IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/syspar/v34y2021i3d10.1007_s11213-020-09529-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Big Picture of Non-Profit Organisational Sustainability: a Qualitative System Dynamics Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Nikita Singh

    (University of KwaZulu-Natal)

  • Syanda Alpheous Mthuli

    (University of KwaZulu-Natal)

Abstract

The assistance of the non-profit sector in providing for needy, disabled, sick, aged and vulnerable members of society is invaluable to private and state actors already overburdened with trying to do the same. Nowhere is this impact more evident, than in the work of international non-profit organisations (NPOs) with affiliates throughout the world. However, such NPOs occupy a precarious position in terms of sustainability as their sustainability is influenced by the actions and generosity of numerous stakeholders such as donors, volunteers, funders and government agencies to name a few. In addition, they are often embedded in volatile and ever-changing political, economic and/or geographic settings which add to the complexity of their endeavours to remain successful and sustainable. This study, in response to the dire lack of an integrated and holistic account of NPO sustainability, adopted a qualitative System Dynamics (SD) methodology for understanding the plethora of factors that influence the overall sustainability of an international NPO. Through this methodological approach, it was found that seven themes were integral to the sustainability of this particular NPO, namely: (1) Human Resource capacity (2) Credibility of the organisation (3) Partnerships (4) Competition in the non-profit sector (5) Co-financing and funding arrangements (6) Navigating the North-South Dilemma and (7) the dynamics involved in attempts to remain apolitical. The impact of this research lies in the recognition of NPO sustainability as not being simply about the amount of funding and donations received and social impact achieved, but rather charts sustainability as an emergent and fluctuating result of the way in which the themes mentioned above (and the many variables that constitute such themes) systemically interact and influence one another.

Suggested Citation

  • Nikita Singh & Syanda Alpheous Mthuli, 2021. "The Big Picture of Non-Profit Organisational Sustainability: a Qualitative System Dynamics Approach," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 229-249, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:syspar:v:34:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s11213-020-09529-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11213-020-09529-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11213-020-09529-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11213-020-09529-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Julia Wijnmaalen & Liesbet Heyse & Hans Voordijk, 2016. "Organisational commitment and turnover intentions in humanitarian organisations," International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 16(1/2), pages 47-66.
    2. Sahar Bahmani & Miguel-Ángel Galindo & María Méndez, 2012. "Non-profit organizations, entrepreneurship, social capital and economic growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 271-281, April.
    3. Schuh, Russell G. & Leviton, Laura C., 2006. "A framework to assess the development and capacity of non-profit agencies," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 171-179, May.
    4. Weerawardena, Jay & McDonald, Robert E. & Mort, Gillian Sullivan, 2010. "Sustainability of nonprofit organizations: An empirical investigation," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 346-356, October.
    5. E F Wolstenholme, 1999. "Qualitative vs quantitative modelling: the evolving balance," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 50(4), pages 422-428, April.
    6. Kunle Akingbola & Sean Edmund Rogers & Alina Baluch, 2019. "Change Management in Nonprofit Organizations," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-14774-7, December.
    7. Rodrigo Lozano & Robin von Haartman, 2018. "Reinforcing the Holistic Perspective of Sustainability: Analysis of the Importance of Sustainability Drivers in Organizations," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(4), pages 508-522, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Norraini Nordin & Ali Khatibi & S. M. Ferdous Azam, 2024. "Nonprofit capacity and social performance: mapping the field and future directions," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 171-225, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Walters, Jeffrey P. & Archer, David W. & Sassenrath, Gretchen F. & Hendrickson, John R. & Hanson, Jon D. & Halloran, John M. & Vadas, Peter & Alarcon, Vladimir J., 2016. "Exploring agricultural production systems and their fundamental components with system dynamics modelling," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 333(C), pages 51-65.
    2. Ajjima Jiravichai & Ruth Banomyong, 2022. "A Proposed Methodology for Literature Review on Operational Risk Management in Banks," Risks, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-18, May.
    3. Debadutta K. Panda, 2019. "Competitive dynamics in not-for-profit organizations: evidence from India," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 1251-1274, December.
    4. Yihua Wu & Muhammad Farrukh & Ali Raza & Fanchen Meng & Imtiaz Alam, 2021. "Framing the evolution of the corporate social responsibility and environmental management journal," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(4), pages 1397-1411, July.
    5. Rozélia Laurett & Arminda Maria Finisterra Paço & Anabela Rosario Leitão Dinis, 2020. "Entrepreneurship in nonprofit organizations: a systematic review of the literature," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 17(2), pages 159-181, June.
    6. Denisa Gajdová & Helena Majdúchová, 2018. "Financial Sustainability Criteria and their testing in the conditions of the Slovak Non-Profit Sector," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 12(1), March.
    7. Syrus M Islam, 2022. "Social impact scaling strategies in social enterprises: A systematic review and research agenda," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 47(2), pages 298-321, May.
    8. Enzo Bivona, 2021. "Il dynamic business modelling per lo sviluppo e la prevenzione delle crisi delle piattaforme multi-sided," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(suppl. 2), pages 91-113.
    9. Sebastian Ion Ceptureanu & Eduard Gabriel Ceptureanu & Vlad Liviu Bogdan & Violeta Radulescu, 2018. "Sustainability Perceptions in Romanian Non-Profit Organizations: An Exploratory Study Using Success Factor Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-23, January.
    10. Svensson, Per G. & Andersson, Fredrik O. & Mahoney, Tara Q. & Ha, Jae-Pil, 2020. "Antecedents and outcomes of social innovation: A global study of sport for development and peace organizations," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 657-670.
    11. Alshawaaf, Nasser & Lee, Soo Hee, 2021. "Business model innovation through digitisation in social purpose organisations: A comparative analysis of Tate Modern and Pompidou Centre," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 597-608.
    12. Cheng, Colin C.J. & Shiu, Eric C., 2022. "A two-level, longitudinal investigation into the effects of employee social entrepreneurship orientation and top management team decisions on product innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    13. Giorgio Gallo, 2013. "Conflict Theory, Complexity and Systems Approach," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 156-175, March.
    14. G. Lumpkin & Todd Moss & David Gras & Shoko Kato & Alejandro Amezcua, 2013. "Entrepreneurial processes in social contexts: how are they different, if at all?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 761-783, April.
    15. Emily Ryan & Matthew Pepper & Albert Munoz, 2021. "Causal Loop Diagram Aggregation Towards Model Completeness," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 37-51, February.
    16. Sanzo-Pérez, María José & Álvarez-González, Luis I., 2022. "Partnerships between Spanish social enterprises and nonprofits: A rich hybridity-based setting for social innovation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    17. Denitsa Hazarbassanova Blagoeva & Peter D. Ørberg Jensen & Hemant Merchant, 2020. "Services in International Business Studies: A Replication and Extension of Merchant and Gaur (2008)," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 427-457, June.
    18. Syed Awais Ahmad Tipu, 2022. "Organizational change for environmental, social, and financial sustainability: A systematic literature review," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(6), pages 1697-1742, August.
    19. Tykkyläinen, Saila & Ritala, Paavo, 2021. "Business model innovation in social enterprises: An activity system perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 684-697.
    20. Winston Jerónimo Silvestre & Ana Fonseca & Sandra Naomi Morioka, 2022. "Strategic sustainability integration: Merging management tools to support business model decisions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2052-2067, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:syspar:v:34:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s11213-020-09529-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.