Intended Date of Award
2018
Degree Name
Doctorate in Public Administration (DPA)
Chair
Dr. Craig Waldron
Vice-Chair
Dr. Kris Norman-Major
Committee Member
Dr. Marcella de la Torre
Abstract
There is an increasing emphasis by donors and the public towards accountability and demonstration of results in the nonprofit sector. Quantitative measures are increasingly expected from donors of the nonprofit organization, whether individuals or larger foundations, to demonstrate value and generate further support. As such, there have been many efforts to introduce practices of private sector management theory, specifically performance management theories, to the non-profit sector. Enterprise Performance Management, Business Process Management, Total Quality Management, Balanced Scorecard, and other programs of this type are all the trend to enable the more agile, responsive, effective organization. These initiatives have however focused on the larger organizations that pattern after private sector organizations. There has been a reluctance on the part of the smaller nonprofit organizations to take on these seemingly large initiatives, to either see the applicability or be unwilling to undertake the investment in dollars and time required for such programs, which can be tied only indirectly to mission objectives. This may be for a variety of reasons, which this research will explore. Correspondingly, there is a distinct gap in the literature regarding application of performance management approaches to smaller nonprofit organizations.
This study looked at performance management programs in small to medium size nonprofit organizations to better understand forces creating resistance to these programs, the degree these programs have been attempted and, perhaps more importantly, the factors which affect the success of the initiatives at small to medium size organizations in general and public charity nonprofit organizations more specifically.
Recommended Citation
Lochner, John, "Big Theories in Small Places: Lean/Six Sigma in the Small to Medium Size Nonprofit – Can they work?" (2018). School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations. 11.
https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hsb_all/11
dc_type
text
dc_publisher
DigitalCommons@Hamline
dc_format
application/pdf
dc_source
School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations