Rob Paton

Beyond Nonprofit Management Education: Leadership Development in a Time of Blurred Boundaries and Distributed Learning

This article argues that three broad trends—changes in nonprofit organizations, changes in the ways they are led, and changes in the available technologies of learning—combine to challenge the long-term viability of discrete full-time programs of nonprofit management education. To explore this contention, the authors draw on several sets of evidence. First, they examine literature about these trends. Second, they draw on their research and consultancies in nonprofit management and in large-scale educational strategies. Third, they draw on their experiences of developing and teaching nonprofit management education programs in the United Kingdom. They argue that new problems have overlaid old problems in the nonprofit world. However, these are linked to broader societal trends that reflect new ways of organizing, and this shifts the focus of learning and development. Finally, they review the implications for nonprofit management education and set out some principles to guide new developments in this field.

What's different about public and non-profit "turnaround"?

This article reconstructs the literature on corporate turnaround in terms of its recurring features. It then tests these against the experience of four very different cases of the turnaround or attempted turnaround of public and non-profit organizations. It concludes that while some concepts from the corporate literature usefully highlight important aspects, other critical complicating features of what is needed to achieve a turnaround in public and non-profit contexts would be overlooked or poorly treated if the situation were considered simply in these terms. These complicating features deserve the attention both of practitioners and researchers.

How are Values Handled in Voluntary Agencies

The front page headline was ‘“Sacked because Catholic” claims agency worker’. The story, which ran onto an inside page, detailed a brief but bitter dispute between a volunteer co-ordinator and the management of the agency within which he was based. The dismissed worker claimed: I am a Catholic and although I am willing to work with gays and women who have had abortions, I could not actively promote those principles. ... They wanted me to leave my religion at the door, which means they are discriminating against me because of my religious beliefs. They are putting the freedom to be homosexual and have abortions above the choice of being a Christian (East Lothian Courier, 1993).

Nonprofit's Use of Awards to Improve and Demonstrate Performance: Valuable Discipline or Burdensome Formalities?

Arrangements to certify that an organizations management systems meet standards of good practice are an increasingly prominent feature in the environment of public and private nonprofits. This paper reports an exploratory study of the issues that this phenomenon presents to managers and policy makers, drawing on the limited literature, and five case studies covering two different schemes. The main conclusions are that nonprofits can and do use these awards in very different ways, and hence the outcomes are diverse. These findings run counter both to the rational system assumptions on which such arrangements are based, and to the general thrust of institutional theory with its emphasis on isomorphism. Some implications for decision makers and future research are outlined.

Does Knowledge Management Work in NGOs?: A Longitudinal Study

The study reported here tracked over an extended period the fortunes of knowledge management programs introduced into three medium-sized international development charities. The programs were quite different, each carefully tailored to their contexts, and each a “cut-back” version of knowledge management. In these forms they withstood significant changes in their staffing, structural location, and rationales. They came to be valued by staff even if tangible evidence of their benefits was in short supply. For those in non-commercial organizational contexts contemplating the use of knowledge management, the implication is to take it seriously, but use it selectively.

Nonprofit Management Education: International Trends and Issues

Capacity-building is an international activity-and so, increasingly, is nonprofit management education (NME). This article presents a typology of different NME programs and argues that the major changes in management education associated with electronic media will also affect NME. In-house programs and international collaboration will become more prevalent, presenting challenges and opportunities.

Investigating knowledge management: can KM really change organisational culture?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship of knowledge management (KM) with organisational culture, a subject of interest to academics and KM practitioners. Design/methodology/approach – It is based on case study research in the voluntary sector, which is relatively less studied than the commercial or public sectors. Findings – One major finding was that although culture was recognised as an intricate concept, KM programmes were often simplistically intended to “change culture”. Two instances of long-term change were identified. Strong and persistent leadership, with a clear rationale for culture change, and also a well-established technology innovation programme, using local “champions” to help align knowledge programmes with daily work routines, did have an impact on organisational culture. Research limitations/implications – The findings provide food for thought for practitioners in the voluntary sector. As external pressures and common technology are leading the different ...

The museum values framework: a framework for understanding organisational culture in museums

This article introduces a theoretical tool for understanding organisational culture, or values, in museums. The Museum Values Framework (MVF) was adapted from the Competing Values Framework and can be used to identify various sets of values found in a museum context. Identifying the underlying values could help increase the visibility of different priorities and, in doing so, contribute to our understanding of the tensions facing museum managers. After clarifying what is meant by organisational culture/values, the article describes how the MVF was developed. It explains how the framework incorporates four sets of values (club, temple, visitor attraction and forum) and how these operate in combination to shape behaviour in museums. The article concludes by discussing the potential application of the MVF to museum management by practitioners and academics.

Government support for faith-based organizations: the case of a development programme for faith leaders

A government initiative to train faith leaders usefully extended existing provision, but will require continuing support for some years. Broader community leadership is not always expected from those holding religious positions. The challenges involved in bridging linguistic and cultural differences highlight some of the reasons why initiatives like this are needed.

Learning to manage and managing to learn

Can an academic course in management be of practical use? Is distance education as effective as normal methods for teaching applied subjects such as management? In this paper, Rob Paton and Christina Lay, from the Systems Group of the Open Universitys Faculty of Technology, address these questions by reflecting on their experience in producing and presenting T244, Managing in Organisations. They conclude that not only can academic courses be relevant, by encouraging students to relate theory to practice, but also that distance education can be more effective for teaching applied subjects, since the student remains working in the area to which the study is to be applied.