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Original Articles

The puzzle of organization dimensions; a tri–sectoral perspective

Pages 45-81 | Published online: 26 Jun 2007

References

  • Kettl , Donald F. 1988 . Government by Proxy, (Mis) Managing Federal Programs , Washington, D.C. : Congressional Quarterly Press . explores the proxy issue in, Kettl credits the term to Seidman, Harold and Gilmour, Robert in Politics, Position and Power, 4th ed., Oxford University Press, New York, 1986, p. 128. On third-party government see Salamon, Lester M. “Rethinking Public Management: Third-Party Government and the Changing Forms of Government Action” Public Policy 29 (Summer 1981): 255-275. On privatization, see for example, Savas, E.S. Privatizing the Public Sector, Chatham House, Chatham, N.J., 1982 and Butler, Stuart M. Privatizing Federal Spending, Universe Books, New York, 1985
  • Musolf , Lloyd and Seidman , Harold . The Blurred Boundaries of Public Administration . Public Administration Review , 40 124 – 130 .
  • Kettl . Government by Proxy 4
  • Moe , Ronald C. 1987 . Exploring the Limits of Privatization . Public Administration Review , 47 ( 6 ) Nov/Dec : 453 – 4 .
  • Bozeman , Barry . 1987 . All Organizations are Public, Bridging Public and Private Organizational Theories , 5 San Francisco : Jossey-Bass Publishers .
  • Peters , B. Guy. 1988 . “ The Machinery of Government: Concepts and Issues ” . In Organizing Governance, Governing Organizations , Edited by: Campbell , Colin and Peters , B. Guy . 19 – 53 . Pittsburgh : University of Pittsburgh Press . For a discussion of the renewed interest in the structure and organization of government
  • March , James G. and Olsen , Johan P. 1984 . The New Institutionalism” Organizational Factors in Political Life . American Political Science Review , 78 : 734 – 49 .
  • Horvath , William J. and Rapaport , Anatol . 1959 . Thoughts on Organizational Theory and a Review of Two Conferences . General Systems Yearbook . 1959 . Vol. IV , pp. 90 The distinction between organizational theory and the theory of organizations is sharply drawn, in their essay, Part II
  • National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) . October 1987 . The Nonprofit Sector and NSAPAA's Redefinition of Public Service , October , Washington, D.C. : NASPAA . For a discussion of the place of a third and nonprofit sector in the American mixed economy and mixed polity and as a topic in the curriculum of public administration
  • Hall , Peter Dobkin . 1982 . The Organizations of American Culture, 1700-1900: Institutions, Elites and the Origins of American Nationalism , New York : New York University Press . For a historical overview of nonprofit organizations
  • For example, three of the leading theories of the nonprofit sector is premised upon a failure or a gap in the performance or methods of the public or private sectors to explain the existence and function of a third sector. For example, Burton Weisbrod has argued that governments leave a residual of unsatisfied demand for public goods because it strives to satisfy only the demand level of the median voter. Nonprofits therefore arise to provide public goods supplemental to those provided by government to individuals who demand more than the median. Conversely, the “free rider” problem of providing collective goods through the market can lead to “market failure”. When combined, such government and market failure theories point to a demand for a range of collective goods that are desired by a part of the community which is less than a political majority and smaller than a profitable market. Thus nonprofit organizations function to fill the gaps left from market and government failures
  • Hansman , Henry . 1987 . “ Economic Theories of Nonprofit Organizations ” . In The Nonprofit Sector, A Research Handbook , Edited by: Powell , William, W. 27 – 42 . New Haven : Yale University Press . Henry Hansmann has developed an alternative theory, proposing that nonprofits arise to provide goods and services in circumstances where ordinary contractual mechanisms are perceived by the purchaser to be inadequate to assure the delivery of the quality or quantity of the product sought by the consumer (e.g., day care or nursing home care). Lacking a profit motive, nonprofits appear to be more trusted to perform fairly and honestly and to maintain high quality--evaluative characteristics that are not easily enforced by contract. Hence, this approach is termed the “contract failure” theory of nonprofits. For a survey of these (and other economic) theories
  • Mathews , David . March 19 1987 . “ The Independent Sector and the Political Responsibilities of the Public ” . March 19 , New York Keynote address at the 1987 Independent Sector Spring Research Forum
  • Salamon . 1987 . Of Market Failure, Voluntary Failure, and Third-Party Government . Journal of Voluntary Action Research , 16 ( 1 & 2 ) January - June : 32 – 33 .
  • Figures from Independent Sector . 1988 . “ Dimensions of the Independent Sector: A Statistical Profile ” . Washington, D.C. : Independent Sector . (Interim update), Fall
  • Salamon , Lester M. “ Partners in Public Service: The Scope and Theory of Government-Nonprofit Relations ” . In The Nonprofit Sector Edited by: Powell . 104 – 6 . For figures on federal funding patterns of nonprofit organizations
  • Perry , James L. and Rainey , Hal G. 1988 . The Public-Private Distinction in Organization Theory: A Critique and Research Strategy . The Academy of Management Review , 13 ( 1 ) January : 182 – 201 . discuss the various approaches to this dichotomous perspective, On the taxonomic approach see, pp. 191-192
  • Emmert , Mark A. and Crow , Michael M. 1988 . Public, Private and Hybrid Organizations: An Empirical Examination of the Role of Publicness . Administration and Society , 20 ( 2 ) August : 218 – 219 . Denotative definitions are discussed
  • Graham , William , ed. 1906 . “ The terms “enacted” and “crescive” are those of Sumner ” . In Folkways , 53 – 4 . Boston : Ginn and Co. . Organizational analysis recognizes a fundamental distinction between formal, enacted organizations and informal,crescive ones. He refers to crescive institutions as “primary institutions,” those which began as folkways, became customs, and developed into mores. In contrast, “enacted institutions are products of rational invention and intention
  • Blau , Peter M. and Scott , W. Richard . 1962 . Formal Organizations, A Comparative Approach , San Francisco : Chandler Publishing Co. . For a more contemporary discussion
  • Etzioni , Amitai . 1964 . Modern Organizations , 5 Englewood Cliffs : Prentice-Hall . Pfiffner and Sherwood, in surveying the literature on administrative organizations identify the “need for a purpose” as one of four primary assumptions underlying the definition of organizations. They also refer to Herbert Simon's observation that “organizations are formed with the intention and design of accomplishing goals…” See, Pfiffner, John M. and Sherwood, Frank M. Administrative Organizations, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1960: 29
  • Moe . “ Exploring the Limits of Privatization ” . 456 – 7 . He leaves some flexibility in this definition by allowing for the consideration of national security and public safety as secondary justifications for ascribing functions to the public sector
  • Rainey , Hal G. , Backoff , Robert W. and Levine , Charles H. 1976 . Comparing Public and Private Organizations . Public Administration Review , 36 ( 2 ) March/April : 233 – 244 . For a survey of the literature concerning the differences between public and private organizations
  • Ibid.
  • Cuninggim , Merricom . 1972 . Private Money and Public Service , 251 New York : McGraw-Hill .
  • Mathews . “ The Independent Sector and the Political Responsibilities of the Public ” .
  • Zeckhauser , Richard . 1986 . “ The Muddled Responsibilities of Public and Private America ” . In American Society, Public and Private Responsibilities , Edited by: Knowlton , Winthrop and Zeckhauser , Richard . 51 Cambridge, Mass : Ballinger Publishing Co. .
  • These component purposes of charity were established in an 1891 English Court of Appeals case, Commission of Income Tax c. Pemsel A.C. 531,583. The roots of American tax law concerning charitable activities lie in such English law. As codified in Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, tax exemption for charitable purposes went to organizations organized and operated for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational purposes, or for the prevention or cruelty to children or animals
  • Further, Regulation 1 (d) (2) of Section 501 (c) (3) defines “charitable” as including
  • Relief of the poor and distressed or of the underprivileged; advancement of religion; advancement of education or science; erection or maintenance of public buildings, monuments or works; lessening of the burdens of Government; and promotion of social welfare organizations designed to accomplish any of the above purposes, or (i) to lessen neighborhood tensions; (ii) to eliminate prejudice and discrimination; (iii) to defend human and civil rights secured by law; or (iv) to combat community deterioration and juvenile delinquency
  • 1972 . Legislative Activity of Certain Types of Exempt Organizations , 5 Washington, D.C. : Committee Print . As noted in U.S. Congress. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, 92nd Congress, 2nd Sess
  • This point concerning the adaptation of organizational purposes by consent of its membership was established and legally recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Dartmouth College case
  • Fabricant , Solomon . 1962 . “ An Economist's View of Philanthropy ” . In Philanthropy and Public Policy , Edited by: Dickinson , Frank G. 7 New York : National Bureau of Economic Research . On the displacement of voluntary work by professional service
  • Private Money and Public Service 254 – 5 . Former foundation executive Merricom Cunniggim refers to the “moral” or “ethical” quality that “resides in the very nature of the foundation… [and] almost any other nonprofit, pubic service institution
  • Levitt , Theodore . 1973 . The Third Sector: New Tactics for a Responsive Society , New York : Amacon . The point concerning the responsiveness and innovativeness of nonprofit organizations is broadly asserted. Kotler, Philip and Murray, Michael, “Third Sector Management--the Role of Marketing.” Public Administration Review 35, 5 (Sept/Oct 1975): 468
  • Meyer , Marshall W. 1979 . Changes in Public Bureaucracies , 192 – 202 . New York : Cambridge University Press . The distinction between conformity standards and efficiency and effectiveness standards as well as some of the implications of each is discussed, also see Meyer's “Bureaucratic vs profit Organizations” in Staw, B. and Cummings, L.L., eds., Research in Organizational Behavior, JAI, Greenwich, Conn., 1982: 89-126
  • Hansmann . “ Economic Theories of Nonprofit Organization ” . In The Nonprofit Sector Edited by: Powell . 37 – 8 . For a brief overview of these arguments, espec
  • Douglas , James . “ Political Theories of Nonprofit organization ” . In The Nonprofit Sector Edited by: Powell . 43 – 54 . Douglas also develops his analysis at greater length in Why Charity? Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, Calif., 1983
  • Zeckhauser . “ The Muddled Responsibilities of Public and Private America ” . 50 – 51 .
  • Meyer . Change in Public Bureaucracies 191 On the lack or limited availability of alternative providers for some goods and services
  • Moe . “ Exploring the Limits of Privatization ” . This relates to Moe's argument that certain purposes must (or should) be retained as a governmental monopoly because they embody popular sovereignty and thus cannot be delegated or shared
  • Bain , Joe S. 1968 . Industrial Organization , 2nd , 44 New York : John Wiley & Sons .
  • Dahl , Robert A. 1982 . Dilemmas of Pluralist Democracy , 42 New Haven : Yale University Press .
  • Sosin , Michael . 1985 . Social Problems Covered by Private Agencies: An Application of Niche Theory . Social Science Review , March : 75 – 94 . Perrow, Charles. Complex Organizations: A Critical Essay, Plenum/Scott- Foresman and Co., New York, 1979. The idea that actuative organizations develop a purposive “niche” in a community to allow for autonomous action has been examined with regard to nonprofit arts organizations by Balfe, Judith H. and Wyszomirski, Margaret J. “An Ecology of Arts Institutions: A Community Case Study,” Paper presented at the Annual Conference on Social Theory, Politics and the Arts, University of San Diego, San Diego, California, October 1985
  • Hirschman , Albert . 1970 . Exit, Voice, and Loyalty , Cambridge, Mass : Harvard university Press .
  • Berger , Peter and Neuhaus , Richard . 1977 . To Empower People , 2 – 3 . Washington, D.C. : American Enterprise Institute .
  • 16 April 1983 . The New York Times 16 April ,
  • instrumentalities of the U.S. . Internal Revenue Code , For a list of organizations considered to be, Section 501 of the
  • Moe , Ronald C. and Stanton , Thomas H. 1989 . Government Sponsored Enterprises as Federal Instrumentalities: Reconciling Private Management with Public Accountability . Public Administrative Review , 49 ( 4 ) July/August For detailed discussions of Government sponsored enterprises, Moe, Ronald C. “Administering Public Functions at the Margins of Government: The Case of Federal Corporations” (Washington DC: Congressional Research Service, Dec. 1, 1983.) (Report No. 83-236 GOV)
  • Pifer , Alan . 1967 . “ The Quasi Non-Governmental Organization ” . In Carnegie Foundation Annual Report, 1967 , 3 – 16 . New York : The Carnegie Foundation . For a survey of these organizations see, Smith, Bruce L.R. “The Future of the Not-for Profit Corporation.” The Public Interest 8 (Summer 1967): 127-142
  • Perry and Rainey . “ The Public-Private Distractor ” . 182
  • Salamon . “ The Market Failure, Voluntary Failure and Third-Party Government ” . 37
  • Allison , Graham . 1983 . “ Public and Private Management: Are the Fundamentally Alike in All Unimportant Respects? ” . In Public Management: Public and Private Perspectives , Edited by: Perry , James and Kraemer , K. Palo ALto, CA : Mayfield .
  • NASPAA . “ The Nonprofit Sector and NASPAA's Redefinition of Public Service ” . 30 – 31 .

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