…Previous studies (Wollebaek 2009) also indicated that a concentration usually occurs in both economic resources and the number of members to a small group of organizations. The third hypothesis posited that the largest voluntary associations would be more positive of both management more similar to a for-profit company and management with fewer democratic decision-making procedures.…”

“…Because the previous studies in this area have tended to focus on larger confederate organizations (compare Einarsson 2012a(compare Einarsson , 2012bHvenmark 2008), it is unclear whether these studies outline a general trend that is valid even for small local voluntary associations in more rural areas. Previous studies have indicated that there may be a rural/urban divide in values among voluntary associations (Hooghe and Botterman 2012;Wollebaek 2009). Therefore, the following hypothesis is formulated:…”

“…Studies from neighboring Norway suggest that together with external factors, the actions of voluntary associations' leadership may influence their survival (Wollebaek 2009). Other empirical studies have underlined the importance of a particular form of leadership for nonprofit organizations (Helm and Andersson 2010).…”

Sustainability Perceptions in Romanian Non-Profit Organizations: An Exploratory Study Using Success Factor Analysis

“…• C. Finally, one last perspective discusses NPO sustainability in terms of success or failure [10,31,[75][76][77].…”

Interest Organization Demography Research in Europe

“…The locally precise, high-n data is, however, very well suited for the assessment of population ecological theory. Wollebaek (2009Wollebaek ( , 2010 shares this interest in social welfare policies but, in contrast the UK studies, theoretically relies on the organizational ecology tradition in among others social movement studies (Minkoff 1997). He is interested in the change in density and the turn-over / volatility of local populations of voluntary associations.…”