The nonprofit human service sector: Understanding an organization\u27s capacity to innovate

This qualitative study was designed to understand how a nonprofit human service organization (NHSO) understands, perceives, and engages in innovation strategies in a turbulent environment. This study also examined how environmental factors influence an organization\u27s capacity to innovate. These concepts are relevant for further exploration because the NHSO sector typically operates in a turbulent environment and has multiple stakeholders that mandate change and innovation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine staff and board members from three NHSOs located in a New England city. Political economy and resource dependency theories provided a framework to the research questions and analysis. These interviews were transcribed and analyzed for common elements and themes. Emergent themes centered on the staff and board members\u27 (1) micro-view of innovation and (2) stability, as well as internal and external systems that they perceived to support the innovation process, including (3) leadership development, (4) role clarity, (5) organizational commitment, (6) demands on staff, (7) and relationships as leverage

Problem-based leadership: nurturing managers during turbulent times

Purpose – The paper explores problem-based learning (PBL) as a useful methodology in leadership development during turbulent times. It identifies several pertinent action points for managers to lead through problems while understanding their capacity to empower themselves and others to face challenges at work. Design/methodology/approach – Broad concepts of PBL are used to distil the characteristics of this methodology and how they might be applicable to leadership development. An actual case of PBL in leadership education and training is employed to illustrate the processes of problem solving and reflective action-taking. Findings – When confronted by problems, managers should adopt a learning-oriented mindset and draw on the strengths of others to generate immediate solutions for experimentation. In doing so, they need to accept failure as a prerequisite for creative tensions to be generated and applied in messy circumstances. Until they think out of the box, they will continue to solve problems in tried-and-tested ways obstructing the emergence of revolutionary solutions. Practical implications – In order for managers to make an impact on organizational process and improvement, they need to focus on the action and learn components of PBL. They should be given the space to listen to their own “voice” and internalize the “voice” of others through reflection and dialogue. They should also be recognized for their courage and boldness in confronting problems even if more problems are generated in the process. It is facing the goliath that managers truly grow to become real leaders. Originality/value – Although the concept of PBL has been around for a long while, its applicability to leadership development has not been sufficiently explored in both theory and practice. This paper brings another dimension to the common idea of problem solving where solution seeking is not an end it itself. At best, it is a means to discovering the potential of true leadership in those whose mindset is focused on learning and reflective decision-making

Issues in front-end decision-making on projects

The importance of the front-end decision-making phase in projects is being increasingly recognized - the need to do the right project is on a par with doing the project right. This area is underrepresented in the literature, but there are a number of key themes that run throughout, identifying key issues or difficulties during this stage. This article looks at some of these themes and includes: the need for alignment between organizational strategy and the project concept; dealing with complexity, in particular the systemicity and interrelatedness within project decisions; consideration of the ambiguity implicit in all major projects; taking into account psychological and political biases within estimation of benefits and costs; consideration of the social geography and politics within decision-making groups; and preparation for the turbulence within the project environment, including the maintenance of strategic alignment

Integrating diversity management initiatives with strategic human resource management

Managing diversity is usually viewed in broad conceptual terms as recognising and valuing differences among people; it is directed towards achieving organisational outcomes and reflects management practices adopted to improve the effectiveness of people management in organisations (Kramar 2001; Erwee, Palamara & Maguire 2000). The purpose of the chapter is to examine the debate on how diversity management initiatives can be integrated with strategic human resource management (SHRM), and how SHRM is linked to organisational strategy. Part of this debate considers to what extent processes associated with managing diversity are an integral part of the strategic vision of management. However, there is no consensus on how a corporate strategic plan influences or is influenced by SHRM, and how the latter integrates diversity management as a key component. The first section of the chapter addresses the controversy about organisations as linear, steady state entities or as dynamic, complex and fluid entities. This controversy fuels debate in the subsequent sections about the impact that such paradigms have on approaches to SHRM. The discussion on SHRM in this chapter will explore its links to corporate strategy as well as to diversity management. Subsequent sections propose that managing diversity should address sensitive topics such as gender, race and ethnicity. Finally, attention is given to whether an integrative approach to SHRM can be achieved and how to overcome the obstacles to making this a reality

Reviews

Eta De Cicco, Mike Farmer and James Hargrave, Using the Internet in Secondary Schools, London: Kogan Page (2nd edn), 2001. ISBN: 0–7494–3459–7. Softback, x + 192 pages, £16.99

The Organizational Fitness Navigator: Creating and Measuring Organizational Fitness for Fast-Paced Transformation

In the fast-changing environment of today dynamic capabilities to manage organizational transformation are regarded as crucial for business survival and improved performance. Although dynamic organizational capabilities have been receiving intense scrutiny by researchers and practitioners in the past few years, relatively little attention has been directed towards creating a systemic model of dynamic capabilities, and how to effectively measure what the authors call organizational fitness capabilities. This paper builds on the concepts of organizational fitness and its profiling (OFP), and proposes the organizational fitness navigator (OFN) as a systemic model of dynamic organizational capabilities. Part of the OFP model is a systemic scorecard (SCC) as a measurement tool for organizational fitness - in contrast to the well-known balanced scorecard (BSC) - for improving business survival and performance in increasingly networked environments.dynamic capabilities, organizational fitness, organizational fitness profiling, organizational fitness navigator, systemic scorecard

From smart and corporate to urban and edgy: revitalising organisations in turbulent environments

Purpose: This paper aims to address issues surrounding the revitalising of organisations in turbulent environments. Design/methodology/approach: The paper contains a discussion of relevant issues and presentation of research which considers how leaders today are choosing to function in a very uncertain environment, that of higher education. Findings: The characteristics of urban and edgy organisations were all found to be evident in the leaders style in higher education. However, it was identified that this type of leadership rests on two critical axis–Knowledge management (shared and open) and the overarching style of leadership (empowerment and encouragement). Research limitations/implications: This work is introductory and used a small sample as a pilot–further more extensive work is needed in this area. Practical implications: This paper has introduced the idea of a new label for organisations which find themselves to be so full of diversity and differences that they can be characterised as being “on the edge” of danger–yet these organisations have found a way to be something which is separate from that of the urban character–important, flexible, dynamic, and playing a central role in development of new ideas. Originality/value: The contribution made to the discipline of leadership is the introduction of a new way of looking at organisation–the work offers new ways of looking at established ideas, through new lenses which may assist leaders and all who work in large organisations