Jens Mueller

The measurement of responsible governance and management of NPOs in New Zealand: an evaluation tool for NPOs, donors and government. “If you have no money – you have no mission”

In New Zealand, as in many other developed countries around the world, news is made not just by those many organizations with superb performance records, but also by the few whose achievements fall far short of donor expectations and public perceptions. One of the core competencies of NPOs should be the ability to build strong donor relationships (Lewis, 1998), to create a sustainable income model which allows the organization to focus on their operational efforts. Funding uncertainties affect the ability to operate, to motivate and to plan for the future. Research (Mueller et al., 2004) was undertaken to determine how the relationship between NPOs and donors can be improved. This work focused on the identification of areas where NPOs need support to improve their governance and management functions. Both donors and NPOs were investigated, and the results were used to speculate in which areas external support would be most helpful and where donor/NPO perceptions differ. NPOs and donors indicated that they are aware that NPOs require both governance and managerial support. Both the NPOs and the donors indicated that an objective evaluation system would be valuable to them as evidence of credibility. Such a system would also help to guide the internal assessment process. These findings led to the development of the Looking Glass Evaluation Tool (LGET) which measures an organization along the following dimensions: effective management, strategic planning, advocacy, legal framework, governance and fundraising. The dimensions were derived partly from the work of Lester Salamon from the Nathan Cummings Foundation, New York. The LGET questions an organization about its levels of understanding, planning and implementation of governance and managerial functions and provides a snapshot of the organization’s structural effectiveness. The tool does not test the outcomes of the organization’s work; but speculates that an organization with poor internal structure will be less likely to perform sustainably, especially in the area of creating strong donor relationships. The tool is completed through a guided self‐assessment process, which is then reviewed with the organization to assure a clear understanding of the review objectives. From this snapshot of performance in a wide range of areas, organizations can focus resources on specific parts of their work for improvement. The LGET has been trialled in its prototype form in a number of NPOs in New Zealand, including a Maori charitable trust and has been favorably received.

Governing the corporation: Structure, process and behaviour

To those of us affected by the global recession that started in late 2007 (and it is hard to think of anyone in the world who is not touched by this massive downturn), it is sobering to realise that much of what has been wrought upon us is the result of decisions made behind closed doors by corporate directors, regulators and politicians. Boardroom, regulatory and political behaviours are all grounded in the desires, emotions and knowledge of the human beings who aspire to be business leaders, regulatory watchdogs and politicians.

When doing good is just the start to being good: a possible tool to improve the organizational effectiveness of non-profit health care organizations.

Abstract Health care is an area where many non-profit organizations do good work, relieving governments and for-profit providers of workload. They contribute often specific knowledge and competence or provide better access to patients through their cultural and ethnic affiliations. Non-profit organizations, NPOs, are often dependent on one or more significant donors, sometimes governments, sometimes for-profit health providers and mostly private/corporate donors with an interest in specific medical areas, such as Alzheimers, or in unique communities, such as the Laotian neighborhoods in Southern California. In the media, high profile scandals involving financial irresponsibility have caused shock waves around the world. Concerns among some donors over the lack of a transparent performance measurement of non-profit entities have increased with the greater call for transparency and good governance in the corporate world. Not all the scandals have been in the commercial sector; some Not for Profit Organizations (NPOs) have been identified as having less than credible governance structures (Thomson, 2003). The watchdog organization SustainAbility reported that accountability and transparency are issues on which several NPOs are found wanting (Anon., 2003) and the New York Times reports that until recently NPOs were thought to be exempt from traditional oversight; their do-good nature and the commitment of their participants were thought to be sufficient to produce positive results (Christensen, 2004).

The Chihuahua sustainability practice: lots of shivering but no real action. Practical sustainability acceptance is low in German and New Zealand firms

Purpose – This paper aims to describe the extent to which corporate organizations in Germany and in New Zealand have included sustainability practices as part of their strategic planning process.Design/methodology/approach – Current literature is reviewed to make a case for sustainability to be a driver behind corporate decision making and long‐term performance. The results of surveys of several hundred firms in both Germany and New Zealand, countries with a publicly stated commitment to sustainability, are reviewed to compare the adoption rates of sustainability practices.Findings – There is a significant difference between what firms do and what their managers think is important. Managers largely consider sustainability practices an important factor for their future careers, while firms to a large extent do not include sustainability as part of their strategic or operational planning process.Research limitations/implications – The International Sustainability Acceptance Measurement (ISAM) collects data ...

Improving innovation performance through knowledge acquisition: the moderating role of employee retention and human resource management practices

Purpose This paper aims to study the effects of knowledge acquisition on innovation performance and the moderating effects of human resource management (HRM), in terms of employee retention and HRM practices, on the above-mentioned relationship. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 129 firms operating in a wide array of sectors has been used to gather data through a standardized questionnaire for testing the hypotheses through ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models. Findings The results indicate that knowledge acquisition positively affects innovation performance and that HRM moderates the relationship between knowledge acquisition and innovation performance. Originality/value With the increasing proclivity towards engaging in open innovation, firms are likely to face some tensions and opportunities leading to a shift in the management of human resources. This starts from the assumption that the knowledge base of the firm resides in the people who work for the firm and that some HRM factors can influence innovation within firms. Despite this, there is a lack of research investigating the link between knowledge acquisition, HRM and innovation performance under the open innovation lens. This paper intends to fill this gap and nurture future research by assessing whether knowledge acquisition influences innovation performance and whether HRM moderates such a relationship.

Boards of directors in New Zealand: what do they reveal about governance?

The debate around corporate governance has been particularly vigorous in this part of the 21st century. Theoretical frameworks have been tested by spectacular corporate failures that also raise questions as to the effectiveness of different approaches. Empirical, contextually-based research into how governance theory informs practice assists in understanding these questions. This paper explores findings from empirical research conducted into the make-up of boards of directors in New Zealand, an export focused economy dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises. These findings are revealing in demonstrating that despite the challenges faced by the New Zealand industry in a volatile global environment, the skill-sets and other characteristics present in, and sought from, directors appear to be both narrow and traditional. However, there is also evidence to suggest shifting expectations and requirements are to some extent and will continue to propel change in both boards and in contributions expected of individual directors.

Ambidextrous IT capabilities and business process performance: an empirical analysis

Purpose In several studies, it has been found that organizational performance is affected by ambidextrous IT capabilities. Nevertheless, business processes are essential to the value generation conversion of IT investment into performance. In the literature, this focus on the impact of IT capabilities at the business process level is still under investigated. So, the purpose of this paper is to test the effects of explorative and exploitative business process IT capabilities on business process performances (BPP) and the positive moderator role of business process management (BPM) capabilities. Design/methodology/approach This analysis has been done through a quantitative study in the Italian hotel industry. An OLS regression analysis has been carried out on a sample of 404 firms. Findings The study identifies distinct effects related to exploration and exploitation and finds a moderating effect of BPM capabilities, explaining their positive impact on BPP. Originality/value The main purpose of the paper is to contribute to the area of business process management by demonstrating the importance of both explorative and exploitative IT capabilities for a business process as well as the managerial capabilities at the process level. Furthermore, this focus at the process level allows us to add original insights into research on ambidexterity by expanding existing works.

The Social Dimension of Boards’ Role in Better Corporate Governance

This chapter considers the legitimacy of shareholder (also known as investor) activism as a means of exercising influence in the corporate decision- making process and identifies engaged boards as a superior solution to addressing issues that activists attempt to address. Drawing on ideas from multiple principal agency theory, the board of directors’ wider role is conceptualized as representing the common interests of multiple principals who have both common and divergent interests. When any one principal is able to serve its own interests by influencing corporate decision-making through shareholder/investor activism, other principals’ interests may be compromised. A set of initiatives available to boards is suggested that focuses on the social dimension of their strategic governance role in mediating among multiple stakeholders to address their concerns while at the same time working towards the long-term sustainability of the business. The chapter highlights the application of multiple principal agency theory to the context of corporate governance, along with other concepts relating to the social dimension and the emerging relational perspective on board competence. From these perspectives it is proposed that the board takes a proactive role in leading this type of engagement, while at the same time recognizing that directors will need better relational skills than has traditionally been expected of them in fulfilling their fiduciary responsibilities.