of sixteen Irish voluntary organisations in
the process of transition or undergoing significant changes. The focus of the paper is on the
development of a framework for the study and of three models. The framework offers a number of
working hypotheses and patterns which may now be tested empirically. While the framework is
firmly grounded in the Irish context, the developmental process is presented so that ISTR members
may speculate as to how this type of framework may be employed elsewhere.
1. Introduction
This paper documents our efforts to develop a framework for investigation of the Irish
voluntary sector from a managerial perspective. We are interested in investigating the task
environment dynamics which affect organisations within the voluntary sector and the patterns of
developments which these dynamics shape. Our aim is to develop a view or map of the sector and
of the position of various types of organisations within it. The map must have utility for managerial
decision making.
The paper commences with a short overview of the issues leading up to the research project
and the initial research questions which have guided our inquiry. In Section Three, we outline the
process of developing a research framework and in Section Four, we profile three speculative
models. Two of the models, a typology of sector organisations and a growth curve, were developed
early in the project on the basis of initial literature review and preliminary interviews. They were
used for case selection and have been tested with case data through later stages of the project. The
third model proposes a mechanism for legitimacy transfer within the voluntary sector. This model
was developed after six months of case work with sixteen organisations. We conclude the paper
with a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the approach we have adopted and some
proposals for potential applications of the models.
2. Background to the Research(2)
Our interest in this project stemmed from enquiries directed to the School of Business
Studies for 'a course' in voluntary sector management. Staff working within the School were
reluctant to run a course with limited knowledge of the specific needs of the target group. This led
to initial investigations to determine the issues and problems facing managers in Irish voluntary
organisations (Donnelly-Cox and MacKechnie 1996, 1998). Our interest in these issues increased
quite separately from a focus on course development. Consequently, we submitted a proposal for
research funding and, in December 1996, formed a project team to run a two year, case-based study
of managerial issues within selected organisations.
The initial proposal for project research was based on increasing our comprehension of
dynamics at sector and organisational level which are relevant to the strategic management of Irish
voluntary organisations. However, our approach to research design was strongly influenced by weak
legal definition of the Irish voluntary sector, a dearth of contextualised literature and,
consequentially, few obvious mechanisms for selecting appropriate research subjects. One
implication has been a perceived requirement to focus on mapping as a preliminary exercise
(Donnelly-Cox and Jaffro 1996).
2.1 Research Questions
We determined that we needed to conduct exploratory research which would provide a
perspective on the environmental dynamics of the Irish voluntary sector, the managerial problems
these dynamics give rise to within voluntary organisations, and the range of options open to
managers in dealing with these issues. We sought to address both practitioner and research
communities through the development of a perspective on the strategic management of voluntary
organisations in an Irish context (Whittington 1993). Based on our previous investigations and our
objectives within this project, we commenced with a series of research questions relating to the
voluntary sector, voluntary organisations, strategy and management, as follows:
Voluntary Sector
What role does the sector play in the society?
What role does the sector play in generating or frustrating social change?
What developments would enhance the effectiveness of sector organisations in Ireland?
Voluntary Organisation
Are there typical growth patterns in sector organisations?
What are the key factors which determine organisational growth in the sector?
Strategy
What factors must be taken into account to ensure effective strategic planning?
What are the environmental factors which would most impinge on short-term operations
management, medium term strategic management and long-term development?
Management
How can the effectiveness of sector organisations be increased?
What choices should be made from the increasingly complex array of human resource
management alternatives?
Are there characteristic difficulties of change management in sector organisations?
Later in the project, our fieldwork experience with practitioners increased our interest in the
motivations of organisational founders and their impact on organisational ethos. This led to our
inclusion of a further 'management' question:
What are the motivations of the founders and drivers of voluntary organisations?
These questions were instrumental in the initial directing of our enquiry. We used them in
the absence of any pre-existing conceptual and contextual map for thinking about Irish organisations
and their relationship to their environment. We then sought to identify and / or develop concepts
and models for the systematic analysis of the challenges facing an individual organisation in the Irish
context.
3. The Research Programme: Developing a Research Framework
In taking this approach, we recognised that there is the risk of circularity in our enquiry.
How might one even begin to ask appropriate questions without some conceptual framework within
which to ask them? Our initial approach to developing such a framework was to review the
international and Irish literature on the sector. We then conducted open-ended interviews with senior
managers of Irish voluntary organisations and other persons working in or with the voluntary sector.
At the end of this process we brought fourteen voluntary sector leaders together in a seminar to
discuss a number of managerial perspectives on the sector.
We progressed towards a framework with a review of the mainstream organisation theory
literature. This assisted us in developing a framework which would take account of context or
environment, organisational resource needs and organisational characteristics. Together with the
sector literature and our preliminary data, we felt that we now had a set of building blocks for
development of a framework. The process is presented in this section through descriptions of the
literature review, the interview programme, the integration of three theories of organisations and,
ultimately, the identification of four resource-based 'building blocks' for a research framework.
3.1 Literature Review: The Irish and International Literature
As mentioned earlier, relatively little research has been conducted within the Irish voluntary
sector. Most recently published sources draw attention to the 'definitional difficulty' (e.g.
Donnelly-Cox and Jaffro 1997; Ruddle and Mulvihill 1994) associated with low formalisation and
regulation. Research in progress under the auspices of the Johns Hopkins Project (3)
promises more
concrete sector parameter measures for Irish researchers.
With regard to sector organisations, there have been recent survey studies of organisational
functions and accountability (Hayes 1996) and governance (Jaffro 1998). Categorisation of subject
organisations poses problems for many researchers. However, an earlier study by O'Mahoney
(1985) identified the categories of voluntary, professional voluntary and intermediary bodies. By
then distinguishing between local and national organisations, a six-fold classification system was
developed.
The paucity of literature published on the Irish sector offers tremendous scope for
researchers. However, when the task is the identification of sector parameters and organisational
characteristics, the absence of basic data adds to the complexity of sectoral analysis. The absence
of a significant literature has in part dictated the exploratory nature of this research project.
Our initial literature review incorporated the international literature on the nonprofit sector.
On completing a critical review of the literature (O'Regan, Donnelly-Cox and MacKechnie 1997),
we noted two useful approaches: Salamon and Anheier's (1996) social origins theory, a contingent
approach to understanding the variety in the size and shape of the non-profit sector internationally,
and Marshall's (1996) typology of voluntary sectors.
The social origins approach is based on sensitivity to historical and social context. It arises
from the observation that choices about whether to rely on the market, non-profit sector, or state
provision of key services are not simply made freely by individual consumers in an open market.
Rather, these choices are heavily constrained by prior patterns of historical development that
determine the range of options available at a given place and time. Voluntary organisations are
firmly embedded in prevailing social and economic structures.
In the Irish historical context, for example, it would be instructive to explore the
consequences of the dominant role of the Roman Catholic Church in post-Famine Ireland,(4)
the small
scale of the urban middle class, the tight community culture of the rural life, the high level of social
and denominational homogeneity in the population,(5)
and the low economic growth combined with
limited Government spending of the post-independence State(6)
. These contextual factors may have
greater explanatory power for the tendency to thrive or fail amongst different types of organisations
than an exclusively organisationally-focused approach. We believe that this type of historical
perspective is useful for understanding the development of the sector and also the factors which may
influence individual voluntary organisations.
In our review, we identified a second perspective which may be of value for mapping the
Irish context. This is Marshall's (1996) typology of social sectors. Marshall argues that it is
necessary not to talk about the voluntary sector but to discuss rather the multiplicity of voluntary
sectors. He develops a table of sectors which commences with the private and statutory sectors. In
addition to these, there are four more 'distinct spheres of organised action' (1996: 53) differentiated
according to criteria for allocating action and sources of control. He also identifies the differing
contribution to social change generated by each sector. This is illustrated in Table 1.
In observing the internal heterogeneity of the voluntary sector, Marshall noted that 'the only
common feature is their mediating character - the fact that they give individuals a role and a place
in social life and potentially, social change' (ibid).
allocation of
action control social change can pay? inequality entitled? redistribution as deserving? group redistribution as deserving? redistribution mobilise? belongs? community Marshall argues that the difficulty of defining boundaries between sectors can be seen to be
inherent in the subject matter precisely because activities move and are intended to move across
boundaries over time. He comments that 'These sectors are not a matter of rational planning, but
are evolutionary social phenomena that develop (and change their nature) in interaction with each
other' (ibid).
Marshall provides a style of conceptual mapping which highlights the relations between
different actors in society and the social norms and values which help shape their actions. We found
it useful for broadening our thinking on the sector concept and occasionally distancing ourselves
from the assumption that there is a voluntary sector with a distinct and simple boundary.
3.2 Interview Programme: Preliminary Interviews
On completing our literature review, we set up a series of preliminary interviews with 'sector
leaders'. In our initial contacts with Irish practitioners, we interviewed 15 individuals including the
directors(7)
of a number of small health related service and support organisations and the chief
executives of mainstream service providing organisations and umbrella organisations. We also
interviewed fundraising directors, strategic planners, managers in a European Union funded
'intermediary funding body'(8)
, independent consultant reseachers to the sector, academics working
on the Irish sector and civil servants in government departments working closely with sector
organisations. Although these interviews were wide ranging, we sought from all of them their views
on the relationship between the voluntary organisation and its task environment. We were
particularly interested in the interviewees' perspectives on key environmental dynamics and the
strategic implications of these for the sector and for individual organisations. From the our
interviewees, we learned about the historical development of particular organisations and their main
concerns in relation to organisational survival.
Following our preliminary round of discussions, we invited the interviewees to a seminar at
which we presented an initial summary of the developing research framework.(9)
This served to
provide us with considerable feedback on our initial ideas and gave us a firmer platform from which
to move forward. In particular, the latter parts of this process led us to identify practitioner concern
in four broad areas: financial resources, human resources, environmental change and leadership.
Each of these is discussed briefly below.
Although the availability and security of financial resources for the organisation was a
regular concern and often raised in terms of a requirement for greater sums, prolonged discussion
always raised a wider series of management difficulties around the resourcing issue. Irregular cash
flow, short-term planning horizons, the urge to follow tangential funding opportunities and lack of
long-term security combined to create a set of constraints on the development of the organisation.
This led us to define financial resources broadly and to avoid equating this resource with fundraising.
With respect to human resource management several issues were routinely raised in
discussion. These included the problems of skill development in under-resourced organisations,
managing expectations of employees in terms of management style, difficulty in generating career
paths, and the challenge and opportunity of working with committed individuals.
We invited interviewees to note aspects of environmental change which impacted upon their
organisation. Given that Ireland is a country undergoing relatively rapid economic, demographic,
social and cultural change practically all interviewees expressed views on the implications of some
of the resultant dynamics for their organisation. Practitioners noted changes in the expectations of
service recipients, in staff expectations of managerial styles and processes, in funders' requirements
for output and outcome evaluation. Practitioners placed great emphasis on changes in societal values
and the implications for the kind of support a voluntary organisation could attract.
We did not ask explicit questions regarding personal leadership styles or issues and
organisational leadership was not volunteered or so clearly articulated as an issue. However, it was
a muted theme which linked the handling of the first three areas of resourcing, human resources and
environmental change. In fact, there was a sense in which the low level articulation of the issue
stemmed from an absence of concepts with which to do so rather than satisfaction with individual
or organisational performance.
3.3 Theories of Organisation
At this stage in our development of a framework, we still faced a difficulty in bridging the
operational / managerial perspective of the practitioners with the wider, over-arching concepts of the
theories drawn from the literature. Further, sector theories and typologies were not appropriate for
organisational analysis, which was to be our primary task. Turning to more generic theories of
organisation, we noted the strong environmental focus of open systems theory, resource dependency
theory and institutionalisation theory. The use of these theories of organisation was consistent with
our initial assumption that voluntary sector organisations must be primarily concerned with their
environment. Drawing on our initial fieldwork, we noted that part of the origin motivation for
voluntary organisations lies in some need identified within the environment. It is the attempt to
satisfy that public need which is the focus of their organisational endeavour.
Open systems theory presents organisations as 'systems of interdependent activities linking
shifting coalitions of participants; the systems are embedded in - dependent on continuing exchanges
with and constituted by - the environments in which they operate' (Scott, 1993: 25). Further,
Viewing organisations as open systems presupposes a continuing exchange of
resources with their environments. This environmental embeddedness entails
importing various inputs that are then transformed - with the aid of the organization's
subsystems and processes - into goods or services that are subsequently exported to
the environment' (Evan, 1993, 6).
Feedback from the environment, whether positive or negative is vital to the organisation in order to
allow it maintain a dynamic equilibrium.
Resource dependency theory builds on systems theory and starts with the premise that
organisations are open systems and as such cannot generate all their required resources internally
and must mobilise resources from other organisations in their environment if they are to survive.
It may do this by choosing the environment it relates to and/or by adapting its internal structures and
processes to meet its environmental relationships. Thus, 'the resource dependence model
emphasises adaptation. It is assumed that individual organisations can act to improve their chances
of survival' (Scott, 1993: 115). This need to interact with other organisations which control critical
resources creates inter-organisational interdependencies that entail uncertainties. These
interdependencies all involve a power relationship. Thus an organisation which holds a resource
which is critical to the survival of another organisation implicitly exercises power over it. To reduce
resource dependencies and the related uncertainties an organisation will use power strategies to
manage its relationship with its environment.
In the context of resource dependency theory, managerial strategic choice must be focused
on initiating changes in the types and degree of resource dependence. Strategic choice is possible
to the degree that organisations can influence those entities within their environment which control
the resources they require. From a resource dependence perspective,
Administrators manage their environment as well as their organisations, and the
former activity may be as important, or even more important, than the latter (Aldrich
and Pfeffer, 1976: 83).
Thirdly, we have adopted an institutional perspective. The core concepts of institution,
institutionalization, and institutional environment, are derived from macro-level theory in sociology.
Institutionalization refers both to a process of acceptance and incorporation as well as an end state,
and thus theory is concerned with how institutionalisation occurs as well as the characteristics of the
condition. The sociological concept of society as a complex of institutions or subsystems, each of
which performs an indispensable function in maintaining societal stability, forms the backdrop to
institutional theory (Evan 1993: 12). A variety of institutional societal spheres, such as the family,
the polity, religion etc. present sets of environmental norms and values and also constitute sources
of pressure on organisations (Parsons 1960). The initial interest in institutions for organisational
analysis was centred on the power of the belief systems of institutional societal spheres to shape
organisations:
Many of the positions, policies, programmes, and procedures of modern
organisations are enforced by public opinion, by the views of important constituents,
by knowledge legitimated through the educational system, by social prestige, by the
laws, and by the definitions of negligence and prudence used by the courts. Such
elements of formal structure are manifestations of powerful institutional rules which
function as highly rationalised myths that are binding on particular organisations
(Meyer and Rowan, 1977: 343).
Managerial action is focused on increasing organisational legitimacy, adapting the organisation to,
or lobbying for changes in legal, economic, familial, religious, political, and educational institutions.
3.4 Four Resource-Based Building Blocks for a Research Framework
Drawing on these generic organisational theory concepts, social origins theory, and the
practitioner interviews, we turned our attention to the construction of a framework for our project.
We understood the task as entailing three criteria: context, resource needs and organisational
characteristics.
(i) Context - Our framework would need to give priority to organisational context, in order that we
might investigate the relationship between case organisations and the other entities which
comprised their task environment.
(ii) Resources - This criterion arose from the resource focus of the practitioner interviews;
theoretically, we could account for it using resource dependence theory.
(iii)Organisational Characteristics - We needed to distinguish between types of voluntary
organisations so that how they relate to their environment could be distinguished from each other
and classified. This criteria was necessitated by the sector wide scope of the study.
Our task in framework construction became focused on embedding these three elements in a manner
which would allow for case selection and analysis.
The approach we took was resource focused and drew on our earlier interviews and seminar
with practitioners as well as our literature review. We sought to identify the key resources which
can be accessed by voluntary organisations. These are the resources which are critical to the origins,
maintenance, and growth of organisations in the voluntary sector. We proposed that within the
context of the Irish voluntary sector, these resources are 'need', 'legitimacy', 'finance', and 'human
resource'. The manner in which resource needs impact on the organisation will vary from
organisation to organisation, but in a manner which can be specified within an organisational
typology. The four resources are described in the following subsections.
3.4.1 Need
Sector
Criterion for
Source of
Contribution to
Private
Economic : who
Market
Does not alter
Statutory
Legal : who is
Government
Systemic
Religious
Moral : who is seen
Religious
Local
Philanthropic
Moral : who is seen
Providers
Local
Community
Political : who can
Beneficiaries
Empowerment Informal
Social : who
Culture
Reproduces
A need is an unsupplied public good for which a demand exists, or for which a demand can
be created. 'Unsupplied' means it is not provided by the market or by the state. 'Public' means that
the benefits or value of the good can not be captured in total by the supplier but in some manner
accrues to the public or society as a whole. 'Good' carries two meanings, firstly it means a product
or service, and secondly the end to which it is used carries the connotation of being morally
desirable. It is in this second sense that a key part of the definition lies.
There is a infinite number of possible 'needs' in any society. For any one of these possible
needs to act as a resource for a voluntary organisation it must first be identified and articulated as
being morally desirable. This is an essentially social act. It is an act of moral persuasion. Returning
to our criterion of contextual sensitivity, it is only possible to do it within the context of the socially
constructed meaning of that society. This is the first step in the process of building and securing the
second resource - legitimacy.
We identify needs as being emerging, established or traditional, reflecting the degree of
institutionalisation of the need within a society: Emerging needs are associated with emerging
issues or recently identified areas of concern, without wide-spread awareness or support.
Established needs are recently accepted needs which are viewed as being in keeping with social
norms, and traditional needs are those which are so well established or institutionalised that they
are viewed as part of the society - for example, poverty relief, healthcare, education.
3.4.2 Legitimacy
An articulated 'need' is conferred or denied 'legitimacy' by individuals within the society in which its proposers seek its recognition; thus, legitimacy is an essential resource for the acceptance of a need. In an organisational context this legitimacy must accrue to both the need and the organisation(s) concerned with it. It is quite possible for an articulated need to hold legitimacy while the specific organisational attempt to meet it holds none.
We have adopted Suchman's (1995) definition of legitimacy, which states that legitimacy is:
a generalised perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable,
proper or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values,
beliefs and definitions (Suchman, 1995: 574).
Further, we have attempted to distinguish between types of legitimacy that an organisation might
require in the attempt to profile and meet a stated need. We distinguish between legal, moral,
political and administrative legitimacy.
Legal legitimacy accrues under the laws of the State. The state upholds rights of free
association, provides a framework for the creation of a legal entity, and acknowledges nonprofit /
charitable status under its tax code. Taken together these provide an acknowledgment on the part
of the State of the existence of public 'needs' and the right of its citizens to organise privately to
supply this need. In a democracy, legal legitimacy for a voluntary organisations rests firstly on
rights of free association and individual action. It rests secondly on the right accorded to
independent incorporated organisations to act as a legal entity. Thirdly, it rests on acting within the
criminal and civil law. For a voluntary organisation, legal legitimacy may be described as
possessing the right to exist and to be an actor in the social context.
Moral legitimacy is the legitimacy attained when a need is accepted by the members of
society as 'good' and there is agreement that organisations ought to be supported in order to serve
the need. Moral legitimacy is a critical resource for organisations as it allows them to draw down
the other resources necessary for survival and for addressing the need. Thus, the first evidence for
the conferring of moral legitimacy is expressed through the transfer of private resources - financial
or human - from members of society to meet the identified need. Initially, it is likely that action will
be at the level of the private individual. As acceptance of the need and particular organisations
which serve it grow, it may be shared with the State. Eventually, the need may be so embedded as
critical to the society that it may be deemed by the individual to be the responsibility of the State.
Thus, the provision of health care to the general population, for example, may be deemed a state
responsibility and a given individual may not choose to make a voluntary contribution towards it.
However, in the absence of state healthcare provision, the same individual may well choose to
support a voluntary organisation in its provision of general healthcare.
Legal legitimacy and moral legitimacy are linked to the degree that the State has a moral
legitimacy in the eyes of the citizens. However, legal legitimacy is not sufficient to confer moral
legitimacy and in some cases, particular needs may hold either legal or moral legitimacy and it may
be impossible to attain the other.
We have sought to define political legitimacy in a manner which is consistent with the particularities of the Irish socio-political context. Political legitimacy is sought around a need and for an organisation due to the power of elected representatives to enact legislation and provide budgetary finance. In an Irish context, political representatives are acutely aware of the close relationship between the causes they support and constituent voting patterns.(10)
Thus, the attainment
of political legitimacy is likely to be a direct response by a politician to publicly articulated support
for a cause, or moral legitimacy. The political representative believes that public approval of their
support is capable of being expressed in the ballot box.
While organisations are dependent upon political legitimacy, politicians are very sensitive
to the power of local factionalised support. Inevitably, within the diversity of the body politic,
individual representatives may support a particular cause for reasons of private belief, irrespective
of its popular support. This constitutes a variant of political legitimacy. However, it is also likely
that organisations which deliberately seek independence from politicians and the state - such as
Amnesty International - or organisations which are subversive within a society due to the values they
promote - will not seek political legitimacy as it would harm their moral legitimacy.
Administrative legitimacy accrues to an articulated need and a related organisation when
the ruling establishment of the State, the Government and the civil bureaucracy view the need and
the related organisation as being in accordance with their policies and perspectives on the operations
of the State. An organisation has administrative legitimacy when the State apparatus views the
organisation as a valid and appropriate delivery vehicle for information or services which the State
wishes to be delivered.
At a strategic level, one of the important aspects of legitimacy as a concept lies in the
relationship between it and a voluntary organisation's ability to secure financial and human
resources. Thus the management of an organisation's legitimacy becomes a key strategic issue.
3.4.3 Finance
Finance is a key resource for any organisation. Voluntary organisations may secure finance through government grants, private donations, membership fees, charges for services, commercial sales, commercial loans. All such methods are open to for-profit organisations, with the exception of private donations(11)
. In relation to membership fees and the sale of services, they may be
considered as entailing a donor and a commercial element. The commercial element is that part for
which a non-profit may be deemed to be in competition with the for-profit sector (and potentially
other non-profits). The donor element is that part of the membership fee or sale price for which the
individual receives no exchange. In general we may consider donor finance for non-profits as having
three possible sources, namely; private, corporate / institutional, and government (at both the
political and administrative levels). The type and level of legitimacy held by an organisation will
be a key factor in determining its financial mix.
Private finance includes donations or gifts given by individuals in a private capacity. We
would expect that it is the primary source of funding for organisations which have accrued moral
legitimacy with individuals within a society but have been unable to make a case for their support
more generally.
Corporate / Institutional finance includes donations or grants given by for-profit companies
or charitable trusts and foundations. Organisations which can attract corporate or institutional
finance have become established to the degree that the donor organisation is not taking an undue risk
in providing support.
Political finance includes State monies allocated by political representatives in response to
political dynamics. Political finance typically accrues to an organisation on foot of lobbying activity.
In such an instance, the response of the political representative follows the logic ascribed to them
in the previous discussion of political legitimacy. By reacting to representation from individuals,
they may be thereby maintaining their own legitimacy. Typically such funding is once-off, unlinked
to specific performance and may even be viewed with disapproval by the state administration.
Administrative finance is State money allocated by the civil service administration in
accordance with designated spending programmes. Typically, administrative finance is directed at
delivering a service to a wider market than the concerns of a particular organisation. In
operationalising such a spending programme the State administration will look for organisational
vehicles which are legitimised by virtue of their procedures. Such vehicles may be state, semi-state
or voluntary bodies. Historically, the poverty of the State and the position of the Roman Catholic
Church combined to limit the extent to which the State established its own organisational delivery
systems for particular services. This was most evident in the Health and Education sector. It is in
this context of service delivery that their exists a State / voluntary sector interdependency in the Irish
context.
3.4.4 Human Resources
People are a resource for any organisation, but typically voluntary organisations are particularly reliant on human capital, due to the limited extent to which technology or plant are central to the organisational endeavour. In relation to paid employment, the non-profit sector is in competition with the for-profit and State sectors. However, the non-profit sector may offer an intangible quality of work life to particular individuals which they believe they cannot secure in other sectors.(12)
In addition, the non-profit sector does have the option of securing voluntary human resources. In an Irish context, four categories of human resources are available to the sector: volunteers; staff, professionals and FAS trainees. Volunteers are those individuals who provide their skills and service to an organisation ex gratis. Staff are full- or part-time paid employees. Professionals are those paid staff with a professional or professionalised training and skills, while FAS Trainees are half-time State-funded trainees(13)
.
To recap, we have proposed four key resources as the building blocks for our research
framework. These are need, legitimacy, finance and human resources. There is a certain temporal
progression between them. That is, a need must first be articulated before is can be legitimised and
this legitimacy enables the attraction of the financial and human resources required to run an
organisation. Each of the resources has been further divided, yielding a total of fifteen resources.
From this stage, we have been in a position to proceed to model building.
4. Three Models and their Applications
The next step in developing our framework has been to identify the variety of organisational
types within which particular resource profiles reside. We propose that the four resource categories
provide us with a basis for developing a typology for the Irish voluntary sector. The typology then
provides the basis for a growth model, which illustrates how resource needs change over time as
organisations grow, thus creating potential transition points between organisational types. Finally,
and later than the typology and growth model, a model of organisational legitimacy has been
developed. Taken together, these three models comprise our framework for project research.
4.1 A Typology for the Irish Voluntary Sector.
The identification of the key resources created the basis for the development of an
organisational typology. On first examination, the resources represent fifteen different factors upon
which voluntary organisations may differ. However, closer consideration suggests that there are
clusters of factors which will typically present in certain organisational settings. Further, these
factor clusters will present very different sets of managerial problems. We have identified three
resource clusters which, we believe, are representative of three distinct types of organisations. This
typology distinguishes between Type I, Type II and Type III organisations in terms of organisational
complexity, funding patterns, level of embeddedness in the prevailing social norms and systems, and
size. This is achieved through variations in the resource categories of need, legitimacy, finance and
human resources.
4.1.1 First Cluster: Type I Organisations
Our first proposed cluster comprises organisations dealing with newly emerging issues.
These organisations may be concerned with legal legitimacy and will be very concerned with moral
legitimacy. Much of their finance will be sourced from private donations and in their staffing they
will rely heavily on voluntary effort. They will typically be of small scale and may be poorly
networked with other organisations or actors within their environment. Their high level of voluntary
staffing keeps their overheads low (FAS staffing may have similar financial implications) and allows
them to change the scale of their efforts rapidly in response to income changes. Once-off project-linked grants and small scale fund raising events are typical of organisations in this cluster.
Organisations dealing with an issue affecting small numbers are in a similar position. This
may be so even if the need is well established, as the small number of people affected may prevent
the need from becoming one of which the State must take stronger notice. Many small diagnostic
health support organisations find themselves in this position. They may receive most of their funding
from the State, but it is unlikely to be guaranteed core funding. Such funding is often insufficient
for operational requirements and is delivered in such a manner as to keep the organisation reliant on
the State. It is unlikely that there will be sufficient security of resources to undertake serious long-term planning and development.
4.1.2 Second Cluster: Type II Organisations
A second cluster may typically be found in a recently emerged but established need. This
social recognition has enabled the organisation to become well established in society. Type II
organisations will primarily be concerned with moral legitimacy, will often receive important
elements of their finance from the Corporate/Institutional and private sectors and will have both paid
staff and volunteers. Organisationally, they will have a considerable investment in the development
of a managerial core and will often have a considerable service delivery capacity. They may also
have professional staff involved in service delivery but these are unlikely to hold key power
positions in the organisation based on their professional status. Examples may include
reconciliation, development and environmental organisations. Because such organisations will have
achieved a certain scale they will have developed a high level of interdependencies with other
organisations and actors in their task environment. Finance will typically be a key area of
uncertainty, particularly for organisations which wish to innovate and/or grow further. We expect
that management concerns will focus heavily on the securing of resources and the reduction of
uncertainty.
4.1.3 Third Cluster: Type III Organisations
The third cluster is representative of areas of traditional need such as hospital care. The need
and the organisations addressing it will be widely recognised within the society as constituting a
public good - to such an extent in fact that much of the responsibility for its supply will have been
accepted by the State. The organisation will effectively appear as an agent of or for the State, and
its administrative legitimacy will be very high. Many in the general community may be unaware
of its independent and voluntary status. Majority finance will be government supplied. From a
human resource perspective the long-standing nature of the service will have allowed the
development of a professional staff with substantial power. Such organisations may typically be
found in the education and health sectors. We expect that their strategic management will focus
heavily on maintaining administrative legitimacy and that they will experience great difficulty from
both within the organisation and externally if attempts are made to introduce change.(14)
These three cluster types may be proposed as generic models of which one is unlikely to find a precise example. We therefore do not claim that they are 'ideal types' in the Weberian sense, which has implications for the claims which can be made for the typology. Type I is the small or start-up organisation. Type II is the larger resource dependent organisation. Type III is the heavily government funded, agency-type organisation. The typology as developed within the project to date is presented in Figure 1.
Within the typology, the sub-factors are positioned relative to their centrality to the concerns
of the organisational type. For instance, with regard to legitimacy, Type I organisations must be
primarily concerned with acquiring moral legitimacy. Legal and political legitimacy are likely to
be of lesser importance.
Figure 1 - Typology of Irish Voluntary Organisations
|
|
Type I
Emerging |
Type II
Established |
Type III
Traditional |
| Need | newly
stated |
recently stated
well within social norms |
long stated
deeply embedded in social norms |
| Legitimacy | moral
legal political |
moral
political administrative |
administrative
moral political |
| Finance | private
institutional political |
private
corp. / inst. political administrative |
administrative
private corporate |
| Human
Resource |
volunteer
staff FAS |
staff
volunteer professional FAS |
professional
staff |
The typology is tentative. We do not claim this to be a comprehensive typology, but rather
view it as a departure point for examining the relationships between organisations and their
environment. However, it has proved to be of practical utility within the project. It provided a basis
for selecting organisations for participation in the project. We used it to select sixteen organisations,
with representation from each of the type categories. Further, we have tested the assumptions
regarding the resource profiles for each type using historical data from each of the 'typed'
organisations. While some of the resource assumptions prove more robust than others, the typology
has provided a better basis for selection and analysis than any other framework we have accessed.
4.2 Modelling Growth in Sector Organisations
We have presented three organisational types within the Irish voluntary sector. For each of
these organisational types, what patterns of growth are typical and how might the three types relate
to each other in this growth pattern? To illustrate the types of patterns which might exist within the
sector, we have adopted the logic of Greiner's (1972) five phase model of organisational growth
through an evolution - crisis - evolution process and allied it with our resource and legitimacy
orientation.
In the typology presented in Figure 1, there is an underlying assumption that movement
between types is largely driven by resource considerations. In particular, the move to Type III is
likely to be dependent on State funding. This is due to the fact that while there may be other
institutions with sufficient financial capability to bring a voluntary organisation to Type III stage,
they are few in number.(15)
Figure 2 proposes a growth pattern for Irish voluntary organisations. It overlays this pattern
with the typology already developed and allies each growth stage with a particular theory of
organisation. While the growth impetus is presented as the driver between types, it should be noted
that no prescriptive value is attached to growth. The leaders of an organisation may consciously
decide to retain it within one of the types / phases for very valid reasons.
At first reading, the description of the types may appear somewhat negative as we label each
type with a potential organisational 'pathology' which we have found can be associated with that
stage. These are 'culture of passivity', 'culture of values clash' and 'loss of organisational
sovereignty'. The purpose of these labels is to illustrate the resource implications most characteristic
of an organisation of each type. In Type I organisations, the implication arises from lack of
resources, in Type II from availability and mix of resources and in Type III from loss of control of
(relatively plentiful) resources. Within the project, we are attempting to refine the characterisation
of these Types as we gain access to more extensive organisational data. It is possible that the
pathology will not remain as a defining characteristic of each organisational type. However, they
do indicate some organisational issues which may generate recurring management problems within
the Type.
4.2.1 First Stage: Type I Organisations
The Growth Model commences with Type I organisations. A characteristic aspect of some
of these organisations may be a 'Culture of Passivity' . This refers to an organisational culture
which views the entity as dealing with a need which it can only address but cannot redress. We
might speculate as to why such a situation occurs. Perhaps it is held to be beyond the organisation's
capacity to affect the cause of the need. This orientation may result from a religious perspective
which views suffering as an inevitable part of the human condition or a socio-political perspective
which has regard for the status quo. More positively, the organisation's leaders may view the
volunteering process and the self learning involved as the key output of the organisation and any
institution building around paid staff as inimical to this process. The organisation is thus freed of
any imperative to deal more comprehensively with the need. Thus may mental limits be set on the
organisation's growth ( in a traditional sense of growth) by the organisation's leaders. Such a culture
can keep an organisation indefinitely in a Type I situation. It is likely therefore that an important
initial determinant of growth will be the particular vision and energy of the organisation's leaders.
4.2.2 Second Stage: Type II Organisations
The 'Culture of a Values Clash' (clash of beliefs / lack of concept consensus) used to
characterise a Type II organisation refers to situations in established organisations which are
managing growth through direction. Such organisations will typically manage this by the creation
of positions for functional specialists. Often in the first instance this will be a financial controller,
other examples might include fundraisers and public relations personnel. The functional specialists
may not have experience in the field of the issue addressed by the voluntary organisation and may
not share the same value system as the organisation's fieldworkers.
Figure 2: Model of Voluntary Sector Organisation Growth
The very act of building such functional posts into the organisation structure creates
increased fixed operating costs, which, in turn, draws resources away from the field and increases
the level of task environment interdependencies faced by the organisation. The ability of the
functional specialists to deal with these uncertainties, particular those occurring around financial
issues, increases their power within the organisation in relation to the fieldworkers and their
judgments on issues tend to take precedence. The inherent tension in such a situation is exacerbated
by the fact that functional specialists typically have higher qualifications, positional power, and
concomitant salaries than the fieldworkers.
Fieldworkers may feel that the organisation's core values are under threat and see themselves
as the champions of the organisation's service recipients in the face of the financial focus of
managerial concerns. Indeed, to the extent that 'the old way of doing things' will have changed, they
will be correct in their judgment.
This clash of values will be particularly strong when the organisation contains fieldworkers
who have been with the organisation during the Type 1 stage of its life. Such staff may select
themselves out of the organisation to be replaced by fieldworkers who find the organisational
approach less in conflict with their own working style and approach.
4.2.3 Third Stage: Type III Organisations
In the Type III organisation it is the norm that a single external funder, typically the
Government, now provides the majority of the finance for the organisation. The age of the
organisation combined with the issue it is addressing has allowed the accumulation of a body of
knowledge around which has developed a professionalisation of expertise around the area of service
delivery. This professionalisation creates a core group within the organisation with high knowledge
power and who hold to a value system which exists separate to the organisation. The organisation
typically experiences a loss of sovereignty to the funders on the one hand and the professionals on
the other. The power of functional specialists involved in management is eroded. The professional,
not the organisation, becomes the repository of the 'philanthropic value'.
The growth model, like the organisational typology, were developed in the early stages of
the project. They were a product of our early interview programme, reporting seminar with
practitioners and our literature reviews. They are firmly grounded in an Irish context and some of
the central resource factors - for example, political legitimacy - may be far less central or even
inapplicable in another national context.
These models have been used to select case organisations. They have also been tested within
the project. For example, we have given the models to practitioners participating in seminars with
us and have asked them to apply the models in their own analyses. In the concluding section of this
paper, we examine the applicability of the models, including the legitimacy transfer model presented
in the next section.
4.3 A Sector Model of Legitimacy
The legitimacy model was developed several months after the typology and growth models.
It followed from a preliminary analysis of case organisations and therefore draws on casework which
was not available for the first two models. It was developed after a practitioner seminar on
legitimacy and illustrates the relationship between the cause or need, societal institutions and
attainment of different 'levels' of legitimacy.
The model is based on our understandings about how causes and organisations are
legitimised in Irish society. It draws on our work with project organisations, in particular the
individual interviews with project participants and others. It should be noted that the model is partial
in that it only deals with certain aspects of one set of relationships of importance to organisations
in the voluntary sector. Further, it is highly speculative and has been developed in order to test the
suggested relationships illustrated within it, rather than present these as definitive.
The model reflects our observations of the values held by individuals and organisations as
they are made evident in individual action and organisational activities. It is constructed so as to
deal with organisational aspects of legitimacy on the left-hand side, political aspects in the center
and cause or need aspects on the right-hand side. See Figure 3, on page 28, for full illustration of the
model. We start first with the historical context in which this model has some meaning. We then
work through the model, commencing with the individual's response to the cause or need, through
to the response of political representatives, and concluding with the organisation's efforts to accrue
legitimacy.
4.3.1 Historical Factors Specific to the Irish Context
The model represents an attempt to trace how legitimacy may be transferred within the Irish
context. It puts a relatively strong emphasis on the State / voluntary sector relationship, as this is
a core aspect of contextualising Irish sector dynamics. The State has a key role as funder of the
sector in the Irish context. Even in the instance where an organisation does not receive State
funding, it may intend to influence the State's action in relation to specific issues. Indeed when this
is not the case, the State still sets the legal boundaries of organisational and individual action.
In examining the State / Voluntary Sector relationship in Ireland, there are factors which, taken together, result in similarities and difference to those observed in other West European parliamentary democracies. In making these observations, we have attempted to take a social origins approach to selection of factors.(16)
These include:
¥ the existence of a parliamentary democracy based on multi-seat constituencies and the single transferable vote;
¥ the historical development of a welfare state with low levels of benefits and universality;
¥ a historical tradition of 'charity', practiced as a religious impulse and through religious institutions backed by a high vocational aspect in voluntary sector work in both lay and church based organisations;
¥ the low clarification of the role of the State in ideological terms;
¥ the manner in which the Civil War brought about a party political structure not shaped by the
standard Right / Left debates; (17)
¥ the degree to which moral leadership was left to the Roman Catholic Church by a cautious
political body
The factors above combined to develop a tradition whereby the State has reacted to political
demands by providing specific resources at an organisational level rather than by developing
principles of socio-economic rights. It is, in effect, a system characterised by clientelism.
4.3.2 The Role of the Individual
The foundation concept of the model is that of individual action. Individuals determine the
validity of a cause and of an organisational attempt to address it. In turn, individuals will affect the
focus of attention of the political system. In short, legitimisation occurs first at the level of the
individual and then within the context of the specific social system becomes expressed in
organisations and in political action. See the bottom section of Figure 3 for illustration.
The starting proposition of the model is that all moral legitimacy in the State stems from the
individual. How individuals arrive at their moral position and what that position is, is not addressed
within the model. Individuals transfer this legitimacy to political representatives through their vote.
These representatives then hold a formal, positional legitimacy. By advocacy and lobbying
individuals or organisations further inform political representatives of the kind of views which they
should hold if they are to maintain ongoing support. This may be viewed as legitimacy occurring
at an operational level.
Thus, in the model we look first at the value systems held by individuals in Irish society,
noting a transfer of legitimacy directly to the cause or need, directly to the relevant organisations and
directly to political representatives. The model is constructed so as to distinguish between legitimacy
conferred on a cause or need and that conferred on an organisation addressing the need.
4.3.3 The Response of Political Representatives and the State
Political representatives have two main modes of action through which they can react to the
issues being legitimised by their constituents. They may create and enact legislation and they may
direct State spending. Through legislation they may address a specific cause / need and provided
related benefits, protections or rights. In addition they may address the legislative environment in
which related organisations operate. In the case of the voluntary sector, charity legislation and
related tax exemptions provide examples.
In directing State spending through the budgetary process, political representatives may
decide on the overall amounts to be provided for particular programmes, and to a more limited
degree designate specific sums to nominated organisations. In general however, spending
programmes are worked through the State administrative system - the Civil Service and State
Bodies. These are institutions of long standing and are shaped by a responsibility to provide
continuity and impartiality in the administration of the State bureaucracy. These responsibilities
have encouraged the development of a reliance on specific structures and procedures as criteria for
judging the legitimacy of the manner in which spending programmes operate. In short, faced with
a direction at political level, to focus attention on a need, the tendency will be to seek, as spending
vehicles, organisations who can deliver the type of procedures which legitimise the operationalising
of the spending programme.
4.3.4 The Organisational Attempt to Accrue Legitimacy
The left hand side of the model focuses on voluntary organisations and attempts to identify
the type of attributes which may attract different types of legitimacy (moral / political / legal /
administrative ) from the different sources we have identified (individuals / political representatives
/ State bureaucracies). The organisational attributes we have noted are:
People; as in the individuals associated with the organisation;
Outcomes; as in the focus of the organisation endeavours;
Structure; as in the type of organisational pattern adopted;
Procedures; as in the systems and processes used in the organisation.
The different sources of legitimacy are likely to place different values on these attributes. Thus:
individuals, generally, are only in a position to make a judgment about the value of an organisational attempt to address a particular need by judging the individuals involved and the focus of the organisational outputs.
the legitimacy of an organisation within the law rests on the degree to which it complies with its legal obligations and general structures of organising.(18)
the concern of the State bureaucracy to exchange personal responsibility for procedural
responsibility leads to a search for organisational vehicles which provide the procedures
considered legitimate by that bureaucracy.
The organisation side (left hand side) of the model is further developed by referencing the organisational typology presented earlier and by noting the funding flows into the different types of organisations. For example, we can examine corporate sector donations to Type II organisations. Such organisations are legitimised from the perspective of the corporate sector by: