scholarly journals The Accountability of Voluntary Organisations: Implications for Government Funders

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Joanne Cribb
Keyword(s):  
Agency Theory ◽  
Current System ◽  
Voluntary Sector ◽  
Board Members ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Accountability System ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
Internal Stakeholders ◽  
Voluntary Organisations

<p>The mechanisms of accountability of government-voluntary sector contracting are problematic for both government agencies and voluntary organisations. If they are to be revised, new mechanisms need to be appropriate for both parties. While the public accountability system has been relatively well described and analysed, the accountability systems of voluntary organisations have not. This research aimed to explore accountability from the perspective of voluntary sector managers and board members asking to whom, for what and why they thought themselves accountable. Four organisational case studies were undertaken involving 34 in-depth interviews with managers and board members. Interview data was triangulated with document analysis and supplemented with field observations. The results showed that respondents thought themselves most accountable to their clients. Clients were prioritised because respondents were focused on maintaining their organisations' legitimacy. Being seen to provide quality services to clients meant that their organisations were viewed in a positive light by key stakeholders, including funders. A group of internal stakeholders (staff, members and the board) were considered second most important. Staff were seen as important because they delivered the organisations' services. The support of members also brought legitimacy. Government agencies were ranked third. Government funding was viewed as a 'means to an ends': an input needed to provide a quality service to clients. An implication of the findings for the reform of the accountability mechanisms of contracting is that the assumptions that the current system is based on - influenced by agency theory - may not be valid. Respondents were found to have similar goals to government agencies: achieving positive outcomes for clients. The goal incongruence assumed by agency theory was not identified.</p>

scholarly journals The Accountability of Voluntary Organisations: Implications for Government Funders

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Joanne Cribb
Keyword(s):  
Agency Theory ◽  
Current System ◽  
Voluntary Sector ◽  
Board Members ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Accountability System ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
Internal Stakeholders ◽  
Voluntary Organisations

<p>The mechanisms of accountability of government-voluntary sector contracting are problematic for both government agencies and voluntary organisations. If they are to be revised, new mechanisms need to be appropriate for both parties. While the public accountability system has been relatively well described and analysed, the accountability systems of voluntary organisations have not. This research aimed to explore accountability from the perspective of voluntary sector managers and board members asking to whom, for what and why they thought themselves accountable. Four organisational case studies were undertaken involving 34 in-depth interviews with managers and board members. Interview data was triangulated with document analysis and supplemented with field observations. The results showed that respondents thought themselves most accountable to their clients. Clients were prioritised because respondents were focused on maintaining their organisations' legitimacy. Being seen to provide quality services to clients meant that their organisations were viewed in a positive light by key stakeholders, including funders. A group of internal stakeholders (staff, members and the board) were considered second most important. Staff were seen as important because they delivered the organisations' services. The support of members also brought legitimacy. Government agencies were ranked third. Government funding was viewed as a 'means to an ends': an input needed to provide a quality service to clients. An implication of the findings for the reform of the accountability mechanisms of contracting is that the assumptions that the current system is based on - influenced by agency theory - may not be valid. Respondents were found to have similar goals to government agencies: achieving positive outcomes for clients. The goal incongruence assumed by agency theory was not identified.</p>

The Mersey Basin Campaign

1999 ◽  
Vol 40 (10) ◽  
pp. 131-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Voluntary Sector ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Quality Improvements ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
North West ◽  
Environment Agency ◽  
Voluntary Organisations

The Mersey Basin Campaign is now at the mid-point of a 25 year government backed partnership, which brings together local authorities, businesses, voluntary organisations and government agencies to deliver water quality improvements and waterside regeneration throughout the Mersey Basin Campaign area. Whilst much has been achieved due to investment by North West Water, the Environment Agency, local authorities and businesses the strength of the Campaign lies in the formation and support of active partnerships with the voluntary sector.

Challenges and Opportunities

2021 ◽  
pp. 17-33
Author(s):  
Thomas Packard
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Human Service ◽  
Service Organizations ◽  
Board Members ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Technical Aspects ◽  
Organizational Goals ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

Human service organizations are faced with environments of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. The COVID-19 pandemic, other healthcare challenges, expectations for evidence-based practice usage, and racial justice are vivid examples. Clients and communities deserve effective services delivered by competent, compassionate, and committed staff members. Taxpayers, donors, philanthropists, policymakers, and board members deserve to have their contributions used to deliver programs that are effective and efficient. All these forces create demands and opportunities for organizational change. Planned organizational change can happen at the level of a program, a division, or an entire organization. Administrators and other staff will need complementary skills in leading and managing organizational change. Staff deserve opportunities to have their unique competencies used to achieve organizational goals. Organizational change involves leading and mobilizing staff to address problems, needs, or opportunities facing the organization by using change processes that involve both human and technical aspects of the organization.

Self Help, Not Self Pity': Caring for People with Diabetes in a Voluntary Organisation

1997 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Elica Ristevski ◽  
Heather Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Support Services ◽  
Cost Efficiency ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Voluntary Sector ◽  
Voluntary Organisation ◽  
Self Help ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Voluntary Organisations

The importance of the voluntary sector in providing services for people with a chronic illness has been increasingly recognised. A consumer organisation in the voluntary sector, which provides services for people with diabetes, was selected to explore the role of voluntary organisations in service provision. The investigation revealed that voluntary organisations provide support services such as information and education, advocacy, health promotion, the encouragement of research, social activities, and aids and appliances. These services focus on the individual, social, financial and economic needs of people with diabetes and fill the gaps in programs provided by public sector organisations, which are largely targeted toward acute care, are less flexible, and increasingly concerned with cost efficiency. With the shift towards decentralising services to the community and the increased participation of consumers in health care, the work of voluntary organisations will become even more indispensable in Australia.

Practitioner Emotions in Penal Voluntary Sectors: Experiences from England and Canada

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippa Tomczak ◽  
Kaitlyn Quinn
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Voluntary Sector ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Helping Professions ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
The Social ◽  
Voluntary Organisations ◽  
Do So

Abstract Mixed economies of welfare have seen increasing numbers of service users funnelled into voluntary, rather than statutory sector services. Many service users with (complex) human needs now fall within the remit of ill-researched voluntary organisations that are rarely social work led. Voluntary sector practitioners comprise a large and rising proportion of the social services workforce, but their experiences have received minimal analysis. Despite the importance of emotions across the helping professions, voluntary sector practitioners’ emotional experiences are largely unknown. We address this gap, using an innovative bricolage of original qualitative data from England and Canada to highlight how ‘emotions matter for penal voluntary sector (PVS) practitioners across diverse organisational roles, organisational contexts, and national jurisdictions’. We examine the emotions of paid and volunteer PVS practitioners relating to their (i) organisational contexts and (ii) relationships with criminalised service users. Problematising positive, evocative framings of ‘citizen participation’, we argue that continuing to overlook voluntary sector practitioners’ emotions facilitates the downloading of double neo-liberal burdens—‘helping’ marginalised populations and generating the funds to do so—onto individual practitioners, who are too often ill-equipped to manage them.

Application of Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) within a Curriculum Development Project

1986 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-58
Author(s):  
Carol Foster ◽  
James R. Lent
Keyword(s):  
Program Evaluation ◽  
Product Development ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Accountability System ◽  
Temporal Relationships ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Long Range Planning ◽  
Time Required

There is a need for accurate procedures for monitoring both process and productivity in educational systems. An accountability system was developed as part of a federal project to develop curriculum materials for individuals who have mental retardation (Project MORE). The accountability system was designed to monitor the development and completion of 46 products and to produce cost estimates. A 34-step process lattice was constructed to describe the procedures used in product development and then a PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) chart was designed to show the temporal relationships among the 34 steps. Data were collected on how long each step in the lattice required for completion. These data were then used to predict the product development that was feasible over the next three years. It was predicted that each product would require 490 days. These data were then used to make yearly projections. After one year's data were collected these projections were compared to actual productivity. While there was a fair amount of variability across these steps, and the project has undergone extensive changes in both personnel and physical location, the mean actual time required was within one month of the original estimates. The use of the PERT has proven useful for doing long-range planning, for supervising the activity of a federal project; and for training new staff members in a fairly complex set of procedures.

Integrated land-sea management: recommendations for planning, implementation and management

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
KIM E. REUTER ◽  
DANIEL JUHN ◽  
HEDLEY S. GRANTHAM
Keyword(s):  
Program Planning ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Ecological Connectivity ◽  
Program Success ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
Planning Implementation ◽  
Anthropogenic Threats ◽  
Management Recommendations

SUMMARYMarine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems face increasing anthropogenic threats that are exacerbated by the ecological connectivity between realms; integrated land-sea management (ILSM) is a framework that can help address this connectivity. However, gaps in our knowledge regarding ILSM remain. This study reviewed 108 relevant studies to understand how ILSM is being utilized. Summarized are: (1) characteristics of integrated land-sea programs; (2) recommendations made from the literature for program planning, implementation and management; (3) how applied programs have been planned, implemented and managed; and (4) recommendations for undertaking ILSM. It was found that applied programs did not often adhere to the strategies recommended by theoretical papers. Applied programs were less likely than theoretical papers to specifically name the land-sea connection, over 50% did not apply a framework or governance approach, many did not include key stakeholders, and over 80% listed at least one conflict or hurdle that decreased program success. This study highlighted the difficulties of undertaking ILSM given the high number of stakeholders, government agencies and experts involved. Based on the findings, recommendations for future ILSM programs are provided.

scholarly journals The impact of a changing policy environment on board members in small and medium-sized voluntary organisations

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-346
Author(s):  
Lindsey Metcalf
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Board Members ◽  
Policy Environment ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Specific Group ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Support Mechanisms ◽  
Training And Support ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Voluntary Organisations

This article examines the experiences of volunteers serving as board members in small and medium-sized voluntary organisations (VOs) in England. It considers the ways in which policy developments, including the outsourcing of public service delivery and austerity programmes, are impacting on this group of volunteers. Relatively little research has considered policy change from a board member perspective, despite their key role in organisational governance. The article draws on qualitative interviews with individual board members. It shows that policy changes are contributing to an increasingly complex role for board members in small and medium-sized VOs. The policy environment impacts on board members both by driving more challenging organisational issues for the board and, in turn, by contributing to stress and a lack of confidence at an individual level. Recruitment, training and support mechanisms are not always adequate in meeting the needs of this specific group of volunteers within this context.

scholarly journals ANALISIS SISTEM DAN PROSEDUR PENYUSUNAN LAPORAN AKUNTABILITAS KINERJA INSTANSI PEMERINTAHAN PADA DINAS PARIWISATA KOTA MANADO

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuuki Jonas John Assa ◽  
Harijanto Sabijono ◽  
Sintje Rondonuwu
Keyword(s):  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
City Government ◽  
Planning System ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Accountability System ◽  
Performance Reporting ◽  
Performance Accountability ◽  
The Government ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The City

In order to encourage the creation of performance accountability, government agencies need an accountability system so that they can operate efficiently and effectively to realize the transparency of government agencies and maintain public trust in the government, especially the City Government of Manado. This study aims to investigate and describe the System Manado City Government Especially at the Tourism Office. The research method used is descriptive analysis method. The results of this study indicate that the Implementation of the Performance Accountability System of the Manado City Government Agency can improve better transparency where this system is an integration of the planning system, budgeting system, and performance reporting system that is in line with the implementation of the financial accountability system. In this case, each agency, both the leader and the work device, is obliged to record and report on the use of state finances and their suitability with the applicable rules, but in the implementation there are still several obstacles, namely Human Resources that are less understanding and lacking in coordination between providers and trustee / budget users in the institution so that there are differences in the report documents obtained.

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