NML Journal: Implementing Nonprofit Strategy
Social Enterprise Newsletter, Spring 2001
In March 2001, a special edition of the journal Nonprofit Management and Leadership (NML) — New Directions for Practice: Nonprofit Strategy Formulation, Organization, and Measurement — was published. Along with a related supplemental edition of the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (Vol. 29, No. 1, Supplement 2000), this special edition presents the fruits of the November 1998 Social Enterprise Research Forum (SERF) at Harvard Business School. At the SERF conference, which brought together academics and nonprofit practitioners, 22 papers were presented, of which 15 were published in the two journals.
As the journal's coeditors — HBS senior research associate Elaine V. Backman and HBS professors Allen Grossman and V. Kasturi Rangan — state in their introduction: "The articles examine the strategy execution aspects in nonprofit organizations and lay the groundwork for new frameworks based on in-depth, field-based case research. They address three critical aspects of nonprofit strategy implementation: formulation, organization, and measurement."
"While many models of strategy have been adapted and implemented in the nonprofit sector," notes Professor Rangan, "we believe the collection of eight articles in this issue represents some of the cutting-edge thinking on implementation challenges, and some ideas for enhancing their implementation success."
The special edition is dedicated to the late John C. Sawhill, who passed away in May 2000. At the time of his death, Sawhill was dividing his time between his duties as president of The Nature Conservancy and teaching at Harvard Business School. He was looking forward to making the transition to teaching and conducting research full-time at HBS. The dedication describes Sawhill well as a "distinguished thinker and extraordinary practitioner in the nonprofit sector. He was an unparalleled role model for his students and colleagues alike." His paper, "Mission Impossible: Measuring Success in Nonprofit Organizations," coauthored with Stephen C. Howell and David Williamson, is the final article in the journal.
To order NML, Vol. 11, No. 30, call 888-378-2537 or visit http://www.josseybass.com.
NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHP ARTICLES
- Are We the Cutting Edge or the Blunt Edge? Improving NGO Organizational Performance (Marc Lindenberg)
- Enterprise Schemes for Nonprofit Survival, Growth, and Effectiveness (John M. Bryson, Michael Gibbons, Gary Shaye)
- Organizational Identity and the Structure of Nonprofit Umbrella Organizations (Dennis R. Young)
- An Association's Vision and Structure: Lessons from Four Voluntary Health Associations (Anne P. Standley)
- Managing Multi-Site Nonprofits (Allen Grossman, V. Kasturi Rangan)
- Strategy and Restructure in the United Church of Christ (Emily Barman, Mark Chaves)
- Strategic Performance Measurement and Management in Nonprofit Organizations (Robert Kaplan)
- Mission Impossible: Measuring Success in Nonprofit Organizations (John C. Sawhill, Stephen C. Howell, David Williamson)
