IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormsom/v22y2020i5p888-905.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

OM Forum—Challenges and Strategies in Managing Nonprofit Operations: An Operations Management Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Gemma Berenguer

    (Krannert School of Management, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907)

  • Zuo-Jun (Max) Shen

    (Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720)

Abstract

The operations management (OM) community is paying increasing attention to the analysis of nonprofit operations. However, what is it about this type of operation that makes it particularly interesting to OM scholars? We address this question by studying the objectives, actors, and main activities of nonprofit operations and the most common challenges they face. In addition, we suggest tactical and operational strategies to address these challenges by considering works in the for-profit sector and in different applied areas. The ultimate goal of this paper is to inspire and stimulate OM researchers to develop significant theoretical and empirical models in this novel stream of literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Gemma Berenguer & Zuo-Jun (Max) Shen, 2020. "OM Forum—Challenges and Strategies in Managing Nonprofit Operations: An Operations Management Perspective," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 888-905, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormsom:v:22:y:2020:i:5:p:888-905
    DOI: 10.1287/msom.2018.0758
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2018.0758
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/msom.2018.0758?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oded Netzer & James M. Lattin & V. Srinivasan, 2008. "A Hidden Markov Model of Customer Relationship Dynamics," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 185-204, 03-04.
    2. Shantanu Bhattacharya & Sameer Hasija & Luk N. Van Wassenhove, 2014. "Designing Efficient Infrastructural Investment and Asset Transfer Mechanisms in Humanitarian Supply Chains," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 23(9), pages 1511-1521, September.
    3. Knack, Stephen & Rahman, Aminur, 2007. "Donor fragmentation and bureaucratic quality in aid recipients," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 176-197, May.
    4. Stefanos A. Zenios & Glenn M. Chertow & Lawrence M. Wein, 2000. "Dynamic Allocation of Kidneys to Candidates on the Transplant Waiting List," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 48(4), pages 549-569, August.
    5. Burcu Balcik & Seyed Iravani & Karen Smilowitz, 2014. "Multi-vehicle sequential resource allocation for a nonprofit distribution system," IISE Transactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(12), pages 1279-1297, December.
    6. Bilodeau, Marc & Steinberg, Richard, 2006. "Donative nonprofit organizations," Handbook on the Economics of Giving, Reciprocity and Altruism, in: S. Kolm & Jean Mercier Ythier (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Giving, Altruism and Reciprocity, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 19, pages 1271-1333, Elsevier.
    7. de la Torre, Luis E. & Dolinskaya, Irina S. & Smilowitz, Karen R., 2012. "Disaster relief routing: Integrating research and practice," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 88-97.
    8. Fama, Eugene F. & Jensen, Michael C., 1985. "Organizational forms and investment decisions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 101-119, March.
    9. Oster, Sharon M., 1996. "Nonprofit organizations and their local affiliates: A study in organizational forms," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 83-95, July.
    10. Elodie Adida & Po-Ching DeLaurentis & Mark Lawley, 2011. "Hospital stockpiling for disaster planning," IISE Transactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(5), pages 348-362.
    11. Donald M. Topkis, 1968. "Optimal Ordering and Rationing Policies in a Nonstationary Dynamic Inventory Model with n Demand Classes," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(3), pages 160-176, November.
    12. Arthur J.H.C. Schram & Sander Onderstal, 2009. "Bidding To Give: An Experimental Comparison Of Auctions For Charity," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 50(2), pages 431-457, May.
    13. Dimitris Bertsimas & Vivek F. Farias & Nikolaos Trichakis, 2011. "The Price of Fairness," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 59(1), pages 17-31, February.
    14. M. Ülkü & Kathryn Bell & Stephanie Wilson, 2015. "Modeling the impact of donor behavior on humanitarian aid operations," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 230(1), pages 153-168, July.
    15. Gérard P. Cachon & Martin A. Lariviere, 1999. "Capacity Choice and Allocation: Strategic Behavior and Supply Chain Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(8), pages 1091-1108, August.
    16. Serhan Duran & Marco A. Gutierrez & Pinar Keskinocak, 2011. "Pre-Positioning of Emergency Items for CARE International," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 41(3), pages 223-237, June.
    17. Oguzhan Alagoz & Lisa M. Maillart & Andrew J. Schaefer & Mark S. Roberts, 2004. "The Optimal Timing of Living-Donor Liver Transplantation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(10), pages 1420-1430, October.
    18. Durango-Cohen, Elizabeth J. & Torres, Ramón L. & Durango-Cohen, Pablo L., 2013. "Donor Segmentation: When Summary Statistics Don't Tell the Whole Story," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 172-184.
    19. Wedig, Gerard J., 1994. "Risk, leverage, donations and dividends-in-kind: A theory of nonprofit financial behavior," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 257-278.
    20. Zilla Sinuany-Stern & H. Sherman, 2014. "Operations research in the public sector and nonprofit organizations," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 221(1), pages 1-8, October.
    21. Erkut Sönmez & Deishin Lee & Miguel I. Gómez & Xiaoli Fan, 2016. "Improving Food Bank Gleaning Operations: An Application in New York State," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 98(2), pages 549-563.
    22. E. S. Savas, 1978. "On Equity in Providing Public Services," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(8), pages 800-808, April.
    23. Burcu Balcik & Deniz Ak, 2014. "Supplier Selection for Framework Agreements in Humanitarian Relief," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 23(6), pages 1028-1041, June.
    24. Gemma Berenguer & Pinar Keskinocak & J. George Shanthikumar & Jayashankar M. Swaminathan & Luk Van Wassenhove & Sripad K. Devalkar & Milind G. Sohoni & Priyank Arora, 2017. "Ex-Post Funding: How Should a Resource-Constrained Non-Profit Organization Allocate Its Funds?," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 26(6), pages 1035-1055, June.
    25. Unknown, 2005. "Forward," 2005 Conference: Slovenia in the EU - Challenges for Agriculture, Food Science and Rural Affairs, November 10-11, 2005, Moravske Toplice, Slovenia 183804, Slovenian Association of Agricultural Economists (DAES).
    26. Fuminori Toyasaki & Tina Wakolbinger, 2014. "Impacts of earmarked private donations for disaster fundraising," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 221(1), pages 427-447, October.
    27. Jayashankar M. Swaminathan, 2003. "Decision Support for Allocating Scarce Drugs," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 33(2), pages 1-11, April.
    28. Natalie A. Privett, 2012. "Operations Management in Community-Based Nonprofit Organizations," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: Michael P. Johnson (ed.), Community-Based Operations Research, chapter 0, pages 67-95, Springer.
    29. Francis de Véricourt & Miguel Sousa Lobo, 2009. "Resource and Revenue Management in Nonprofit Operations," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 57(5), pages 1114-1128, October.
    30. Maria Besiou & Alfonso J. Pedraza-Martinez & Luk N. Van Wassenhove, 2014. "Vehicle Supply Chains in Humanitarian Operations: Decentralization, Operational Mix, and Earmarked Funding," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 23(11), pages 1950-1965, November.
    31. Iñaki Aldasoro & Peter Nunnenkamp & Rainer Thiele, 2010. "Less aid proliferation and more donor coordination? The wide gap between words and deeds," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(7), pages 920-940.
    32. Natalie Privett & Feryal Erhun, 2011. "Efficient Funding: Auditing in the Nonprofit Sector," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 13(4), pages 471-488, October.
    33. Karthik V. Natarajan & Jayashankar M. Swaminathan, 2014. "Inventory Management in Humanitarian Operations: Impact of Amount, Schedule, and Uncertainty in Funding," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 16(4), pages 595-603, October.
    34. Gemma Berenguer & Pinar Keskinocak & J. George Shanthikumar & Jayashankar M. Swaminathan & Luk Van Wassenhove & Jérémie Gallien & Iva Rashkova & Rifat Atun & Prashant Yadav, 2017. "National Drug Stockout Risks and the Global Fund Disbursement Process for Procurement," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 26(6), pages 997-1014, June.
    35. Kevin F. McCardle & Kumar Rajaram & Christopher S. Tang, 2009. "A Decision Analysis Tool for Evaluating Fundraising Tiers," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 6(1), pages 4-13, March.
    36. Arian Aflaki & Alfonso J. Pedraza-Martinez, 2016. "Humanitarian Funding in a Multi-Donor Market with Donation Uncertainty," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 25(7), pages 1274-1291, July.
    37. Gemma Berenguer, 2016. "Modeling Approaches and Metrics to Evaluate Nonprofit Operations," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: Christopher W. Zobel & Nezih Altay & Mark P. Haselkorn (ed.), Advances in Managing Humanitarian Operations, chapter 2, pages 9-31, Springer.
    38. Jessica H. McCoy & Hau L. Lee, 2014. "Using Fairness Models to Improve Equity in Health Delivery Fleet Management," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 23(6), pages 965-977, June.
    39. Davis, Lauren B. & Jiang, Steven X. & Morgan, Shona D. & Nuamah, Isaac A. & Terry, Jessica R., 2016. "Analysis and prediction of food donation behavior for a domestic hunger relief organization," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 26-37.
    40. Parry, R & Mingers, J, 1991. "Community operational research: Its context and its future," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 577-586.
    41. Anheier, Helmut K., 2000. "Managing non-profit organisations: towards a new approach," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 29022, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    42. James Andreoni & A. Abigail Payne, 2003. "Do Government Grants to Private Charities Crowd Out Giving or Fund-raising?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(3), pages 792-812, June.
    43. Robert W. Lien & Seyed M. R. Iravani & Karen R. Smilowitz, 2014. "Sequential Resource Allocation for Nonprofit Operations," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 62(2), pages 301-317, April.
    44. Samii, Amir-Behzad & Pibernik, Richard & Yadav, Prashant & Vereecke, Ann, 2012. "Reservation and allocation policies for influenza vaccines," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 222(3), pages 495-507.
    45. Özlem Ergun & Luyi Gui & Jessica L. Heier Stamm & Pinar Keskinocak & Julie Swann, 2014. "Improving Humanitarian Operations through Technology-Enabled Collaboration," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 23(6), pages 1002-1014, June.
    46. Bigsten, Arne, 2006. "Donor coordination and the uses of aid," Working Papers in Economics 196, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    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. Yuanzheng Ma & Tong Wang & Huan Zheng, 2023. "On fairness and efficiency in nonprofit operations: Dynamic resource allocations," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 32(6), pages 1778-1792, June.
    2. Li, Siping & Zhou, Yaoming, 2024. "Integrating equity and efficiency into urban logistics resilience under emergency lockdowns," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    3. Jesica de Armas & Jessica Rodríguez-Pereira & Bruno Vieira & Helena Ramalhinho, 2021. "Optimizing Assistive Technology Operations for Aging Populations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-27, June.
    4. Yuan Chen & Hsing Kenneth Cheng & Yang Liu & Jingchuan Pu & Liangfei Qiu & Ning Wang, 2022. "Knowledge‐sharing ties and equivalence in corporate online communities: A novel source to understand voluntary turnover," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(10), pages 3896-3913, October.
    5. Iman Parsa & Mahyar Eftekhar & Charles J Corbett, 2022. "Does governance ease the overhead squeeze experienced by nonprofits?," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(8), pages 3288-3303, August.
    6. Priyank Arora & Wei Wei & Senay Solak, 2021. "Improving Outcomes in Child Care Subsidy Voucher Programs under Regional Asymmetries," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(12), pages 4435-4454, December.
    7. Quan Zhou & Tava Lennon Olsen, 2023. "Modeling the effects of dated medical supplies donation on recipient countries," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 32(1), pages 116-130, January.
    8. Dalal, Jyotirmoy, 2022. "Food donation management under supply and demand uncertainties in COVID-19: A robust optimization approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PA).
    9. Jónas Oddur Jónasson & Kamalini Ramdas & Alp Sungu, 2022. "Social impact operations at the global base of the pyramid," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(12), pages 4364-4378, December.
    10. Vinay Ramani & Jyotirmoy Dalal & Swami Dayakarananda, 2023. "Case Article—GAP: A Humanitarian Initiative of Ramakrishna Mission for Underprivileged Children," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 70-75, September.
    11. Kaitlin M. Daniels & León Valdés, 2021. "Trying and Failing: Biases in Donor Aversion to Rejection," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(12), pages 4356-4373, December.
    12. Lester Blackmon & Ross Chan & Omar Carbral & Geeta Chintapally & Sandip Dhara & Peter Felix & Aditi Jagdish & Srini Konakalla & Jasbir Labana & Jeff McIlvain & Jason Stone & Christopher S. Tang & Jaso, 2021. "Rapid Development of a Decision Support System to Alleviate Food Insecurity at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank amid the COVID‐19 Pandemic," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(10), pages 3391-3407, October.
    13. Escallon-Barrios, Mariana & Noham, Reut & Smilowitz, Karen, 2024. "Dual mode scheduling in volunteer management," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).

    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. Can Zhang & Atalay Atasu & Turgay Ayer & L. Beril Toktay, 2020. "Truthful Mechanisms for Medical Surplus Product Allocation," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 22(4), pages 735-753, July.
    2. Jónas Oddur Jónasson & Kamalini Ramdas & Alp Sungu, 2022. "Social impact operations at the global base of the pyramid," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(12), pages 4364-4378, December.
    3. Amiya K. Chakravarty, 2021. "Humanitarian Response to Disasters with Funding Uncertainty: Alleviating Deprivation with Bridge Finance," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(9), pages 3284-3296, September.
    4. Priyank Arora & Wei Wei & Senay Solak, 2021. "Improving Outcomes in Child Care Subsidy Voucher Programs under Regional Asymmetries," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(12), pages 4435-4454, December.
    5. Nur Sunar & Jayashankar M. Swaminathan, 2022. "Socially relevant and inclusive operations management," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(12), pages 4379-4392, December.
    6. Sanjay L. Ahire & Pelin Pekgün, 2018. "Harvest Hope Food Bank Optimizes Its Promotional Strategy to Raise Donations Using Integer Programming," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 48(4), pages 291-306, August.
    7. De Boeck, Kim & Decouttere, Catherine & Jónasson, Jónas Oddur & Vandaele, Nico, 2022. "Vaccine supply chains in resource-limited settings: Mitigating the impact of rainy season disruptions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 301(1), pages 300-317.
    8. Yuanzheng Ma & Tong Wang & Huan Zheng, 2023. "On fairness and efficiency in nonprofit operations: Dynamic resource allocations," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 32(6), pages 1778-1792, June.
    9. Chong Hyun Park & Gemma Berenguer, 2020. "Supply Constrained Location‐Distribution in Not‐for‐Profit Settings," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(11), pages 2461-2483, November.
    10. Akkerman, Renzo & Buisman, Marjolein & Cruijssen, Frans & de Leeuw, Sander & Haijema, Rene, 2023. "Dealing with donations: Supply chain management challenges for food banks," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    11. Fuminori Toyasaki & Tina Wakolbinger, 2014. "Impacts of earmarked private donations for disaster fundraising," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 221(1), pages 427-447, October.
    12. Dufour, Émilie & Laporte, Gilbert & Paquette, Julie & Rancourt, Marie–Ève, 2018. "Logistics service network design for humanitarian response in East Africa," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1-14.
    13. Ilya O. Ryzhov & Bin Han & Jelena Bradić, 2016. "Cultivating Disaster Donors Using Data Analytics," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(3), pages 849-866, March.
    14. Gu, Liyi & Ryzhov, Ilya O. & Eftekhar, Mahyar, 2021. "The facts on the ground: Evaluating humanitarian fleet management policies using simulation," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 293(2), pages 681-702.
    15. Natalie Privett & Feryal Erhun, 2011. "Efficient Funding: Auditing in the Nonprofit Sector," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 13(4), pages 471-488, October.
    16. Jon M. Stauffer & Manoj Vanajakumari & Subodha Kumar & Theresa Mangapora, 2022. "Achieving equitable food security: How can food bank mobile pantries fill this humanitarian need," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(4), pages 1802-1821, April.
    17. Yusen Ye & Wen Jiao & Hong Yan, 2020. "Managing Relief Inventories Responding to Natural Disasters: Gaps Between Practice and Literature," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(4), pages 807-832, April.
    18. Johannes Jakubik & Stefan Feuerriegel, 2022. "Data‐driven allocation of development aid toward sustainable development goals: Evidence from HIV/AIDS," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(6), pages 2739-2756, June.
    19. Sengul Orgut, Irem & Freeman, Nickolas & Lewis, Dwight & Parton, Jason, 2023. "Equitable and effective vaccine access considering vaccine hesitancy and capacity constraints," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    20. Alem, Douglas & Clark, Alistair & Moreno, Alfredo, 2016. "Stochastic network models for logistics planning in disaster relief," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 255(1), pages 187-206.

    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:inm:ormsom:v:22:y:2020:i:5:p:888-905. 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: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    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.