What Were You Thinking? A Constructive Epistemology of Nonprofit Policy Development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18666/JNEL-12197Keywords:
epistemology, policy development, nonprofit management education, nonprofit management, accountabilityAbstract
This paper examines the challenges of teaching management policy development in nonprofit organizations through a pan-disciplinary “constructive epistemology.” The elements of the epistemology encompass sequential elements that go beyond problem-solving heuristics, and apply well to managerial policy development in nonprofit organizations. Those elements include Issue Identification, Stakeholder Recognition, Normative Desires, Conceptual Framing, Empirical Observation, Scenario Envisioning and Prescriptive Recommendation. I argue that each of these helps to frame policy problems, and together they provide a firm basis for developing policy and for reviewing its effects. The constructive epistemology is illustrated with a discussion of how nonprofits might develop policy around the prospect of receiving donations from morally suspect sources, the so-called “dirty money” problem.
References
Assad, M., & Muschick, P. (2009, September 17). Shelter bans casino donations **New Bethany Ministries won’t take money, food from Sands, other gambling operations. Morning Call, A.4.
Bezboruah, K. C., & Carpenter, H. L. (2021). Teaching nonprofit management (paperback edition). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Bryson, J. M. (John M. (2017). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement (Fifth edition). Wiley.
Burrell, Gibson., & Morgan, G. (1979). Sociological paradigms and organisational analysis: Elements of the sociology of corporate life. Heinemann,.
Campbell, D. T., & Stanley, J. C. (1963). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research (Repr). Rand McNally College Publ.
Jones, G. R., & George, J. M. (2022). Contemporary management (Twelfth edition. International student edition). McGraw-Hill.
Joullié, J.-E., & Spillane, R. (2021). The philosophical foundations of management thought (Revised and expanded edition). Lexington Books.
Kushner, R. J. (2022). Teaching curatorial decision-making with the Inner Impresario. American Journal of Arts Management, 11.
Liedtka, J. M., Chawla, V., Winiger, J., & Garrett, C. (2007). Scenario Planning. Darden Business Publishing Storefront.
Mackay, B., Arevuo, M., Mackay, D., & Meadows, M. (2020). Strategy: Theory, Practice, Implementation. Oxford University Press.
NACC_Curricular_Guidelines_100615-2.pdf. (n.d.).
Oster, S. M. (1995). Strategic management for nonprofit organizations: Theory and cases. Oxford University Press.
Paton, R. (2008). Managing and measuring social enterprises. Sage.
Renz, D. O. (David O., & Herman, R. D. (2016). The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management (Fourth edition). Jossey-Bass.
Taylor, L. A. (2022). The Dirty Money Dilemma. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 20(2), 26–33.
Weber, P. C. (2020). Teaching the theory and history of the nonprofit sector. In Teaching Nonprofit Management (pp. 21–38). Edward Elgar Publishing, 20200424.
Whetten, D. A. (David A., & Cameron, K. S. (2020). Developing management skills (Tenth edition). Pearson Education.
Worth, M. J. (2021). Nonprofit management: Principles and practice (Sixth edition). SAGE Publications, Inc.
Young, D. R., Steinberg, R., Emanuele, R., & Simmons, W. O. (2019). Economics for nonprofit managers and social entrepreneurs (Revised and updated edition). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Sagamore Publishing LLC (hereinafter the “Copyright Owner”)
Journal Publishing Copyright Agreement for Authors
PLEASE REVIEW OUR POLICIES AND THE PUBLISHING AGREEMENT, AND INDICATE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS BY CHECKING THE ‘AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS COPYRIGHT NOTICE’ CHECKBOX BELOW.
I understand that by submitting an article to Journal of Nonprofit Education and Leadership, I am granting the copyright to the article submitted for consideration for publication in Journal of Nonprofit Education and Leadership to the Copyright Owner. If after consideration of the Editor of the Journal of Nonprofit Education and Leadership, the article is not accepted for publication, all copyright covered under this agreement will be automatically returned to the Author(s).
THE PUBLISHING AGREEMENT
Assignment of Copyright
I hereby assign to the Copyright Owner the copyright in the manuscript I am submitting in this online procedure and any tables, illustrations or other material submitted for publication as part of the manuscript in all forms and media (whether now known or later developed), throughout the world, in all languages, for the full term of copyright, effective when the article is accepted for publication.
Reversion of Rights
Articles may sometimes be accepted for publication but later be rejected in the publication process, even in some cases after public posting in “Articles in Press” form, in which case all rights will revert to the Author.
Retention of Rights for Scholarly Purposes
I understand that I retain or am hereby granted the Retained Rights. The Retained Rights include the right to use the Preprint, Accepted Manuscript, and the Published Journal Article for Personal Use and Internal Institutional Use.
All journal material is under a 12 month embargo. Authors who would like to have their articles available as open access should contact Sagamore-Venture for further information.
In the case of the Accepted Manuscript and the Published Journal Article, the Retained Rights exclude Commercial Use, other than use by the author in a subsequent compilation of the author’s works or to extend the Article to book length form or re-use by the author of portions or excerpts in other works.
Published Journal Article: the author may share a link to the formal publication through the relevant DOI.
Author Representations
- The Article I have submitted to the journal for review is original, has been written by the stated author(s) and has not been published elsewhere.
- The Article was not submitted for review to another journal while under review by this journal and will not be submitted to any other journal.
- The Article contains no libelous or other unlawful statements and does not contain any materials that violate any personal or proprietary rights of any other person or entity.
- I have obtained written permission from copyright owners for any excerpts from copyrighted works that are included and have credited the sources in the Article.
- If the Article was prepared jointly with other authors, I have informed the co-author(s) of the terms of this Journal Publishing Agreement and that I am signing on their behalf as their agent, and I am authorized to do so.