Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

In least developed countries, nonprofit organizations play a critical role in ensuring the wellbeing of the populations they serve. However, despite their importance, the body of literature examining the performance of nonprofit organizations in such contexts is underdeveloped. This research seeks to address this dearth in the nonprofit literature, focusing in particular upon the role of accountability in such organizations. We do so by discussing the bases for accountability arrangements in these organizations and how they relate to performance management practices. As such, the objective of this study is to discuss how accountability is incorporated into the performance management practices in nonprofit organizations in least developed contexts. We address this research objective based upon insights drawn over the course of a weeklong intensive training session that was delivered by the author to senior level managers of nonprofits dealing with water and sanitation services located in Ghana, Niger and Burkina Faso. Findings suggest that the chief barrier to implementing effective accountability based management regimes relates to a lack of organizational capacity.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Andrews

(2012). The logical limits of best practice administrative solutions in developing countries. Public Administration and Development, 32(2), 137–153.

Balser

, & McClusky

(2005). Managing stakeholder relationships and nonprofit organization effectiveness. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 15(3), 295–315.

Bovens

(2007). Analysing and assessing accountability: a conceptual framework1. European law journal, 13(4), 447–468.

Bryson

J. M.

(1988). A strategic planning process for public and non-profit organizations. Long Range Planning, 21(1), 73–81.

Choudhury

, & Ahmed

(2002). The shifting meaning of governance: Public accountability of third sector organizations in an emergent global regime. International Journal of Public Administration, 25(4), 561–588.

Dart

(2004). Being “business-like” in a nonprofit organization: A grounded and inductive typology. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 33(2), 290–310.

Ebrahim

(2003). Making sense of accountability: Conceptual perspectives for northern and southern nonprofits. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 14(2), 191–212.

Freeman

R. E.

(2010). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Froelich

K. A.

(2012). Hospice of the Red River Valley: A nonprofit's response to for-profit competition. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 23(2), 237–257.

10.

Guo

, & Acar

(2005). Understanding collaboration among nonprofit organizations: Combining resource dependency, institutional, and network perspectives. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 34(3), 340–361.

11.

Heald

(2003). Value for money tests and accounting treatment in PFI schemes. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 16(3), 342–371.

12.

Henderson

, Brown

S. D.

, Pancer

S. M.

, & Ellis-Hale

(2007). Mandated community service in high school and subsequent civic engagement: The case of the “double cohort” in Ontario, Canada. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36(7), 849–860.

13.

Herman

R. D.

, & Renz

D. O.

(1997). Multiple constituencies and the social construction of nonprofit organization effectiveness. Nonprofit and voluntary sector quarterly, 26(2), 185–206.

14.

Jang

H. S.

, & Feiock

R. C.

(2007). Public versus private funding of nonprofit organizations: Implications for collaboration. Public Performance & Management Review, 31(2), 174–190.

15.

Kaplan

R. S.

(2001). Strategic performance measurement and management in nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit management and Leadership, 11(3), 353–370.

16.

Kilby

(2006). Accountability for empowerment: Dilemmas facing non-governmental organizations. World Development, 34(6), 951–963.

17.

Lindberg

S. I.

(2013). Mapping accountability: core concept and subtypes. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 79(2), 202–226.

18.

Najam

(1996). Understanding the third sector: Revisiting the prince, the merchant, and the citizen. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 7(2), 203–219.

19.

Newcomer

, Baradei

L. E.

, & Garcia

(2013). Expectations and Capacity of Performance Measurement in NGOs in the Development Context. Public Administration and Development, 33(1), 62–79.

20.

Pollitt

, & Bouckaert

(2004). Public management reform: A comparative analysis. Oxford: Oxford university press.

21.

Rodrik

(2008). Second-best institutions (No. w14050). National Bureau of Economic Research.

22.

Rothstein

(2011). The quality of government: Corruption, social trust, and inequality in international perspective. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

23.

Seligson

M. A.

(2002). The impact of corruption on regime legitimacy: A comparative study of four Latin American countries. The journal of Politics, 64(02), 408–433.

24.

Speckbacher

(2003). The economics of performance management in nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 13(3), 267–281.

25.

Swanson

R. A.

(2007). Analysis for improving performance: Tools for diagnosing organizations and documenting workplace expertise. New York: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

26.

Tolbert

P. S.

(1985). Institutional environments and resource dependence: Sources of administrative structure in institutions of higher education. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1–13.

Non-Profit Accountability in Least Developed Nations: Lessons Learned from West Africa

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References