Suchergebnisse

"Is there an alternative to neoliberal globalization? Many argue that global civil society is where the counterforce to neoliberal globalization is to be found. For them global civil society is a reformist force, one that will develop into a global movement, correct the distortions of the global governance system, and tame the rampant manifestations of neoliberal globalization. To be able to do this, according to Gramscian conceptions of civil society and hegemony, it needs to form a counter-hegemonic historic bloc: a cohesive and all-inclusive organization of all the interests, constituencies, issues and audiences that are affected by neoliberal globalization. Only when such a network is in existence, civil society may be able to engage successfully in significant social change at the global level, and challenge the hegemony of the neoliberal credo. Is global civil society up to the challenge? To fully answer this, one needs to address three main questions: (1) Can the current structure of global civil society foster the emergence of this historic bloc? Is the structure of the global network of civil society actors, most notably international NGOs (INGOS) conducive to the emergence of a well-integrated and all-inclusive global movement? (2) Will the nascent global movement adopt a reformist counter-hegemonic ideology? (3) Will it manage to mobilize this global network and translate ideology into agency? I focus here on the first of these questions. Through an analysis of interorganizational links between a large number of INGOS, I examine the structure of this global network, and whether it is compatible with the prerequisites for the development of the counter-hegemonic historic bloc stipulated in Gramscian thought. In conclusion, I suggest a few strategic steps to increase the counter-hegemonic potential of global civil society." (author's abstract)

Purpose
Many social services today are provided through solutions that require interaction between nonprofits and business. The purpose of this study is to examine the nature of the relationship between the different players in such mixed markets. One such market is workforce integration programs for persons with disabilities. The authors studied the relationships and interactions between collaborating nonprofits and business firms within the context of actor–network theory (ANT) by examining the process of workforce integration.


Design/methodology/approach
The study included in-depth interviews and questionnaires with 47 managers of employers that were hiring persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as in-depth interviews with ten senior managers in five nonprofit organizations involved in work integration of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The interview data were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis and content analysis.


Findings
The authors found an intricate relationship between employers and nonprofits promoting workforce integration. While it seemed that both players were involved in different and complementary aspects and phases of the integration process, the relationship revealed complicated power relations, interdependencies and imbalanced collaborative patterns, resulting in relatively symmetric relations, known as strategic bridging.


Practical implications
Business compliance with workforce integration depends on continued support by nonprofit services.


Social implications
Findings are essential for promoting workforce integration, and policies need to support the role of nonprofit services.


Originality/value
The study highlights the co-dependence between nonprofits and businesses, contrary to common views that nonprofits are dependent on businesses.

The book presents the economic, historical, legal and policy dimensions of the Sector with a focus on its contribution to the Welfare State and civil society. It then analyzes those findings in the context of major theoretical frameworks of the sector. While Israel shares certain similarities with other countries, its history, demography, and politics have created unique features that make it impossible to fit the country into existing Third Sector theories, which are presented in this seminal reading for the global discussion on nonprofit theory. Furthermore, that analysis, with the focus on the Third Sector in the context of society is also providing a new lens through which to analyze contemporary Israeli society

Today's uncertain financial markets could affect foundations' future grantmaking capacities. We review foundations' financial decision-making patterns and their effect on foundations' assets, longevity goals, and payouts. Using three fictional foundations with different longevity goals and grantmaking preferences, we demonstrate the delicate balance and tight nexus between asset management strategies, payout rates, and longevity. To do so, we perform stochastic Monte Carlo simulations of multiple foundation life cycles, conducted under diverse capital market scenarios. The findings suggest that foundations should (a) readjust their return expectations to today's less favorable markets; (b) reduce their reliance on past portfolios' investment returns or unique "success stories" in making decisions; (c) appreciate the strong interdependence between portfolio-mix, payout rates, and longevity; (d) consider effects of their particular mission/problem area on these parameters; and (e) use tailored projection analyses that simulate various investment strategies, payouts rates, and longevity to meet their grantmaking goals.

This article tests the theory that anxiety about death causes feelings of lack of control, which, with other factors, results in reluctance to donate organs, despite endorsement of the act. Using a survey of U.S. and U.K. registered organ donors and unregistered adults ( N = 777), we tested the impact of trust in medical professionals, perceived importance of information on the transplant processes, anxiety regarding loss of control at one's end-of-life, and a prosocial view of organ donation on willingness to register as donor. Structural analyses show that control mediated the associations of trust and information with willingness, while prosocial did not predict willingness. The findings explain the gap between stated attitudes and actual behavior, and suggest that framing donor card registration and organ donation as a way to gain control over the loss of agency in death and dying may encourage organ donation.

AbstractThe way that nonprofits respond to funding uncertainty is crucial to their ability to meet goals and position themselves for future success. This article investigates how structural, managerial, and financial characteristics affect the adaptive tactics used by human service nonprofits during times of financial stress. These tactics include adding new programs, reducing programs or staff, expanding or starting joint programs, pursuing earned income, and expanding advocacy involvement. Using longitudinal data on human service nonprofits collected on either side of the 2002–2003 economic downtown, we find that larger size provides organizations with a unique ability to choose among different adaptive tactics, as larger size was significantly predictive of adding new programs, reducing programs, expanding advocacy, and pursuing earned income. Strategic planning was positively associated with innovative tactics such as starting joint programs or pursuing earned income. Financial stress or declines in an organization's major funding source led to cutbacks, as expected, but managers who foresaw these challenges were able to respond proactively by adding programs or starting joint programs. However, managers with more training did not respond much differently than did other managers, and organizational age and use of performance management tools had no effect in guiding organizational responses to financial uncertainty.