IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v7y2015i7p9560-9573d52745.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Determinants of Sustainability and Organisational Effectiveness in Non-Profit Organisations

Author

Listed:
  • Chux Gervase Iwu

    (Department of Entrepreneurship & Business Management, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Corner of Tenant & Keizersgracht, Zonnebloem, Cape Town 7530, South Africa)

  • Lloyd Kapondoro

    (Graduate Center for Management, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Corner of Tenant & Keizersgracht, Zonnebloem, Cape Town 7530, South Africa)

  • Michael Twum-Darko

    (Graduate Center for Management, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Corner of Tenant & Keizersgracht, Zonnebloem, Cape Town 7530, South Africa)

  • Robertson Tengeh

    (Department of Entrepreneurship & Business Management, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Corner of Tenant & Keizersgracht, Zonnebloem, Cape Town 7530, South Africa)

Abstract

This case study investigates the criteria for organizational effectiveness in non-profit organizations (NPOs) with the aim to determine how the elements of sustainability fit within the criteria. To achieve this, the study utilized the research questions: “what criteria do NPOs use to evaluate their effectiveness?” and “how is sustainability embedded in NPO effectiveness?” The research design was interpretivist, adopting focus group interviews to obtain data. Specifically, two focus group interviews were held with the top management of an NPO which revealed that both financial and non-financial criteria were equally essential for NPO effectiveness. This finding is consistent with the literature, although it contradicts the initial assumption of the study that NPO effectiveness was based more on non-financial criteria than financial criteria. The study also found that the effectiveness of an NPO should be viewed in two ways: firstly, “the full achievement of its mandate” and, secondly, “the ability to run business projects to cover cost.” It also emerged that both the ability to cover costs and the achievement of a mandate should be done in a sustainable manner (a sustainable manner is seen as one that is harmonious with the natural and the socio-political environment). The results of this paper present a practical case for the management of NPOs by reiterating that the full achievement of the NPO mandate and the successful running of social projects to generate funds for sustainability are key elements of effectiveness. Given the essential role that NPOs play in developing countries, this study has provided the foundation for more widespread enquiry into the sustainability and effectiveness of NPOs.

Suggested Citation

  • Chux Gervase Iwu & Lloyd Kapondoro & Michael Twum-Darko & Robertson Tengeh, 2015. "Determinants of Sustainability and Organisational Effectiveness in Non-Profit Organisations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-14, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:7:p:9560-9573:d:52745
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/7/9560/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/7/9560/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Weerawardena, Jay & McDonald, Robert E. & Mort, Gillian Sullivan, 2010. "Sustainability of nonprofit organizations: An empirical investigation," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 346-356, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sebastian Ion Ceptureanu & Eduard Gabriel Ceptureanu & Vlad Liviu Bogdan & Violeta Radulescu, 2018. "Sustainability Perceptions in Romanian Non-Profit Organizations: An Exploratory Study Using Success Factor Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-23, January.
    2. Bilal Asghar & Ahmad Wasim & Usama Qazi & Azfar Rasool, 2020. "Financial and Non-Financial Practices Driving Sustainable Firm Performance: Evidence from Banking Sector of Developing Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-15, July.
    3. Siphokazi NONYUSA & Robertson Khan TENGEH & Gervase Chux IWU & Darlington ONOJAEFE, 2022. "App-Based Ride Services And The Sustainability Of Metered Taxis In South Africa," Business Excellence and Management, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 12(3), pages 13-29, September.
    4. Eun-Jung Shin & Hyoung-Goo Kang & Kyounghun Bae, 2020. "A Study on the Sustainable Development of NPOs with Blockchain Technology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-18, July.
    5. Urquía-Grande, Elena & Estébanez, Raquel Pérez & Alcaraz-Quiles, Francisco José, 2022. "Impact of Non-Profit Organizations’ Accountability: Empirical evidence from the democratic Republic of Congo," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    6. Williams Kwasi Peprah & Isaac Anowuo & Daniel Adofo Kwakye Ameyaw, 2019. "The Relationship between Working Capital Management and Financial Sustainability of Selected Christian Denominations in Ghana," Applied Finance and Accounting, Redfame publishing, vol. 5(2), pages 20-25, August.
    7. Sebastian-Ion Ceptureanu & Eduard-Gabriel Ceptureanu & Mihai Cristian Orzan & Irinel Marin, 2017. "Toward a Romanian NPOs Sustainability Model: Determinants of Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-26, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Debadutta K. Panda, 2019. "Competitive dynamics in not-for-profit organizations: evidence from India," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 1251-1274, December.
    2. Andreea-Angela ?EULEAN (VON?EA), 2019. "Cause-Related Marketing Under The Lens Of Fundraising Methods," Business Excellence and Management, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 9(2), pages 5-13, June.
    3. Denisa Gajdová & Helena Majdúchová, 2018. "Financial Sustainability Criteria and their testing in the conditions of the Slovak Non-Profit Sector," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 12(1), March.
    4. Jindřich Špička & Petr Boukal & Hana Vávrová, 2016. "Discussion about Evaluation of Private Non-profit Success," Ekonomika a Management, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2016(2).
    5. Syrus M Islam, 2022. "Social impact scaling strategies in social enterprises: A systematic review and research agenda," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 47(2), pages 298-321, May.
    6. Sebastian Ion Ceptureanu & Eduard Gabriel Ceptureanu & Vlad Liviu Bogdan & Violeta Radulescu, 2018. "Sustainability Perceptions in Romanian Non-Profit Organizations: An Exploratory Study Using Success Factor Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-23, January.
    7. Alshawaaf, Nasser & Lee, Soo Hee, 2021. "Business model innovation through digitisation in social purpose organisations: A comparative analysis of Tate Modern and Pompidou Centre," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 597-608.
    8. Siebold, Nicole, 2021. "Reference points for business model innovation in social purpose organizations: A stakeholder perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 710-719.
    9. Cheng, Colin C.J. & Shiu, Eric C., 2022. "A two-level, longitudinal investigation into the effects of employee social entrepreneurship orientation and top management team decisions on product innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    10. G. Lumpkin & Todd Moss & David Gras & Shoko Kato & Alejandro Amezcua, 2013. "Entrepreneurial processes in social contexts: how are they different, if at all?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 761-783, April.
    11. Fehrer, Julia A. & Wieland, Heiko, 2021. "A systemic logic for circular business models," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 609-620.
    12. Sanzo-Pérez, María José & Álvarez-González, Luis I., 2022. "Partnerships between Spanish social enterprises and nonprofits: A rich hybridity-based setting for social innovation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    13. Denitsa Hazarbassanova Blagoeva & Peter D. Ørberg Jensen & Hemant Merchant, 2020. "Services in International Business Studies: A Replication and Extension of Merchant and Gaur (2008)," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 427-457, June.
    14. Elsahn, Ziad & Earl, Anna, 2022. "Alternative ways of studying time in qualitative international business research: A review and future agenda," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(3).
    15. Tykkyläinen, Saila & Ritala, Paavo, 2021. "Business model innovation in social enterprises: An activity system perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 684-697.
    16. Kullak, Franziska S. & Baker, Jonathan J. & Woratschek, Herbert, 2021. "Enhancing value creation in social purpose organizations: Business models that leverage networks," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 630-642.
    17. Reichborn-Kjennerud, Kristin & González-Díaz, Belén & Bracci, Enrico & Carrington, Thomas & Hathaway, James & Jeppesen, Kim Klarskov & Steccolini, Ileana, 2019. "Sais work against corruption in Scandinavian, South-European and African countries: An institutional analysis," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(5).
    18. Kanika Khurana & Atanu Ghosh, 2023. "Management in the Performing Arts: An Empirical Exploration of Organizational Structures in Indian Theatre," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 12(1), pages 67-84, January.
    19. Minyoung Kwon & Erwin Mlecnik & Vincent Gruis, 2021. "Business Model Development for Temporary Home Renovation Consultancy Centres: Experiences from European Pop-Ups," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-18, July.
    20. Muhammad Khan & Gohar Saleem Parvaiz & Abbas Ali & Majid Jehangir & Noor Hassan & Junghan Bae, 2022. "A Model for Understanding the Mediating Association of Transparency between Emerging Technologies and Humanitarian Logistics Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-23, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:7:p:9560-9573:d:52745. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.