Kevin P. Kearns

The Analytic Hierarchy Process

This chapter provides an overview of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), which is a systematic procedure for representing the elements of any problem hierarchically. It organizes the basic rationality by breaking down a problem into its smaller constituent parts and then guides decision makers through a series of pair-wise comparison judgments to express the relative strength or intensity of impact of the elements in the hierarchy. These judgments are then translated to numbers. The AHP includes procedures and principles used to synthesize the many judgments to derive priorities among criteria and subsequently for alternative solutions. It is useful to note that the numbers thus obtained are ratio scale estimates and correspond to so-called hard numbers. Problem solving is a process of setting priorities in steps. One step decides on the most important elements of a problem, another on how best to repair, replace, test, and evaluate the elements, and another on how to implement the solution and measure performance.

Innovations in local government: A sociocognitive network approach

What frames of reference (assumptions, values, and belief systems) are used by municipal decision makers to guide their assessments of management innovations? Are frames of reference related to an actor’s position in an interpersonal communication network? Can the study of frames of reference and communication roles be combined in a new “sociocognitive network” approach to the study of innovation adoption and diffusion? This study addresses these questions in the context of local government decision making. The results suggest that a sociocognitive network approach, which considers both frames of reference and communication roles, holds significant promise as an element in multivariate representations of innovative behavior. The results of this study are best viewed as contributing to theory development in research on innovative behavior in organizational decision making. Additional research will be required to test and refine this theory in other organizational contexts.

Comparing Faith-Based and Secular Community Service Corporations in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Much of the national dialogue regarding the role of faith-based organizations (FBOs) in social service delivery has focused on congregations that provide various types of services to their communities. Comparatively little attention has been given to FBOs that have incorporated independently as 501(c)3 tax-exempt organizations. This survey of 237 community service organizations in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, finds that a substantial amount of service is provided by agencies that consider themselves to be FBOs, which are comparable to their secular counterparts in many respects, such as size, funding, program capacity, and management sophistication. FBOs appear to be substantially different from secular agencies with respect to their extensive use of volunteers, their relatively low reliance on government funding, and their relatively low engagement in policy advocacy and lobbying.

How Nonprofit Leaders Evaluate Funding Sources An Exploratory Study of Nonprofit Leaders

Intensive interviews were conducted with CEOs and board chairs (n = 18) to explore the criteria they use to compare and contrast funding sources common to nonprofit organizations. The interview protocol used in the study is distinctive for: (1) the amount of data it generates from relatively few interviews, and (2) its power in eliciting the underlying values and assumptions of interviewees rather than imposing the researcher’s frame of reference as is the case with traditional forced-choice questionnaires and interview protocols. The nonprofit leaders who were interviewed in this exploratory study seem to employ a strategic perspective in their evaluation of funding sources, asserting to the researchers that they use evaluative criteria such as the extent to which the funding source can catalyze other resources, the alignment of the funding source with the mission of the organization, and the sustainability of the funding source over time.

Accountability and Entrepreneurial Public Management: The Case of the Orange County Investment Fund

This article presents a conceptual framework that illustrates four distinct types of accountability environments facing public managers. The framework is used as a heuristic tool to examine the broad facts and contexts surrounding the bankruptcy of the Orange County, California investment pool. The framework also suggests management philosophies and strategies that are appropriate for each type of accountability environment.

Communication Networks Among Municipal Administrators Sharing Information About Computers in Local Government

To whom do municipal administrators turn for information and advice on a new management technology? Why do administrators seek out certain information sources to the exclusion of others? Can change agents who are active in the development and dissemination of innovative management technologies benefit in tangible and practical ways from a better understanding of professional and interpersonal communication networks? This article addresses these and other questions by documenting and inter preting patterns of interpersonal communication among administrators in 127 communities in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The findings have practical relevance because interpersonal networking among municipal administrators is an important but heretofore undocumented form of intergovernmental cooperation and resource sharing. The findings also have implications for the testing and refinement of theoretical models of information access, diffusion, and utilization.

Leadership skills as construed by nonprofit chief executives

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how chief executives of 20 nonprofit organizations construe and prioritize the skills they use to perform typical leadership tasks. Design/methodology/approach – The in-depth interview protocol used in the study is based on the Repertory Grid Technique, which elicits assumptions, beliefs, and values of respondents without imposing the researchers’ implicit frame of reference. Findings – The interviews generated 285 skill constructs. Respondents in this study report that they utilize a mix of technical, interpersonal, and conceptual skills. Interpersonal skills, especially communication and trust building, appear to be particularly prevalent among the many skills used by executives to perform their leadership tasks. Research limitations/implications – Because this is an exploratory study, its findings cannot yet be generalized to other contexts. Therefore, the paper concludes with some propositions for further research. Practical implications – The study ma...

The Nonprofit Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh: preparing students for transition to professional settings

The Nonprofit Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh gives graduate students the opportunity to serve as management consultants to nonprofit organizations. This article describes the learning objectives, logistics, and outcomes of the Nonprofit Clinic. Bloom’s 1956 taxonomy of learning objectives is employed to assess learning outcomes.

Benefit-Cost Analysis and Resource Allocation

This chapter highlights the highly relevant applicability of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to project evaluation and resource allocation. Benefit–cost analysis supplies the underlying principles to guide resource allocation, while the AHP is used to structure the allocation problem and measure the factors consequential to the decision. To measure the relative importance of the components and benefits and costs, sampling of public opinion, employment of expert judgment, and comparison with the consequences of past projects of this kind can be resorted to. Resources, in a general sense, are the means to bring about a change in the state of a system or to direct it toward a desired end. They are usually allocated in different amounts to different projects or proposals according to the perceived worthiness of the alternatives. There are three different types of resource allocation problems: (1) selection of one project to be undertaken with the total resources available, (2) selection of a mix of projects to which available resources will be allocated in equal or unequal portions, and (3) allocation of resources to existing projects according to their remaining (marginal) potential. The application of AHP to structure benefit–cost problems results in two extensions of traditional methods: (1) intangible, noneconomic factors that have so far not been effectively integrated in decision making can be quantified and (2) explicit and informed tradeoffs can be made among multiple selection criteria, including multiple performance objectives and output activities.

Systems Characteristics and The Analytic Hierarchy Process

This chapter describes the properties of systems in correlation with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) highlighting it as a systems method for dealing with systems problems. The AHP, with its extensions to systems with feedback, captures the major properties embodied in systems theory and is its hand maiden. The chapter highlights a few characteristics of systems that are important in hierarchic or network representation to obtain the most faithful and realistic interpretation and solution of problems. The chapter discusses systems in terms of four major attributes, namely, purpose, function, flow, and structure. The purposes of a system are linked to the environment in which the system is embedded. A problem which occurs in a given system can be regarded either as improper functioning in the system itself or as a flaw in its interactions with the environment. The interface of the system with the environment is separate from either the system or the environment. Solving one problem can lead to disturbing other factors in the system or in its interface with the environment.