672460 book-review2016
NVSXXX10.1177/0899764016672460Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector QuarterlyBook Reviews
Book Reviews
Book Reviews
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 1–9 © The Author(s) 2016 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav nvsq.sagepub.com
Books Reviewed Anheier, H. K. (2014). Nonprofit organizations: Theory, management, policy. New York, NY: Routledge. 577 pp. US$46.29, ISBN 978-0-415-55046-8. Cnaan, R. A., & Vinokur-Kaplan, D. (Eds.). (2015). Cases in innovative nonprofits: Organizations that make a difference. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE. 306 pp. US$50.00, ISBN 978-1-4522-7770-7. Grobman, G. M. (2015). An introduction to the nonprofit sector: A practical approach for the twenty-first century (4th ed.). Harrisburg, PA: White Hat Communications. 469 pp. US$99.99, ISBN 978-1-929109-44-9. LeRoux, K., & Feeney, M. K. (2015). Nonprofit organizations and civil society in the United States. New York, NY: Routledge. 371 pp. US$59.95, ISBN 978-0-415-66145-4. Mook, L., Withman, J. R., Quarter, J., & Armstrong, A. (2015). Understanding the social economy of the United States. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press. 390 pp. US$44.95, ISBN 978-1-4426-1411-6. Pynes, J. E. (2011). Effective nonprofit management: Context and environment. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. 196 pp. US$59.95, ISBN 978-0-7656-3029-2. Vaughan, S. K., & Arsneault, S. (2014). Managing nonprofit organizations in a policy world. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE. 413 pp. US$72.75, ISBN 978-4522-4005-3. Reviewed by: Kevin Kearns, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA DOI: 10.1177/0899764016672460
I was asked by Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (NVSQ) to write a review of seven books, all of which could be used as primary or secondary texts in courses about the nonprofit sector. The charge from the book review editor was to comment on the merits of these books from the standpoint of teaching and learning. I have borrowed from the fields of learning theory and instructional design to select evaluative criteria that are flexible enough to account for each book’s distinctive purpose and audience. Nonetheless, it would be impossible, and perhaps even undesirable, for me to completely suppress my own pedagogical philosophy. Thus, my teaching style (and perhaps my biases) will likely be apparent in my assessments of these books. Although not all of the books reviewed here are completely aligned with my own teaching style, I can say without reservation that each book is valuable in its own way and I have tried my best to provide a balanced review of each book’s strengths and limitations.
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Anheier, H. K. (2014). Nonprofit organizations: Theory, management, policy (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. 577 pp. US$46.29, ISBN 978-0-415-55046-8.
This book, now in its second edition, provides the reader with a comprehensive examination of nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, and civil society. It is a fine piece of work that demonstrates the thoughtful insights and meticulous attention to detail that we have come to expect from one of the foremost authorities on our field. The first edition of this book won the 2006 Best Book Award from the American Academy of Management. Anheier’s multidisciplinary approach draws upon management and organization theory, sociology, political science, economics, and history among other disciplines. The logical flow of the book begins with background and history of the nonprofit sector. The focus is on the United States but, drawing on his own research, the author provides useful comparative assessments from Europe, Asia, the Pacific Rim, South America, the Middle East, and Africa. This background is followed by a review of theoretical and disciplinary frameworks for studying the nonprofit sector and its role in civil society. Finally, the book addresses issues of organizational behavior and management as well as policy issues of concern to a wide variety of readers. This book targets a challenging niche—not only providing a useful introduction to the nonprofit sector but also illuminating issues typically of interest to students and scholars who are well beyond the introductory level. For example, the author infuses many of the chapters with suggestions for conducting additional research on the sector, making the book useful for doctoral or master’s theses. Moreover, Anheier does not hesitate to offer his opinions, including critiques of the literature and suggestions for future research. Thus, this book is appropriate for graduate students or advancedlevel undergraduates and could even be useful in a doctoral research seminar. Each chapter begins with learning objectives and some key terms and concepts to focus the attention of students. Also, the chapters open with a helpful abstract and overview of content providing the reader with a useful way to link one chapter to others. A modest criticism is that the learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter focus on the mastery of facts and classification schemes; the objectives rarely address acquisition of specific skills or the enhancement of critical thinking. Similarly, the review questions at the end of each chapter are quiz-like prompts, not likely to be catalysts for exciting classroom discussion or self-directed learning. As noted above, however, Anheier infuses each chapter with his conceptually rich critiques and assessments, thereby providing instructors with plenty of tools for launching interesting classroom discussions, exercises, and assignments, particularly for students who are interested in the next level of inquiry beyond the essentials of the nonprofit sector and management. This is a book that most scholars will want to have in their library, regardless of whether they use it in the classroom. From a teaching perspective, it provides a sophisticated multidisciplinary examination of nonprofit organizations and management.
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Cnaan, R. A., & Vinokur-Kaplan, D. (Eds.). (2015). Cases in innovative nonprofits: Organizations that make a difference. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE. 306 pp. US$50.00, ISBN 978-1-4522-7770-7.
Today, instructors have easy access to teaching cases from Harvard, the University of Washington, Stanford, and other sources. Consequently, books devoted solely to case studies of nonprofit organizations are relatively rare. This book is particularly distinctive in that all 18 case studies illustrate one or more aspects of innovation in the nonprofit sector. An introductory chapter, written by the editors, cleverly utilizes Louis Guttman’s (1959, as cited in Cnaan & Vinokur-Kaplan, 2015, p. 7) notion of a “mapping sentence” to generate a multidimensional definition of innovation that includes what is being innovated (six categories), who benefits (four categories), who is the innovator (six categories), and the magnitude of the innovation (four categories). There are multiple paths through the resulting mapping sentence that provide a rich, diverse, and rigorous definition of a social innovation. This alone is an important contribution of this book. Ten of the case studies describe the founding and growth of a new organization. Three describe innovative collaborations involving two or more organizations, some of which transcend the sectors of nonprofits, business, and government. And five describe an innovation within an existing organization, illustrating how even deeply entrenched organizations can innovate. The concluding chapter, also written by the editors, provides a very useful summary of theoretical and practical themes illustrated by the diverse cases. The biggest advantage of this book is the rich variety of cases covering many types and sizes of nonprofit organizations, including several in countries other than the United States. Moreover, the introductory and concluding chapters, written by the editors, do an admirable job of building a coherent intellectual framework with which to frame the diverse array of cases. The book will be a good companion to advanced undergraduate or graduate courses specializing in social innovation or entrepreneurship. It could be especially useful in courses directed at experienced practitioners in, for example, an innovation-focused executive seminar or a mid-career master’s program. Because of its specialized focus on the processes and outcomes of innovation, the book will be less useful in introductory courses on the nonprofit sector that necessarily must cover a wide range of topics and management challenges. Beyond teaching, this book may be useful as a research tool or catalyst for generating research questions and methods on the topic of social innovation. One could easily envision a doctoral student using this book to help frame dissertation research questions and/or to choose candidate locations for field research. The book could also be useful in certain types of doctoral seminars. However, there are some shortcomings of this book if one intends to use it in the classroom. First, the case studies are written in a rather bland chronological style that fails to invite the reader into the case as an observer or active participant. The presentation of sequential events and outcomes does not shed light on certain nuances such as
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the personalities and values of the actors in the cases. Moreover, the cases do not provide a rich or vivid depiction of the organizational and social context of the events described. Too few of the cases describe in any detail barriers and how the innovators overcame them. In other words, most of the cases do not give the students and the instructor the feeling of being in the shoes of the actors and stakeholders in real time as they confront complex challenges and options. By comparison, case studies from Harvard, the University of Washington (Electronic Hallway), and Stanford do a much better job of transporting the reader into the context of the case, with all of its messiness and complexity. Second, some of the cases are authored or coauthored by people who played a role in the design of the innovation or otherwise had a stake in the outcome. This generates some concern about objectivity or balance in the presentation. In addition, the cases often end with the problem being effectively addressed by the innovation. In other words, most of the cases are wrapped up in a tidy package. This “happy ending” approach makes it a bit more difficult (but not impossible) for the instructor to lead a classroom discussion or to design an assignment that requires students to critically examine how the actors in the case failed as well as how they succeeded. Another related weakness is that, in many instances, the discussion questions at the end of each case are not conducive to lively classroom dialogue or self-directed learning. With many of the questions, students will quickly converge on the “correct” or most logical answer after which the student exchange will inevitably fall flat (e.g., “What were the events leading up to innovation X?”). Divergent questions, on the contrary, force students to synthesize, reflect, and debate with each other, resulting in a variety of viable answers and giving the instructor and the students the opportunity to diagnose the pros and cons of various perspectives on the case. Instructors using this book will likely need to devise their own discussion questions and learning exercises for each of the case studies.
Grobman, G. M. (2015). An introduction to the nonprofit sector: A practical approach for the twenty-first century (4th ed.). Harrisburg, PA: White Hat Communications. 469 pp. US$99.99, ISBN 978-1-929109-44-9.
This book by Gary Grobman provides a comprehensive survey of topics typically covered in an introductory course on nonprofit management. This “soup to nuts” approach results in 21 well-written and informative chapters beginning with a review of definitions, history, and theories of nonprofit and voluntary action. At the end of the book, 10 appendices contain useful case studies, illuminating concepts or methods described in the preceding chapters. This fourth edition of the book contains a new chapter on marketing, some new cases, and updates and revisions to many of the substantive chapters. Up-to-date bibliographic references at the end of each chapter attest to the author’s efforts to keep the material fresh and current.
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This truly is a handbook of nonprofit management, useful as a reference book for practitioners as well as a primary text in undergraduate or graduate courses. For an introductory graduate-level course, the book could be very effectively paired with other books reviewed here, especially Nonprofit Organizations and Civil Society in the United States or Managing Nonprofit Organizations in a Policy World (reviewed below). Each chapter concludes with “Tips for Practitioners,” suggesting that the book might be useful in a mid-career master’s program, but instructors should weigh this positive feature against the fact that the content of the book is at an introductory level that may not appeal to experienced professionals. Nonetheless, many executives and board members will want to have the book on their reference shelf for occasional consultation. The primary strength of this book is its versatility as a teaching text. The book leans toward the undergraduate audience, but with proper pairing with other texts and journal articles, it could be quite useful in an introductory graduate course as well. Moreover, it is evident that the author has given substantial thought to making this book a useful tool in the classroom. For example, discussion questions at the end of each chapter are designed to stimulate critical thinking and lively debate, not to quiz the students on the content of the chapter. The author also includes suggested activities and additional resources at the end of each chapter, giving the student and the instructor opportunities for self-directed learning, extending knowledge of the topics, and generating further examples.
LeRoux, K., & Feeney, M. K. (2015). Nonprofit organizations and civil society in the United States. New York, NY: Routledge. 371 pp. US$59.95, ISBN 978-0-415-66145-4.
The first thing to note about this impressive book is that it is not about management per se. Rather, the authors have very successfully targeted an important, but largely ignored, niche by helping undergraduate students explore the distinctive history and role of the nonprofit sector in the United States, especially its contributions to social, economic, and political aspects of civil society. The book focuses on the U.S. context with a few international illustrations for comparative purposes. The book is primarily intended for undergraduates and could serve as a companion text for courses in social work, public administration, and business administration. The authors even offer thoughtful tips on companion books for those audiences. The book addresses an impressive set of topics, providing clear definitions at the beginning, then examining historical and legal foundations, theories of nonprofits, distinctive contributions of nonprofits to civil society, and the influence of the nonprofit sector on politics, social movements, and economics. A very thoughtful concluding chapter addresses future challenges and opportunities. Aside from filling a gap in nonprofit texts, this fine book has much to recommend it as an instructional tool. Each chapter opens with a very clear set of learning objectives and a compelling story or thought question that captures the reader’s attention in
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novel ways (e.g., why do we spend more money on male pattern baldness than on a cure for malaria?). Each chapter also ends with key terms, discussion questions, and recommended activities to stimulate and extend student learning. The authors are skilled at selecting very interesting illustrations and examples of key points.
Mook, L., Withman, J. R., Quarter, J., & Armstrong, A. (2015). Understanding the social economy of the United States. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press. 390 pp. US$44.95, ISBN 978-1-4426-1411-6.
Every year, more and more of my students express interest in social purpose organizations that are not necessarily public charities, private foundations, or other traditional tax-exempt entities. They are increasingly intrigued by social purpose organizations that are at the nexus of business, government, and the nonprofit sectors. These include benefit corporations, public–private partnerships, low-profit limited liability companies, and various types of social enterprises. This book embraces the emerging reality of the blended economy in the United States by addressing four types of organizations: (a) social economy businesses such as cooperatives, benefit corporations, and nonprofits that operate on a consumer business model; (b) local development enterprises such as community development corporations, affordable home ownership groups, and workforce development organizations; (c) public sector nonprofits that operate in close partnership with government such as health care and other nongovernmental organizations that receive substantial government funding to advance government policies; and (d) civil society organizations such as mutual associations and clubs, sociopolitical organizations, and many traditional nonprofits. One can quibble with the authors’ classification scheme. For example, why are performing arts organizations in the local development category? But even disagreements about the classifications can be catalysts for engaging classroom discussions. There are four parts of this book. Part 1 establishes the authors’ conceptual framework. Part 2 explores different models and forms of social purpose organizations. Part 3 explains how various dimensions and tasks of management should align with the distinctive purpose and form of these organizations. Part 4 speculates on trends, emerging issues, and topics for future research. Each chapter contains short cases that illuminate innovative organizational forms and purposes. Also, each chapter is followed by a set of thought-provoking discussion questions and recommended assignments that encourage students on their own to discover more about the social economy. Finally, following each chapter is a substantial case study that focuses on a particular issue along with more thought-provoking discussion questions. The authors note that the substantial case studies can actually stand alone, separate from the chapter content, for use in a wide variety of courses. The authors have put a great deal of thought into the case studies and discussion questions that follow each chapter. The questions prompt students to do additional research, to reflect on their own experience, and to critically assess the assumptions
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and propositions in the accompanying chapter. An instructor can comfortably work with these cases and questions without need for editing or elaboration. The book is targeted toward advanced undergraduates and graduate students pursuing credentials in public and nonprofit administration, social work, and other public service areas. It is also highly appropriate for use in business schools, departments of economics, and other comparable domains. This book is probably best deployed as a companion to a more traditional treatment of the nonprofit sector.
Pynes, J. E. (2011). Effective nonprofit management: Context and environment. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. 196 pp. US$59.95, ISBN 978-0-7656-3029-2.
This book by Joan Pynes is intended to alert nonprofit executives, managers, and board members to trends in the external environment including emerging developments in compliance and accountability, the impact of intergovernmental relations on funding and priorities, new standards and expectations regarding performance management, the complexities of financial management that sometimes elude board members, the role of advocacy and lobbying, and other trends in public policy and regulatory oversight that impact the leadership and governance of nonprofit organizations. The author notes that the book could be a companion to other texts in courses on the nonprofit sector, perhaps particularly a course on strategic planning. It could also be useful as a reference text for executives. It could be particularly helpful as well in orienting new board members to their roles. Each chapter ends with what the author calls “cases,” but these are not extensive case studies. Rather, they are simply short illustrations of one or more topics discussed in the chapter, often very brief abstracts of stories from newspapers or other media sources. As such, they lack the essential detail and nuance to be useful as catalysts for debate or self-directed learning. This is a book designed to be read and digested by students, not analyzed and debated in the classroom. It does an admirable job of presenting factual data in a straightforward way but it is not likely to provide instructors with a framework for designing learning activities or as a catalyst for lively classroom discussion and debate. Pynes is quite knowledgeable of facts and trends, but she adds little in the form of critique or synthesis of the material. Naturally, the challenge with a book that examines social, political, and economic trends is that the trends themselves are in constant motion. As such, a book like this may be out-of-date without the readers in its intended audience knowing so. For example, in the opening page, the author refers to “the current financial crisis,” which everyone was talking about when the book was published in 2011 but is less salient today even though the effects of that crisis linger. Despite these shortcomings, this book presents thoughtful analysis of issues that are impacting nonprofits today. The chapters on intergovernmental relations, performance measurement, and advocacy are particularly timely and helpful.
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Vaughan, S. K., & Arsneault, S. (2014). Managing nonprofit organizations in a policy world. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE. 413 pp. US$72.75, ISBN 978-4522-4005-3.
This very interesting and useful book proceeds from a twofold premise: First, we cannot understand nonprofit organizations without understanding the public policy context which gives them legitimacy and also regulates their behavior; second, we cannot fully understand public policy without knowing the ways in which it is influenced by nonprofit organizations. The authors suggest that the book is most relevant to graduate students in programs of public administration and/or public policy, but its examples of and commentary on interdependencies and blurred boundaries make it a useful book for courses in business, political science, social work, and public health. Thus, this text will be of great interest to students and instructors from many different fields of study extending perhaps to programs in law, education, and public finance among others. Fifteen chapters provide insightful and lively discussions on the history of the nonprofit sector and the impact of federalism on funding and regulation, public policy forces affecting the mission of a nonprofit organization, resource development strategies that are shaped and constrained by policy considerations, and a variety of management issues that affect and are affected by public policy. Pedagogically, there is much to recommend this text. Each chapter begins with a scenario that grabs the reader’s attention, relating the topic of the chapter to an event or experience that the reader can very likely connect to their own experience. For example, Chapter 3 begins by describing the history of the white painted lines that separate the traffic lane from the shoulder of a road. Everyone who reads the book has at one time or another been grateful for those lines on a foggy night, but few (including this reader) know that the Dorr Foundation played a major role in their demonstration in Connecticut many years ago and their subsequent dissemination around the nation and the world. Other opening scenarios are, of course, more current, but all of them ask the reader to conjure a personal experience that can be better understood in the context of public policy and nonprofits. Other useful features include “for example” boxes in each chapter that illustrate key topics, “going global” boxes that compare the chapter’s theme with comparable international examples, timely case studies, and meaningful discussion questions at the end of each chapter. In my own teaching, I am seriously considering pairing this book with An Introduction to the Nonprofit Sector: A Practical Approach for the Twenty-First Century, which is reviewed above.
In Summary Each of the books reviewed here is the product of careful planning, rigorous research, and thoughtful editing. Together, these seven texts provide a wave of new and helpful material in support of instructors at the undergraduate and graduate levels. This new wave is more diverse, vibrant, and pedagogically sophisticated than previous
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generations of nonprofit texts. These texts have the potential to make all of us better teachers and learners. References Guttman, L. (1959) A structural theory for intergroup beliefs and action. American Sociological Review, 24, 318-328.
Reviewer Biography Kevin Kearns, PhD, is a professor of public and nonprofit management in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh. He is also the founding director of the Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership. He is the 2005 winner of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award at the University of Pittsburgh. On six occasions, most recently in 2016, he has won the Goldstein Teacher of the Year Award at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.
