| Nonprofit and Private Sector Governance: Are They Really That Different? |
| | Miller, Judith L. | State U. of New York, Albany | jm2818@cnsvax.albany.edu | (518)442-3860 |
| | Ropp, Rachel Mend | State U. of New York, Albany | rr6181@cnsvax.albany.edu | (518)482-5689 |
| | Most research has set out to describe the ways in which the corporate
governance model is inappropriate for the nonprofit sector, and conversely
the ways in which the philanthropic model of governance is not suited for
the world of business. This paper departs from traditional approaches of
comparative studies of nonprofit and for-profit and governance by exposing
the procedures, practices, and structures that are common to both. While
there is much to be learned from examining the differences between the
nonprofit and for-profit models of governance, careful attention to the
similarities can also provide scholars and practitioners with useful
information. When substantial commonalties are identified the "data base"
of information pertaining to organizational governance is immediately
expanded. Practitioners and scholars are free to draw from the knowledge
that has been built in two distinct academic communities to address the
complex issues that face all boards of directors today. Moreover, if the
differences between nonprofit organizational governance and corporate
governance are in fact distinct, then a deeper appreciation for these
differences is gained through a systematic evaluation of the ways in
which particular aspects of governance appear to be quite similar. This
paper examines both the form and context of organizational governance,
and develops a framework from which specific governance and/or
organizational attributes can be examined and compared. The framework
would encourage those who conduct future research on governance to
stipulate the sector-specific conditions under which certain behavior and
performance outcomes might be differentiated. |
| | Keywords: Boards of Directors; Nonprofit; Governance |
| Public and Private Sectors: The Story of Human Resource Management Practices |
| | Tzafrir, Shay S. | Technion, Israel Institute of Technology | stzafrir@tx.technion.ac.il | 972-4-829-3057 |
| | Harel, Gedaliahu H. | Technion, Israel Institute of Technology | gharel@ie.technion.ac.il | 972-4-829-4507 |
| | The purpose of this study was to empirically examine if there are differences in the way that HRM practices are performed in the private versus the public sector of the economy.
The theoretical base of this investigation is anchored on the proposition that some HR practices are always and universally better than others and that all organizations should adopt these "high performance work practices". In recent years, organizations in the public and private sectors have witnessed many changes in their environment.
These pressures have pushed organizations from both sectors to continuously improve their performance. In this study we attempt to identify different HRM configurations and the difference in the perceived organizational performance of public and private sector organizations in order to ascertain whether the distinction between the sectors can be empirically validated.
The hypotheses were tested using data describing human resource management operation. We focused on the macro-level of the organization and its productivity. A potential pool of 230 organizations employing 200 or more employees was selected from the public and private sectors. A total of 102 questionnaires were completed and returned, representing 44 percent of the firm contacted.
The results of our study present a different configuration for applying HRM practices in the public and private sectors, namely, that the private sector invests in and implements a particular set of HRM practices. These findings reflect, in our opinion, a "cost perspective" (in the public sector) versus "value added perspective" (in the private sector) to human resources. |
| | Keywords: public and private sectors; human resource managment; best practices |
| The Use of Information Technology by National Unions: An Exploratory Analysis |
| | Fiorito, Jack | Florida State U. | jfiorit@cob.fsu.edu | 850-644-7852 |
| | Bass, William | Florida State U. | wsb9952@garnet.acns.fsu.edu | 850-644-5505 |
| | We use exploratory factor analysis and correlation techniques with 1997 survey data to examine national unions' use of information technology (IT). We identify common dimensions in current and planned use of IT forms, its applications, and implementation issues. Finally, relations among these dimensions and selected union characteristics are examined. |
| | Keywords: unions; information technology; innovation |