MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN CROATIAN NON-PROFIT
ORGANIZATIONS: RESULTS OF THE EMPIRICAL
RESEARCH
Nikša Alfirević1, Nino Gabelica2
Received: 07. 06. 2006
Accepted: 21. 12. 2006
Preliminary communication
UDC: 658.5:061.2 (497.5)
As the traditional sources of funding for the non-profit and civil society
organizations seem to be vanishing in Central & Eastern Europe entirely, a higher
level of professionalism, as well as a significant improvement of efficiency are
required from the entire sector. In order to identify the managerial practices of the
most advanced (or, at least, the most ‘visible’) non-profit organizations in Croatia,
which seem to adequately address these challenges, a survey has been conducted
among the ‘high-profile’ Croatian non-profits, identified on the basis of the
snowball sampling. Results of the empirical analysis indicate that the pressures
from the environment are not followed by the adequate development of the
managerial and other capacities of Croatian non-profits, but rather are dealt with
on the basis of individual initiative/competences and ad-hoc solutions, which can
be concluded both on the basis of implementation of managerial functions, as well
as from the relationship between the level of organizational development and the
managerial practices. Practical, case-based evidence from selected civil society
organizations and related empirical results seem to confirm the conclusion on the
inadequate management development in the Croatian non-profit sector and
advocate the need for the academic community and other relevant institutions to
get involved in the capacity-building processes within the civil sector.
1. THE FIELD/PROFESSION OF NON-PROFIT MANAGEMENT
Management can be defined as a process of directing people toward the
objectives of an organization, which requires both efficient and effective use of
Nikša Alfirević, PhD, Associate professor, Faculty of Economics Split, Matice hrvatske 31,
21000 Split, Croatia, Phone: +385 21 430 657, Fax: +385 21 430 700, E-mail: nalf@efst.hr
2
Nino Gabelica, MSc, secretary, Posmrtna pripomoc, Gajeva 29, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia,
Phone/Fax: +385 1 455 6122, E-mail: nino@posmrtna-pripomoc.hr
1
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N. Alfirević, I. Gabelica: Management practices in Croatian non-profit organizations: Results…
limited resources (cf. Kreitner3, as cited by Buble, 2000, p. 5). On the other
hand, managerial work can be described in terms of activities performed by
the managers (managerial functions), i.e. planning, organizing, leading and
controlling the work performed in an organization, including all tasks and
activities carried out by the members/employees (cf. Možina, 2002)4. Managers
perform many different tasks, which are often described by the image of a
person detached from the everyday operations of the organization/entity being
managed, acting rationally and systematically in order to coordinate all the
activities toward the previously established objectives. Such a concept had been
challenged by Mintzberg (1989, pp. 10-14), who brought about the image of a
busy, ‘messy’ job, characterized by a continuous strive toward action,
occasional bursts of activities, intensive oral communication and a lot of ‘tacit’
elements. In order to illustrate the ‘reality’ of management, he has constructed
the concept of managerial roles. Other theoreticians have studied the skills
required for the successful practicing of management, which are, by their
very nature (Whetten & Cameron, 2005, p. 8): (a) behavioural (related to
identifiable sets of activities performed by managers), (b) controllable by the
individual(s) performing the managerial job(s), (c) ‘developable’, i.e. can be
improved over time, but also (d) interrelated, overlapping and/or even
contradictory/paradoxical. Different studies (Luthans, Rosenkratz &
Hennessey, 19855; Curtis, Winsor & Stephens, 19896; Van Velsor & Leslie,
19957; AMA, 20008, Andersen Consulting9, etc., as cited by Whetten &
Cameron, 2005) single out diverse sets of behavioural patterns (such as
interpersonal skills, listening, verbal/written communication, persistence, ability
to work in teams, managing time, coaching and mentoring coworkers…) which
lead to success in managerial work.
3
Kreitner, R. (1989): Management, Fourth edition, Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
Building upon the ‘classical’ work of H. Fayol, theory distinguishes five managerial functions:
planning, organizing, human resource management, leading and controlling (Sikavica &
Bahtijarević – Šiber, 2004, p. 69).
5 Luthans, F.; Rosenkratz, S. A., Hennessey, H. W. (1985): What do successful managers really
do? An observation study of managerial activities, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 21, pp.
255-270.
6 Curtis, D. B.; Winsor, J. L.; Stephens, D. (1989): National preferences in business and
communication education, Communication Education, 38, pp. 6-15.
7 Van Velsor, E.; Jean Brittain, L. (1995): Why executives derail: Perspectives across time and
cultures, Academy of Management Executive, 9, pp. 62-72.
8 American Management Association (2000): Managerial skills and competence, National survey
– internal document
9 Andersen Consulting Company (2000): Skills needed for the e-business environment, National
survey – internal document, Chicago.
4
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According to Drucker, an entire set of organizations, which are – by their
very nature – not subject to the test of market performance, could be labeled
either as public, or non-profit (Guy & Hitchcock, 2000). Although the
particularities of practicing management in such an organizational environment
could be discussed from the previously described theoretical dimensions, the
‘traditional’ theoretical approach to the subject, initially developed by H. Fayol,
does not make any special distinctions among the different classes of
organizations. Namely, Fayol’s universal approach to management recognizes
the managerial process as a generic attribute of each organization10, with the
fundamental characteristics of a managerial job equally applicable to the nature
of different social systems, i.e. varying contexts in which the profession of
management is being practiced (cf. Buble, 2000, pp. 30-31). However, more
contemporary theoretical approaches, such as the contingency theory, deny the
idea of a ‘unified’ managerial approach to different classes of organizations (cf.
Buble, 2000, pp. 36-38), which still leaves the issue of fundamental
differences/similarities among the private/for-profit vs. the public/not-for-profit
organizations open for discussion (Euske, 2003). On the other hand, the
practical challenges of running a non-profit organization oblige the non-profit
managers to address multiple challenges, as they are expected both to obtain the
necessary resources by managing the relationships with the external
stakeholders, as well as to coordinate the internal affairs of the organization,
including potentially conflicting issues of the internal distribution of resources
and individual motivation, which often needs to draw from non-financial
motives (cf. Dimovski11, in: Možina, 2002, pp. 705-706). Taking into account
that managerial staff in non-profit organizations is often ‘pushed’ into their role
by the contingencies of organizational development, a non-profit administrator
may find himself/herself ‘stuck in the middle’ between the calling to contribute
to the community/society and the organizational reality, requiring the ‘businesslike’ conduct12.
With the ever more restricted sources of financial support to philanthropy
(Bishop, 2006) and continuous pressures toward cooperation with the corporate
world and ensuring financial self-sustainability, many non-profits seem to face
the dilemma of maintaining original values of the organization vs. introducing a
10
Organization itself is defined as a social entity that includes a defined number of members,
which strives toward the realization of common objectives by coordinating the individual efforts
(cf. Langer, Alfirević & Pavičić, 2005, p. 36).
11 Dimovski, V.: Management neprofitnih organizacij, chapter in: Možina, S. (Ed.) (2002), pp.
695-733.
12 Nevertheless, it should be noted that the often used term of being 'business-like' is still not
clearly defined in the context of social/not-for-profit activities. For a literature overview and a
discussion of the concept, see, e.g. Dart (2004).
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more professional approach to management. The answer to this issue
(represented by the dichotomy of ‘professionalism’ vs. ‘going back to the
roots’) is not easy, as the empirical studies seem to link the use of planning and
other managerial tools/approaches with increased non-profit performance
(Odom & Boxx, 198813; Siciliano, 199714; Herman & Renz, 199815, as cited by
Herman & Renz, 1999), while graduate education in the field of non-profit
and/or public management becomes an attractive field of study (Wilson &
Larson, 2002), with the emerging curricular guidelines (NACC, 2004).
However, the need for a more professional approach to non-profit management
seems as a ‘must’ for the Croatian civil society sector, as the current expert
opinion tends to describe the competences of Croatian non-profit staff as
inadequate and the perception(s) of Croatian non-profit managers in terms of
overvaluing the existing human capital within the sector (Bežovan, Zrinščak &
Vugec, 2005, pp. 37-38). Therefore, an empirical inquiry of how Croatian
managers ‘fit’ into the classical theoretical frameworks of managerial practice
could be viewed as a contribution to understanding the functioning of civil
society organizations in Central & Eastern Europe.
2. METHODOLOGY OF THE EMPIRICAL STUDY OF
NON-PROFIT MANAGEMENT IN CROATIA
This study has been based on a comprehensive research project,
encompassing a wider assessment of non-profit sector capacity and
perspectives, which was conducted from September 2005 to May 2006, in order
to assist the future development of the Croatian non-profit organizations. The
project covered four sub-themes, which included: (a) non-profit management,
(b) non-profit strategy, (c) non-profit marketing/stakeholder management and
(d) evaluation of instruments and approaches used to support Croatian nonprofit organizations16. Its fundamental attribute was the participatory
13
Odom, R.Y.; Boxx, W.R. (1988): Environment, planning processes and organizational
performance of churches, Strategic Management Journal, 9, pp. 197-205.
14 Siciliano, J. I. (1997): The relationship between formal planning and performance in non-profit
organizations, Non-profit Management & Leadership,7, pp. 387-403.
15 Herman, R. D.; Renz, D. O. (1998): Non-profit organizational effectiveness: Contrasts between
especially effective and less effective organizations, Non-profit Management & Leadership, 9,
pp. 23-38.
16 The segment of the research project related to the non-profit marketing and marketing
orientation of non-profit organizations had been designed and conducted by Jurica Pavičić of the
Faculty of Economics and Business in Zagreb, Croatia. Another segment of the project, related to
non-profit management, had been designed and conducted by Nikša Alfirević and Nino Gabelica.
The segment of the research project related to the evaluation of support instruments and
approaches has been co-designed and conducted jointly by Pavičić, Alfirević and Nives Ivelja of
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orientation, as it had been attempted to include the research subjects into all
stages of the project as partners/peers. One of the concerns in designing the
overall project, as well as this specific study had been the fact that all the
registered non-profit organizations in Croatia17 do not represent a valid
population for conducting further research. Although the ‘official’ register of
non-profit organizations lists as much as 29,535 non-profit entities in May 2006
(Bežovan & Vugec, 2006), most of them are either inactive, or do not possess
the adequate capacity to address the requirements of the primary data
collection18. In such circumstances, taking also into account the participatory
values upon which the project had been established, the ‘snowball sampling’
was selected as the most appropriate sampling method. Namely, it held the
promise of accessing a relatively ‘hidden’ population of high-capacity nonprofit organizations, which do not need to be highly visible in the media (or in
professional publics). Although such a methodological approach does not
guarantee that the resulting sample will be free from biases (Atkinson & Flint,
2001), a number of recommendations have been followed in order to improve
the reliability of research results (op. cit., 2001).
A number of experts were consulted in order to identify the relevant initial
‘chain referrals’. Attempts to improve the sampling procedure included
discussion with selected leaders of Croatian non-profit organizations, including
professors and students of the graduate program on non-profit management, as
well as participants of the Second National Conference on Volunteering, coorganized by the National (Croatian, op. aut.) foundation for the development of
civil society and major non-profits from the county of Split – Mi and Most. In
addition, the resources of larger Croatian non-profits, serving as regional
centers of support to the civil society, have been used in respect of Atkinson &
Flint’s (op. cit.) recommendation to ‘unlock the inside knowledge’ of the initial
contacts. The resulting sample consisted of 240 organizations, which were
assessed (by all the participants in the subsequent stages of the ‘snowball
sample’ construction process) as ‘major’ (from the viewpoint of their activity
and visibility within the non-profit sector) and/or ‘high capacity’ organizations
the Association ‘Mi’ in Split, Croatia, with its results being published in the form of a scientific
paper by Pavičić, Alfirević and Ivelja (2006).
17 All non-profit organizations in Croatia are required to register as (citizens’) associations,
foundations or public benefit corporations. The register of (citizens’) associations is accessible to
the general public via Internet: http://www.uprava.hr/RegistarUdruga (retrieved on 12. May
2006).
18 A relatively large number of non-profit organizations in Croatia could be attributed to the fact
that the legal environment during the socialist era has been much more liberal than in the
countries of the former 'Soviet bloc', which resulted in 10 844 social organizations and 547
citizens' associations being registered at the end of the 1980s (Bežovan & Vugec, 2006).
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(taking into account that the organizations with ‘high capacity’ do not need to
be identical with the ‘highly visible’ ones).
The draft version of the questionnaire has been discussed with the limited
number of initial ‘chain referrals’ and subsequently improved in order to ensure
its applicability to the capacity and previous knowledge of Croatian non-profit
managers. Multiple communication channels (postal mail, e-mail, e-mail
distribution lists and telephone) have been used to reach the potential
respondents who were encouraged to (re)distribute the research instrument to
other ‘major’ and/or ‘high capacity’ non-profits in their local environment. The
process has resulted in 240 questionnaires being distributed to the potential
respondents, with 132 questionnaires being returned, which represents the
return rate of 55%. The primary data were entered into the specialized software
package (SPSS), which was also used for data analysis.
3. RESEARCH RESULTS
3.1. General overview of the sample
The sample consists of 132 organizations and provides a relevant insight
into the functioning of ‘high capacity’ non-profit organizations, although it
might be biased in certain aspects due to the inherent limitations of the sampling
methodology. The highest amount of respondents has been drawn from the
counties in which major Croatian urban areas are located: Split (30.3%), Zagreb
(14.4%), Dubrovnik (12.9%) and Rijeka (9.8%)19. Social (and/or humanitarian
organizations) represent 25% of the sample, with another 20.5% of surveyed
non-profit organizations devoted to environment protection and 18.2% of
responding organizations focusing their activities on children, youth and
families. Other fields of non-profit activity are slightly under-represented, with
culture (5.3%), faith/spirituality (5.3%) and business associations (4.5%) taking
the fourth, fifth and sixth rank. 40.2% of the surveyed organizations have a
local activity scope, while 42.5% conduct their activities on the regional level of
one or more counties (as major administrative units of Croatia). Only 2.3% of
the responding organizations classifies themselves as ‘regional’ and 11.4% as
having ‘national’ reach.
19
This finding confirms the stipulation of the relationship between the urban community and the
development of the civil society in Croatia (Bežovan & Vugec, 2006).
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3.2. Profile of a ‘non-profit CEO’ in the Croatian civil
non-profit organizations
In order to provide an insight into the previously unexplored issues of how
Croatian non-profit organizations are governed/managed, as well as whether
their leaders could be identified in terms of ‘non-profit managers’, the research
instrument contained a set of questions directly related to the fundamental
characteristics of management and the realization of managerial functions.
Research results, presented in this chapter, offer an interesting profile of
management practices in the cluster of ‘high capacity’ Croatian non-profits20.
Empirical results demonstrate that the majority of the surveyed organizations
are managed by the members of their boards, which could be identified as
founders and/or their associates (see Table 1).
Table 1. Actors of non-profit management in Croatian civil society organizations
WHO MANAGES THE
ORGANIZATION?
Board of directors
President of the organization, serving
either part-time, or as a volunteer
President of the organization, serving
as a professional non-profit manager
A professional non-profit manager
and project manager(s)
Other(s)
No response
TOTAL
Frequency
Percent
54
40.9
Valid
Percent21
41.2
34
25.8
26.0
4
3.0
3.1
25
18.9
19.1
14
1
132
10.6
0.8
100.0
10.7
Source: Research results
In terms of the organizational life-cycle (as discussed by Langer, Alfirevic
& Pavicic, 2005, pp. 91-96), the majority of the surveyed organizations seems
to be located within the ‘entrepreneurial’ stage of development, which is
characterized by the low level of separation between the roles of non-profit
managers and ‘social entrepreneur(s)’, i.e. founder(s) of an organization.
20
It should be noted that the presented results are related to the sample of 'highly visible' and/or
'highly capable' organizations, i.e. those which can serve as a benchmark for the further
development of the civil society sector in this part of Central & Eastern Europe.
21 Percents of valid answers are calculated after excluding all the questionnaires in which the
variable has not been addressed by the respondent.
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Subsequent stages of organizational development, represented by the categories
presented by Table 1, are related to the introduction of professional non-profit
management and further ‘elaboration’ of the managerial structure, which is
usually represented by the separation of ‘general’ managerial tasks and those
related to individual projects/programs. As demonstrated by these results, a
significant amount of organizations has entered the stage of organizational
development in which professional non-profit management represents a
‘condition sine qua non’. However, the formal title (including employment on a
full-time basis) does not necessarily imply the ‘correct’ identification of the
managerial roles and functions. In order to confirm the correspondence between
the theoretical determinants of managerial jobs and the manner in which they
are implemented in surveyed non-profits, the previous result had to be validated
(see validation results in Table 2).
Specifically, the notional construct of a ‘managerial job’ implies that the
person does not perform operative activities instead of his or her associates, but
rather performs management-specific activities/managerial functions (cf. Buble,
2006, p. 6) and, thus, creates general (pre)conditions for the realization of
organizational objectives. The reality of non-profit management in Croatia
indicates that the managerial and operative roles are often intertwined, without a
clear distinction(s), since many non-profit managers still take part in service
delivery, routine office activities, etc. The amount of non-profit managers who
‘step in’ to perform operative jobs, instead of delegating them to associates
and/or volunteers, reveals that the delegation is still poorly understood within
the organizations in the Croatian civil sector22. Therefore, the ‘managerial’ title
in the Croatian non-profit sector (usually related to the status of ‘president’, or
‘executive (vice)president’ of the organization) does not have to imply that a
person’s job is necessarily structured according to ‘classical’ determinants of
managerial practice.
In order to further improve the insight into the fundamental characteristics
of non-profit managers’ practice in the Croatian ‘third sector’, the primary data
on whether the non-profit managers perform selected managerial jobs (related
both to ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ factors of management) have been also collected. The
approach adopted by Sikavica & Bahtijarević-Šiber (2004), related to the
collection of data on the amount of time devoted to each of the ‘typical’
managerial activities/functions has not been used in this case, as it was
important to determine which of these are being practiced at all.
22
For comprehensive theoretical discussion of delegation and empirical results related to Croatian
business sector, see: Sikavica & Bahtijarević-Šiber, 2004, pp. 144-163).
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Table 2. Operative activities performed by non-profit managers
OPERATIVE ACTIVITIES
PERFORMED BY NON-PROFIT
MANAGERS
Direct contact and service delivery to
clients
Performing operative activities not
handled by the associates due to the lack
of time, inadequate organization, etc.
Performing operative activities not
handled by the associates due to the lack
of competences
Daily administrative activities/routine
office activities
Daily activities related to accounting and
financial reporting to external
stakeholders
Frequency
Percent
Valid
percent
73
55.3
44.7
48
36.4
36.4
52
39.4
39.4
71
53.8
53.8
25
18.9
18.9
Source: Research results
Table 3 and Table 4 provide an overview of the managerial activities
within the framework of the ‘traditional’ five functions of management23. As
demonstrated by the presented results, the strategic planning process seems to
be relatively well perceived as one of the major responsibilities of a ‘non-profit
CEO’, along with the formulation of projects/programs, which represent the
prevailing form of high-level planning in the non-profit environment24.
Organizing and scheduling seem to be low on the list of priorities, with
many ‘non-profit CEOs’ being restrained by the dual (or even multiple) role of
the general and/or project/program manager. Without enough resources and
career options to attract managerial talent, managers of Croatian non-profits
seem to be ‘overstretched’ by the existing responsibilities and the attempt(s) to
serve their organizations in multiple roles. Such a conclusion is further
supported by the findings related to different forms of evaluation (controlling)
performed by the respondents.
23
See Section 1 of this paper.
In this context, it should be noted that more than 60% of the respondents participate in the
project/program development (within a more advanced planning structure, while almost one-third
of the ‘less developed’ organizations basically carry out this segment of planning on individual
basis, or with some help from the ‘senior’ members of the organization).
24
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Table 3. Planning, organizing and controlling as components of the management
practice in Croatian non-profit organizations
MAJOR ‘HARD’ RESPONSIBILITIES
OF NON-PROFIT MANAGERS
Frequency
Percent
Valid
percent
97
73.5
73.5
60.6
60.6
59.1
59.1
35.6
35.6
31.8
31.8
43.2
43.2
39.4
52
27.3
27.3
25.0
25.2
68.9
68.9
55.3
55.3
50.8
50.8
43.9
43.9
36.4
36.4
Planning
Performs strategic planning of future
activities, projects and programs
Participates in developing new project
80
(program) proposals
Involved in the planning of future activities
78
(in general terms)
Involved in community/clients’ needs
47
assessment
Individually (or with some help from other
members of the organizations) develops new
42
project (program) proposals
Organizing and scheduling activities
Schedules daily activities of individual
57
members and the organization in general
Serves as a manager of multiple projects
52
Manages or helps to manage the majority of
36
the organization’s projects ( programs)
Serves as a project manager
33
Evaluation and controlling
Reporting to stakeholders related to outcomes
91
of individual projects (programs)
Evaluation of project outcomes
73
Financial reporting to stakeholders related to
67
individual projects (programs)
Financial controlling
58
Evaluation (controlling) of (non-financial)
measures considered to be key success
48
factor(s) for the organization
Source: Research results
Specifically, the forms of controlling required by the ‘powerful’
stakeholders (such as donors/sponsors and the state institutions) are the
prevailing forms of managerial activity, while the more complex forms of
evaluation (but rarely required from the external stakeholders) are being
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N. Alfirević, I. Gabelica: Management practices in Croatian non-profit organizations: Results…
neglected. The practices in evaluation (controlling) of past and current activities
can be further described as inappropriate, taking into account that only 46.21%
of surveyed managers employ a regular and methodical evaluation approach
(with 25.76% performing unsystematic evaluation, based on the approach
required by major donors, another 25% utilizing ad-hoc evaluation, without
relying on any methodology whatsoever and 3.03% not using any evaluation
whatsoever).
On the other hand, the often cited trait of a managerial job, as being
‘people-related’ (cf. Buble, 2000), is not so well illustrated by the current
characteristics of the managerial practice in Croatian non-profits. Namely, out
of the specific human resource management (HRM) activities perceived as
significant in the current Croatian non-profit environment by the initial referrals
(serving also as experts in design and subsequent improvement of the research
instrument), performance evaluation seems to be the only HRM practice
adopted by the majority of ‘non-profit CEOs’.
In addition, it was important to establish the existence of formal
commitments to communication with multiple constituencies of an
organization, as the effectiveness of non-profit organizations is usually defined
from manifold perspectives belonging to major stakeholders (see: d’Aunno,
199225 & Zammutto, 198426, as cited in: Herman & Renz, 1999). In this context
of their practice, Croatian non-profit managers seem to concentrate on
communication with their existing and/or potential clients and communities,
donors/sponsors, relevant government institutions and other non-profits.
Although it is not clear whether the enterprises (profit sector) and academic
community are less interested to interact with the non-profits (or vice versa), the
fact is that non-profit managers have a considerably weaker formal commitment
to establishing communication with these actors, which could even open the
issue of non-profit organizations’ social legitimacy.
D’Aunno, T. (1992): «The effectiveness of human service organizations: A comparison of
models», in: Hasenfeld, Y. (Ed.), Human services as complex organizations, Sage Publications,
Newbury Park, pp. 341-361.
26 Zammuto, R.F. (1984): «A comparison of multiple constituency models of organizational
effectiveness», Academy of Management Review, No. 9, pp. 606-616.
25
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Table 4. People-related components of the management practice in Croatian non-profit
organizations
MAJOR ‘SOFT’ RESPONSIBILITIES
OF NON-PROFIT MANAGERS
Frequency
Percent
Valid
percent
Managing human resources and resolving people-related issues
Involved in recruitment and selection of
professional staff
Involved in recruitment and selection of
project (program) managers (if applicable)
Leads (or is involved in) internal human
resource development/education projects
Evaluates individual and team performance
Motivates and leads colleagues (or
volunteers/members) of the organization
Manages interpersonal and intergroup
conflicts
53
40.2
40.2
55
41.7
41.7
45
34.1
34.1
75
56.8
56.8
78
59.1
59.1
78
59.1
59.1
Communication with stakeholders & managing their expectations
Communication with the community
stakeholders (including individuals and
community institutions)
Communication with donors/sponsors
(securing financial resources)
Cooperation with (either local, or national)
government and governmental institutions
Cooperation and networking with (other)
non-profit organizations
Cooperation with the actors from the profit
sector
Cooperation with the actors from the
academic community
112
84.8
84.8
110
83.3
83.3
105
79.5
79.5
103
78.0
78.0
48
36.4
36.4
44
33.3
33.3
Source: Research results
3.3. Relationship between the level of organizational development and
the managerial role in Croatian non-profit organizations
Along with the course of organizational development, organizational
positions (jobs) are formalized (in order to create the organizational structure)
and individual behavior standardized (Langer, Alfirević & Pavičić, 2005, pp.
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123-124), regardless of the nature of the organization being considered. These
processes are based on the principle of the division of labor, which is reflected
in task differentiation and specialization, enabling individuals to efficiently
perform different jobs within the organization (op. cit.). Apart from being the
fundamental ‘building blocks’ of varying forms of organizational structures,
individual jobs (formal positions) also need to be documented by formal job
descriptions (i.e. documents outlining the activities and responsibilities of
individuals to which different positions/jobs are assigned – cf. Buble, 2006, pp.
254-255). These documents often serve as ‘evidence’ that the individual jobs, as
well as the organizational units and the entire organizational structure, are being
designed in order to minimize the waste of time and resources, which can be
attributed to the ad-hoc organizing and scheduling of activities.
The contingencies of a managerial job predominantly depend upon the
level of organizational development, which justifies the additional assessment
of previous findings in this context. Within the research, the level of
organizational development had been determined by using three variables
related to: (1) existence of formal task differentiation (as defined by written job
descriptions), (2) application of the principles of specialization and task
differentiation to volunteers (and other members of the organization) and (3)
existence of formal positions (jobs and/or departments) within the
organizational structure. The research results show that 40.2% (i.e. 44.2% of
surveyed organizations, with missing answers being accounted for) have
developed adequate job descriptions, another 62.9% (i.e. 70.3% if taking into
consideration missing answers) have also applied the job specialization to nonemployees (such as volunteers), while 52.3% (i.e. 59.5% of valid responses)
have formally established formal organizational positions, i.e. individual jobs
(regardless of whether they are ‘covered’ by formal job descriptions, or not)
and/or larger organizational units. However, it is important to compute a
relative measure of organizational development, which can be accomplished by
constructing an index, aggregating the three relevant variables (which are, in
this case, treated as ‘binary dummies’, with the value of zero if the
organizational practice is not being found in the surveyed organization, and the
value of one in the opposite case). The values of the resulting index can,
therefore, range from zero (for the informal organizations) to three (for the
organizations with a relatively high level of formalization, which also indicates
a more professional approach to realizing their activities and objectives). Table
5 demonstrates the distribution of the index values and suggests that the
majority of surveyed organizations (i.e. more than 53%) can be described as
either possessing a ‘developed’, or a ‘highly developed’ formal organization.
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N. Alfirević, I. Gabelica: Management practices in Croatian non-profit organizations: Results…
Table 5. Distribution of values for the organizational development index
Organizational development index
values
‘Informal organization’ (index value 0)
‘Low formalization’ (index value 1)
‘Developed formal organization’
(index value 2)
‘Highly developed formal organization’
(index value 3)
Not computed due to missing answers
TOTAL
Frequency
Percent
14
29
10.6
22.0
Valid
percent
12.4
25.7
48
36.4
42.5
22
16.7
19.5
19
132
14.4
100
100.0
/
Source: Research results
Such a finding should be related to the previously discussed suggestion of
practical disparity between the managerial positions (‘titles’) and the
performance of managerial jobs (see Table 2). The analysis of such a disparity
in relation to the level of organizational development provides interesting, but
mixed insights, which are demonstrated by Table 6.
Namely, while the more ‘distinctive’ determination of a managerial role
(which excludes the performance of operative activities, especially the routine
tasks) should be associated with the higher level of organizational development,
this does not seem to be the case for the Croatian non-profit organizations. For
instance, among the non-profits with a ‘developed formal organization’ (index
value of two), in which the majority of respondents are positioned, the amount
of organizations which conform to the theoretical presumptions is
approximately the same as those which oppose them. In this case, for each of
the variables describing the managerial involvement into operative activities,
there is a comparable amount of organizations (with a value in the region of 40
and 45%) which support, as well as contradict the theoretical principles of task
differentiation and management development. The potential conclusions of this
part of the empirical research are mixed, as it seems that no clear relationships
emerge from the analyzed variables. One of the possible explanations for this
finding might be related to the already explicated ‘multiplicity’ of non-profit
management roles in the Croatian civil sector organizations. As the challenges
from the environment mount, ‘non-profit CEOs’ need to ‘fill in the blanks’ and
‘step into’ everything that needs to be done in order to ‘keep the organization
afloat’. Such a ‘volatile’ profile of a non-profit manager in the Croatian society
could be well supported by the current level of civil sector development and the
increasing pressures on the non-profit organizations.
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N. Alfirević, I. Gabelica: Management practices in Croatian non-profit organizations: Results…
Table 6. Relationship between the level of organizational development and the
involvement of non-profit managers in operative activities
Operative activities in a non-profit
organization
Direct contact and
service delivery to
clients
Performing operative
activities not handled by
the associates due to the
lack of time, inadequate
organization, etc.
Performing operative
activities not handled by
the associates due to the
lack of competences
Daily administrative
activities/routine office
activities
Daily activities related to
accounting and financial
reporting to external
stakeholders
Not performed
by manager
Performed by
manager
Not performed
by manager
Performed by
manager
Not performed
by manager
Performed by
manager
Not performed
by manager
Performed by
manager
Not performed
by manager
Performed by
manager
Level of organizational
development
0
1
2
3
10
15
27
11
15.9% 23.8% 42.9% 17.5%
4
14
21
11
8.0%
28.0% 42.0% 22.0%
9
18
31
14
12.5% 25.0% 43.1% 19.4%
5
11
17
8
TOTAL
63
100%
50
100%
72
100%
41
12.2%
26.8%
41.5%
19.5%
100%
9
12.9%
5
11.6%
6
10.9%
8
13.8%
9
9.5%
5
12.4%
18
25.7%
11
25.6%
12
21.8%
17
29.3%
22
23.2%
7
25.7%
29
41.4%
19
44.2%
25
45.5%
23
39.7%
43
45.3%
5
42.5%
14
20.0%
8
18.6%
12
21.8%
10
17.2%
21
22.1%
1
19.5%
70
100%
43
100 %
55
100%
58
100%
95
100%
18
100%
Source: Research results
It also suggests that the pressures from the environment are not followed by
the adequate development of the managerial and other capacities of non-profit
organizations, but are rather dealt with on the basis of individual
initiative/competences and ad-hoc solutions. However, these conclusions
remain to be confirmed by further research, although the initial results presented
in this study already imply the importance of management development in the
Croatian non-profit sector.
4. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE RESEARCH RESULTS
This study has indicated some weaknesses in the management practices
and performance of managerial roles in the Croatian non-profit sector, of which
the most significant relates either to inadequate understanding of the
managerial position in the Croatian non-profit/social sector, or to the lack of
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Management, Vol. 12, 2007, 1, pp. 25-44
N. Alfirević, I. Gabelica: Management practices in Croatian non-profit organizations: Results…
ability of Croatian non-profit managers to perform their jobs in the manner
compatible with the theoretical presumptions. The explanation for such a
situation needs to be resolved by future research, although it could be
speculated that non-profit managers in Croatian organizations need to neglect
any theoretical foundations of their work in order to keep the pace with the
challenges from the environment and ensure the survival of their organizations.
In addition, no clear relationship between the level of organizational
development (i.e. formal structuring of the organization, caused by its growth
and required level of ‘professionalization’) and the management practices has
been established either. This finding is rather straightforward and certainly
implies that the management development (including both formal and informal
education) represents one of the critical factors of success (or even survival) for
the Croatian civil society organizations.
Such a conclusion could be justified by the longitudinal case study data,
available to the authors from the long-term cooperation with the selected
Croatian civil society organizations, which has resulted in several previous
publications. Although the convenience sample of organizations used as sources
of case data is not relevant for a ‘full-fledged’ qualitative-type research
approach to the problem of non-profit management in Croatia, it may serve as
an interesting addition to the survey results presented in the previous sections of
the paper. The ‘soft’ data seem to confirm that the notion of professional nonprofit management is rather an exception than a rule among the Croatian civil
society organizations. Namely, another segment of the same research project
has demonstrated that as much as 53.8% of the surveyed organizations require
further development of general management skills as a part of the essential
‘support package’ for their further success (Pavičić, Alfirević & Ivelja, 2006)27.
On the other hand, even the large non-profits, serving as regional support
organizations to the civil society, seem to limit themselves to ensuring the
continuity of the local support systems (Pavičić, Alfirević & Ivelja, op. cit.),
with a limited capacity to initiate the management development. However, the
emergence of the professional association of individual management
consultants/training professionals, serving the non-profit sector in Croatia
(TREF – Trenerski forum), seems to be an adequate response to the capacity
development needs of the sector28.
27
It is interesting to note that the fundraising skills seem to be the most important for the Croatian
civil sector (with 66.7% of respondents feeling the lack of the specific skills), with significant
skill gaps in quality assurance/development (59.1%), non-profit marketing (55.3%), non-profit
management and development/formulation of project proposals (53%).
28 TREF has also published one of the first consulting/training manuals of this kind in CEE
(http://www.trenerski-forum.hr/admin/fckeditor/File/treff%20vodic%20web.pdf; retrieved on 20.
40
Management, Vol. 12, 2007, 1, pp. 25-44
N. Alfirević, I. Gabelica: Management practices in Croatian non-profit organizations: Results…
The longitudinal data of individual civil society organizations, available to
the authors, include: (a) civil association ‘Mi’, based in Split, Croatia – a
regional civil society support center performing various forms of social work
(Žitnik et al., 2004), (b) faith-based Caritas Croatia, affiliated to the Catholic
church (Langer et al., 2005, pp. 21-30; Alfirević, Batarelo & Jelenc, 2006) and
(c) Posmrtna pripomoc, once faith-based, while today a secular non-profit
organization for mutual support in funeral financing. In all three organizations,
the formal role of the organization’s president, being in charge of the ‘social
component’ of the organization’s overall activity, had to be (more or less
recently) formally separated from a managerial (‘executive’) position. However,
the formal ‘acknowledgment’ of the need to introduce the role of a professional
non-profit manager into the organizational structure (although such a role may
not be reflected by the adequate job description and/or a formal managerial title
in all the cases) has been induced by the very practical needs to conduct the
organization’s activities in a ‘more professional’ manner. For example, overload
produced a variety of activities, performed by the same staff and managed by
the same executive, which have led the civil association ‘Mi’ to formally
separate different segments of its activity into individual legal entities (the nonprofit organization, the small foundation for civil society support and the social
institution providing the social services to the elderly), with formally appointed
executive directors leading each of these. On the other hand, the same functions
in Caritas Croatia are being performed by a single executive vice-president,
who had been recruited after the organization formulated its first strategic plan
and started implementing a national advocacy campaign in order to implement
some of its strategic objectives.
Posmrtna pripomoc had been struggling to survive for a long period, until
2001, when it decided to implement the turn-around strategy and hire a
professional non-profit manager who has been required to demonstrate
considerable skills in financial management and implement comprehensive
restructuring, leading toward the complete financial self-sustainability to be
achieved in 2007. The secondary sources of recent case data (Etchart & Varga,
2006) on other non-profits wishing to achieve (at least partial) financial selfsustainability include the experiences of civil society organizations, such as
Ekocentar Caput Insulae Belli (a ‘green’ non-profit based in Cres, Croatia),
association for the development of civil society SLAP (based in Osijek,
Croatia), Zelena akcija (environmental non-profit from Zagreb, Croatia), etc.
December 2006), as well as the ethical code for its individual members, providing professional
services
to
the
non-profit
organizations
(http://www.trenerskiforum.hr/admin/
fckeditor/File/eticki%20kodeks%20trenerica%20za%20razvoj%20civilnog%20dustva.pdf;retriev
ed on 20. December 2006).
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Management, Vol. 12, 2007, 1, pp. 25-44
N. Alfirević, I. Gabelica: Management practices in Croatian non-profit organizations: Results…
All these organizations may serve as examples of good practice to the other
Croatian civil society organizations that will need to embark on the social
entrepreneurship initiatives in order to compensate for the shrinking
international donations and, consequentially, pay increased attention to the
development of ‘professional’ non-profit management. The authors hope that
the survey findings related to the implementation of managerial functions in the
Croatian non-profits might help practitioners to identify the managerial skill
gaps, as well as suggest to the actors in the academic community that the burden
of managerial development in the non-profit sector is being currently carried
almost exclusively by the consultants and other motivated individuals.
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MENADŽERSKA PRAKSA U HRVATSKIM NEPROFITNIM
ORGANIZACIJAMA: REZULTATI EMPIRIJSKOG ISTRAŽIVANJA
Sažetak
Kako tradicionalni izvori financiranja neprofitnih organizacija u Centralnoj i
Istočnoj Europi nestaju, od čitavog se sektora traže viša razina profesionalizma, kao i
značajan napredak u efikasnosti. Kako bi se identificirale menadžerska praksa
najnaprednijih (ili najvidljivijih) neprofitnih organizacija u Hrvatskoj, koje se poprilično
dobro nose sa izazovima, provedeno je empirijsko istraživanje. Ono je obuhvatilo
visoko vidljive hrvatske neprofitne organizacije, koje su identificirane putem
"snowball" metode uzorkovanja. Rezultati empirijske analize u okviru ovog istraživanja
upućuju na to da se problemi iz okoline se ne rješavaju s adekvatnim razvojem
menadžerskih i drugih kapaciteta hrvatskih neprofitnih organizacija, već na temelju
individualne inicijative/kompetencija i ad-hoc rješenja, što se može zaključiti s obzirom
na implementaciju menadžerskih funkcija, kao i odnosa između stupnja organizacijskog
razvoja i obilježja menadžerske prakse. Praktični podaci iz odabranih civilnih
organizacija i povezani empirijski rezultati potvrđuju zaključak o neadekvatnom
menadžerskom razvoju u hrvatskom neprofitnom sektoru i navode na potrebu da se
akademska zajednica i druge relevantne institucije uključe u proces izgradnje kapaciteta
u civilnom sektoru.
44