AbstractThere is widespread acknowledgment of the importance of nonprofit good governance with a need for guidance on different effective mechanisms to increase ethical practices for the whole sector to assist professionals and researchers. This study explores two research questions: (1) What are the main reasons that inspire nonprofit organizations (NPOs) to implement good governance mechanisms? (2) What are the good governance mechanisms conducted by NPOs? The purpose is to serve as a reference and an instrument of reflection for interested NPOs exploring good governance mechanisms to make their accountability work more effective. We used a systematic literature review methodology for identification, selection, and analysis of published research on nonprofit good governance. A set of 89 articles published until 2021 was analyzed, and a new classification that identified 3 lines and 13 sublines of research was provided. Our results show that a variety of internal mechanisms and international third‐party initiatives are underpinned by the need to adhere to standards of ethics and honesty.
We are currently witnessing the development of a set of organizations that have been entrusted with meeting the very diverse needs of citizens. As a result, they receive funds, in order to ensure they are managed appropriately. The transparency of the information revealed by Non-profit Organizations (NPOs) has become of increasing interest to public authorities and research. However, very few studies empirically measure the extent of transparency in NPOs. Only a handful checked the compliance of various indicators, lacking agreement on which ones to include and their weighting. To address this issue, this study empirically validates the weighting of the indicators from the alliance between the Platform for Social Action NGO and the Spanish Coordinator for Development NGO (CONGDE) document with experts in NPOs' opinions. We use the Best-Worst Method (BWM) to optimally assign weights to multi-criteria decision making situations. Our results show interesting differences in the level of importance given to the indicators by public authorities and experts, suggesting the need for a revision of the importance proposed. First published online 04 May 2021
One of the most important current challenges facing non-profit organizations (henceforth, NPOs) is to demonstrate that resources are being used properly to fulfill their missions. The development of control mechanisms to facilitate the measurement of social goal fulfillment has thus become a priority. In this context, transparency and good governance are configured as essential strategic elements to build trust with different stakeholders. In this work, we show the value provided by management indicators as they have become a necessary tool to confirm that the use of resources, internal processes and decisions within NPOs are carried out with the highest levels of efficiency and excellence. Only in this way can social credibility be achieved. The success of an NPO is inextricably linked to the support of donors, users, public administration and society as a whole. To achieve our research objective, we build a measurement scale based on the case of the Spanish National Organization for the Blind (ONCE), one of the largest Spanish NPOs. Based on ONCE's experience, we propose a management indicator model that covers all social dimensions. The model is empirically validated to standardize the indicators for the ONCE and for serving as a reference for other entities.
PurposeThe search for competitiveness by family-owned companies has led us to research topics that may help these companies succeed. The management of human capital is undoubtedly one of the keys to success, and the practices of employee development (training, promotion, succession, career planning, mentoring and coaching) help improve the performance of these companies.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on studying a sample of 560 family companies and analyzing the relationship between performance of the family businesses and the use of employee development practices. The techniques used were confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.FindingsThe results show that employee development has a direct effect on the indicators of performance in family companies. The authors have developed a series of practical implications for companies that justify investments in and efforts with regard to employee career development.Research limitations/implicationsFamily businesses need to understand the development needs of their employees. In addition, the very processes and tasks performed. The authors have developed a number of practical implications for companies that justify the investments and efforts made in employee career development. This work validates the usefulness of the use of certain practices for the development of employees in family businesses, allowing the company to generate human capital to build a competitive position in the market.Practical implicationsThe results of this study suggest that family businesses should understand the development needs of their employees and that various practices are available to help detect these needs. Family businesses should see individual development processes as an opportunity to improve the performance of employees, which could avoid conflicts in such businesses (Qiu and Freel, 2020). Companies should develop career and succession plans that enable these changes to be faced throughout the company, ensuring that when handover occurs, the candidates are sufficiently qualified in accordance with their career paths. The present research study shows that coaching is a powerful tool for improving performance. Moreover, mentoring appears to be an important part of employee development. For this reason, mentoring programs should be formally planned with designated objectives. In addition, family businesses should provide employees with real opportunities for promotion and the development of their skills and abilities, which is a way to retain nonfamily professionals (Ramankutty and Pujar, 2017).Social implicationsFamily businesses are a very important part of the productive activity of a country and their continuity is necessary to maintain employment and income. The management of people in family businesses is a key aspect for their success, therefore knowing the key aspects for the development of human capital will have a positive influence on maintaining employment and income.Originality/valueThis paper addresses the study of people development processes in family businesses and proves its usefulness to improve performance, considering the formal planning of succession processes and professional careers, providing qualifications to candidates and ensuring that they are show satisfaction with their professional evolution in the company. Likewise, it is positive for family businesses to use coaching relationships, formally scheduled and employing a coach from abroad. The other tool that will favor the development of employees is mentoring, formally programmed, establishing objectives and properly studying the mentor's profile. For this tool to be applied successfully, it is necessary to get the participants to commit to the mentoring process. Finally, the organization must provide its employees with real opportunities to promote, training them and developing their skills.
