IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ibf/gjbres/v9y2015i1p27-38.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Control Mechanisms And Accountability Challenges In Nonprofit Organizations

Author

Listed:
  • Fabian A. Baapogmah
  • Roger W. Mayer
  • Wen-Wen Chien
  • Abolasade Afolabi

Abstract

Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs) face numerous challenges in maintaining accountability. The lack of financial accountability creates risks in goal achievement. An environment of accountability positively contributes to the effectiveness and efficiency of operations. We interviewed 22 participants from 6 NPOs in the State of Delaware in our qualitative phenomenological study. We identified themes defining accountability, control mechanisms, and ethics. The greatest challenges affecting control mechanisms include expenditures controls and transparency. The results suggest that while most managers have a high awareness of controls and accountability, smaller NPOs struggle because they lack sufficient resources. The study adds to the understanding of best practices, which could benefit communities in which NPOs operate and encourage accountability to beneficiaries and other stakeholders

Suggested Citation

  • Fabian A. Baapogmah & Roger W. Mayer & Wen-Wen Chien & Abolasade Afolabi, 2015. "Control Mechanisms And Accountability Challenges In Nonprofit Organizations," Global Journal of Business Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 9(1), pages 27-38.
    • Handle: RePEc:ibf:gjbres:v:9:y:2015:i:1:p:27-38
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.theibfr2.com/RePEc/ibf/gjbres/gjbr-v9n1-2015/GJBR-V9N1-2015-3.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Behnam, Michael & MacLean, Tammy L., 2011. "Where Is the Accountability in International Accountability Standards?: A Decoupling Perspective," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(1), pages 45-72, January.
    2. Pasquale Arena, 2009. "Patrick S. Renz, Project Governance: Implementing Corporate Governance and Business Ethics in Nonprofit Organizations," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 13(4), pages 355-363, November.
    3. Leslie S. Oakes & Joni J. Young, 2008. "Accountability re‐examined: evidence from Hull House," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(6), pages 765-790, August.
    4. Schaltegger, Stefan & Burritt, Roger L., 2010. "Sustainability accounting for companies: Catchphrase or decision support for business leaders?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 375-384, October.
    5. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    6. Dorothea Baur & Hans Schmitz, 2012. "Corporations and NGOs: When Accountability Leads to Co-optation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 106(1), pages 9-21, March.
    7. Ferkins, Lesley & Mcdonald, Gael & Shilbury, David, 2010. "A model for improving board performance: The case of a national sport organisation," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(4), pages 601-621, September.
    8. Brickley, James A. & Van Horn, R. Lawrence & Wedig, Gerard J., 2010. "Board composition and nonprofit conduct: Evidence from hospitals," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 196-208, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Ali Uyar & Cemil Kuzey & Merve Kilic & Abdullah S. Karaman, 2021. "Board structure, financial performance, corporate social responsibility performance, CSR committee, and CEO duality: Disentangling the connection in healthcare," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(6), pages 1730-1748, November.
    2. Maliheh Mansouri & Julie Rowney, 2014. "The Dilemma of Accountability for Professionals: A Challenge for Mainstream Management Theories," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 123(1), pages 45-56, August.
    3. Wellens, Lore & Jegers, Marc, 2014. "Effective governance in nonprofit organizations: A literature based multiple stakeholder approach," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 223-243.
    4. Deniz Köksal & Jochen Strähle, 2021. "Social Sustainability in Fashion Supply Chains—Understanding Social Standard Implementation Failures in Vietnam and Indonesia Using Agency Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-36, February.
    5. Sartor, Marco & Orzes, Guido & Di Mauro, Carmela & Ebrahimpour, Maling & Nassimbeni, Guido, 2016. "The SA8000 social certification standard: Literature review and theory-based research agenda," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 164-181.
    6. Elmagrhi, Mohamed H. & Ntim, Collins G. & Wang, Yan & Elamer, Ahmed A. & Crossley, Richard, 2021. "The effect of vice-chancellor characteristics and internal governance mechanisms on voluntary disclosures in UK higher education institutions," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    7. Newton, Ashley N., 2015. "Executive compensation, organizational performance, and governance quality in the absence of owners," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 195-222.
    8. Jordan van Rijn & Shuwei Zeng & Brent Hueth, 2023. "Do credit unions have distinct objectives? Evidence from executive compensation structures," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(1), pages 5-38, March.
    9. Christian Voegtlin & Nicola Pless, 2014. "Global Governance: CSR and the Role of the UN Global Compact," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(2), pages 179-191, June.
    10. Yeon‐Koo Che & Kathryn E. Spier, 2008. "Strategic judgment proofing," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 39(4), pages 926-948, December.
    11. Hasan, Iftekhar & Lozano-Vivas, Ana, 2002. "Organizational Form and Expense Preference: Spanish Experience," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 135-150, April.
    12. Vasilii Erokhin & Dmitry Endovitsky & Alexey Bobryshev & Natalia Kulagina & Anna Ivolga, 2019. "Management Accounting Change as a Sustainable Economic Development Strategy during Pre-Recession and Recession Periods: Evidence from Russia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-23, June.
    13. Fabbri, Daniela & Menichini, Anna Maria C., 2016. "The commitment problem of secured lending," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(3), pages 561-584.
    14. Xueyan Dong & Jingyu Gao & Sunny Li Sun & Kangtao Ye, 2021. "Doing extreme by doing good," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 291-315, March.
    15. Khémiri, Wafa & Noubbigh, Hédi, 2020. "Size-threshold effect in debt-firm performance nexus in the sub-Saharan region: A Panel Smooth Transition Regression approach," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 335-344.
    16. Shaikh, Ibrahim A. & O'Brien, Jonathan Paul & Peters, Lois, 2018. "Inside directors and the underinvestment of financial slack towards R&D-intensity in high-technology firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 192-201.
    17. Calcagno, R. & Renneboog, L.D.R., 2004. "Capital Structure and Managerial Compensation : The Effects of Renumeration Seniority," Discussion Paper 2004-120, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    18. Preet Singh & Chitra Singla, 2016. "Executive Stock Options: Will it Work as a Good Governance Mechanism in all Scenarios?," Working Papers id:10985, eSocialSciences.
    19. Soufiane Mezzourh & Walid A Nakara, 2009. "Governance and innovation : A Knowledge-based approach [La gouvernance de l'innovation : une approche par la connaissance]," Post-Print halshs-01955966, HAL.
    20. N. K. Chidambaran & John Kose, 1998. "Relationship Investing: Large Shareholder Monitoring with Managerial Cooperation," New York University, Leonard N. Stern School Finance Department Working Paper Seires 98-044, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business-.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Nonprofit; Accountability; Control Mechanism; Transparency; Ethics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M10 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - General
    • M40 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ibf:gjbres:v:9:y:2015:i:1:p:27-38. 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: Mercedes Jalbert (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.