354,623 research outputs found
Nonprofit Management Tools and Trends 2014
The heightened importance of strong nonprofit management calls attention to a wide range of management practices that we call tools. Despite their importance, to date there has been no systematic attempt to understand what tools are being used or how effective they are. This report aims to fill that knowledge gap. It creates a "consumer report" for nonprofit leaders seeking to apply one or more of 25 popular tools to the challenges at hand. These tools can help organizations live up to their missions and meet funders' expectations for results. Many of the tools on our list, such as scenario planning and benchmarking, migrated from the business world. Others, such as funding models and constituent engagement, evolved specifically with nonprofit needs in mind.To understand how many tools a typical nonprofit uses, for what purposes, and how they perform, The Bridgespan Group developed a survey of the top nonprofit tools and trends in the social sector, nominated by a panel of more than two dozen practitioners, funders, and intermediaries. Overall findings confirm nonprofits' widespread use of management tools and their interest in using more in the future. The survey also provides insights into how well those tools help leaders respond to trends in the sector. It is our intent that this report will be repeated at intervals and should serve to stimulate questions, test practices, spark experiments, and ultimately help managers to get better results
Fatores que afetam a adoção de análises de Big Data em empresas
With the total quantity of data doubling every two years, the low price of computing and data storage, make Big
Data analytics (BDA) adoption desirable for companies, as a tool to get competitive advantage. Given the availability
of free software, why have some companies failed to adopt these techniques? To answer this question,
we extend the unified theory of technology adoption and use of technology model (UTAUT) adapted for the BDA
context, adding two variables: resistance to use and perceived risk. We used the level of implementation of
these techniques to divide companies into users and non-users of BDA. The structural models were evaluated
by partial least squares (PLS). The results show the importance of good infrastructure exceeds the difficulties
companies face in implementing it. While companies planning to use Big Data expect strong results, current
users are more skeptical about its performance.Con la cantidad total de datos duplicándose cada dos años, el bajo precio de la informática y del almacenamiento
de datos, la adopción del análisis Big Data (BDA) es altamente deseable para las empresas, como un
instrumento para conseguir una ventaja competitiva. Dada la disponibilidad de software libre, ¿por qué algunas
empresas no han adoptado estas técnicas? Para responder a esta pregunta, ampliamos la teoría unificada
de la adopción y uso de tecnología (UTAUT) adaptado para el contexto BDA, agregando dos variables: resistencia
al uso y riesgo percibido. Utilizamos el grado de implantación de estas técnicas para dividir las empresas
entre: usuarias y no usuarias de BDA. Los modelos estructurales fueron evaluados con partial least squres (PLS).
Los resultados muestran que la importancia de una buena infraestructura excede las dificultades que enfrentan
las empresas para implementarla. Mientras que las compañías que planean usar BDA esperan muy buenos
resultados, las usuarias actuales son más escépticos sobre su rendimiento.Com a quantidade total de dados duplicando a cada dois anos, o baixo preço da computação e do armazenamento
de dados tornam a adoção de análises de Big Data (BDA) desejável para as empresas, como aquelas
que obterão uma vantagem competitiva. Dada a disponibilidade de software livre, por que algumas empresas
não adotaram essas técnicas? Para responder a essa pergunta, estendemos a teoria unificada de adoção e uso
de tecnologia (UTAUT) adaptado para o contexto do BDA, adicionando duas variáveis: resistência ao uso e risco
percebido. Usamos a nível da implementação da tecnologia para dividir as empresas em usuários e não usuários
de técnicas de BDA. Os modelos estruturais foram avaliados por partial least squares (PLS). Os resultados
mostram que a importância de uma boa infraestrutura excede as dificuldades que as empresas enfrentam para
implementá-la. Enquanto as empresas que planejam usar Big Data esperam resultados fortes, os usuários
atuais são mais céticos em relação ao seu desempenho
Next Generation Evaluation: Embracing Complexity, Connectivity, and Change
This Learning Brief draws from literature and research, as well as more than a dozen interviews with foundation leaders, evaluation practitioners, and social sector thought leaders, with the intention of starting the conversation in the field around Next Generation Evaluation characteristics and approaches
Reinventing Municipal Governance: From the New Generation of Big-City Mayors
The decade of the 1990s brought to power in many American cities a new breed of mayors who have sought to reinvent municipal governance through a variety of innovations that, like the mayors themselves, defy easy partisan or ideological classification. These innovations are widely viewed as having helped to turn around such cities as Philadelphia, Cleveland, New York, and Chicago. The purpose of this paper is to explain the most notable of these innovations for possible consideration by Atlanta's incoming mayor
A third generation personality test
The development of personality testing in the workplace has undergone three phases. The first generation of tests, such as Cattell’s 16 PF and the British test OPQ, was characterized by complex systems for the description of the personality. These systems were simplified in part by the following generation of the test, which was based on the five factor model but that model was simple only at the horizontal level. Beneath the five main factors were a large number of ancillary factors, usually 30-40 in number. No tests of the first and second generation could effectively handle the problem of impression management, nor did they take into account the effects of mood on the test responses. These and a number of other problems were solved to a great extent in the UPP test, which therefore is proposed to represent the third generation of personality tests. The test features focusing on “narrow” and work-relevant traits, inclusion of a few aggregated variables with the same focus, including two variables especially fitted to the requirement of any given application, an effective and validated method for correction for impression management, extensive treatment of quality of data from each tested person to yield a “warning signal” when results should not be trusted, measurement of current mood at the time of testing which can give another “warning signal”, measurement of attitude towards the test (“face validity”), two types of narrative reports both to the person taking the test and the recruiter/psychologist – one based on normative comparisons and the other on ipsative (within-person) comparisons, measures of work related attitudes which are of value in themselves but can also be used as proxy criteria, greatly facilitating validation work.personality test; impression management; mood; face vaility; data quality
Observation of interstellar lithium in the low-metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud
The primordial abundances of light elements produced in the standard theory
of Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) depend only on the cosmic ratio of baryons to
photons, a quantity inferred from observations of the microwave background. The
predicted primordial 7Li abundance is four times that measured in the
atmospheres of Galactic halo stars. This discrepancy could be caused by
modification of surface lithium abundances during the stars' lifetimes or by
physics beyond the Standard Model that affects early nucleosynthesis. The
lithium abundance of low-metallicity gas provides an alternative constraint on
the primordial abundance and cosmic evolution of lithium that is not
susceptible to the in situ modifications that may affect stellar atmospheres.
Here we report observations of interstellar 7Li in the low-metallicity gas of
the Small Magellanic Cloud, a nearby galaxy with a quarter the Sun's
metallicity. The present-day 7Li abundance of the Small Magellanic Cloud is
nearly equal to the BBN predictions, severely constraining the amount of
possible subsequent enrichment of the gas by stellar and cosmic-ray
nucleosynthesis. Our measurements can be reconciled with standard BBN with an
extremely fine-tuned depletion of stellar Li with metallicity. They are also
consistent with non-standard BBN.Comment: Published in Nature. Includes main text and Supplementary
Information. Replaced with final title and abstrac
Situating the Next Generation of Impact Measurement and Evaluation for Impact Investing
In taking stock of the landscape, this paper promotes a convergence of methods, building from both the impact investment and evaluation fields.The commitment of impact investors to strengthen the process of generating evidence for their social returns alongside the evidence for financial returns is a veritable game changer. But social change is a complex business and good intentions do not necessarily translate into verifiable impact.As the public sector, bilaterals, and multilaterals increasingly partner with impact investors in achieving collective impact goals, the need for strong evidence about impact becomes even more compelling. The time has come to develop new mindsets and approaches that can be widely shared and employed in ways that will advance the frontier for impact measurement and evaluation of impact investing. Each of the menu options presented in this paper can contribute to building evidence about impact. The next generation of measurement will be stronger if the full range of options comes into play and the more evaluative approaches become commonplace as means for developing evidence and testing assumptions about the processes of change from a stakeholder perspective– with a view toward context and systems.Creating and sharing evidence about impact is a key lever for contributing to greater impact, demonstrating additionality, and for building confidence among potential investors, partners and observers in this emergent industry on its path to maturation. Further, the range of measurement options offers opportunities to choose appropriate approaches that will allow data to contribute to impact management– to improve on the business model of ventures and to improve services and systems that improve conditions for people and households living in poverty.
Trusting in Change
Describes the background to a series of changes that led the foundation, beginning in 2000, to implement a new grantmaking approach
Application of Natural Language Processing to Determine User Satisfaction in Public Services
Research on customer satisfaction has increased substantially in recent
years. However, the relative importance and relationships between different
determinants of satisfaction remains uncertain. Moreover, quantitative studies
to date tend to test for significance of pre-determined factors thought to have
an influence with no scalable means to identify other causes of user
satisfaction. The gaps in knowledge make it difficult to use available
knowledge on user preference for public service improvement. Meanwhile, digital
technology development has enabled new methods to collect user feedback, for
example through online forums where users can comment freely on their
experience. New tools are needed to analyze large volumes of such feedback. Use
of topic models is proposed as a feasible solution to aggregate open-ended user
opinions that can be easily deployed in the public sector. Generated insights
can contribute to a more inclusive decision-making process in public service
provision. This novel methodological approach is applied to a case of service
reviews of publicly-funded primary care practices in England. Findings from the
analysis of 145,000 reviews covering almost 7,700 primary care centers indicate
that the quality of interactions with staff and bureaucratic exigencies are the
key issues driving user satisfaction across England
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