Non-profit organizations’ use of tools and technologies for knowledge management: a comparative study

IT usage and fundraising performance in nonprofit organizations: Empirical evidence from Buddhist temples in Thailand

The use of IT has seen great success in the private sector and is now beginning to fill a similar role for non-profit organizations (NPOs) as well. The use of IT in fundraising activities in NPOs has been studied in the past. But applying this concept in the case of Buddhist temples, which make up the majority of NPOs in a Buddhist country like Thailand, has never been done before. Using the national survey of 16,895 Buddhist temples in Thailand and econometrics modeling reveals that using IT in temple management has a statistically significant effect on generating higher income from fundraising activities. Using the Internet and computers can boost temple donations and fundraising by promoting religious activities. And temples that use websites and social media seem to receive more government subsidies. In addition, other variables, such as location, number of monks and staff, pro-social activities, and temple age, also represent strong determinants of fundraising performance. Therefore, we find that Buddhist temples in Thailand would do well to use the Internet and social media to develop content, provide advice, and preach online, as these technology-enhanced activities play an important role in increasing fundraising efficiency. Thus, training in such current communication technology should be provided to monks so that they can take advantage of such tools to not only increase their productivity, but also to equip themselves with other, up-to-date skills to enhance the religious education of their congregations that they currently provide through traditional preaching.

Impact of organizational characteristics on employees' entrepreneurial orientation with mediating role of knowledge process capabilities and moderating role of psychological factors in the era of COVID-19

Purpose

The study aims to investigate the impact of organizational characteristics and knowledge process capabilities on the entrepreneurial orientation among the manufacturing industry employees in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Additionally, this study has examined the mediating role of knowledge process capabilities in the relationship between organizational characteristics and entrepreneurial orientation among those employees and the moderating effect of psychological factors on the relationship between organizational characteristics and entrepreneurial orientation.

Design methodology and approach

The study has employed the survey-based methodology and data are collected with the aid of self-administered questionnaires. This study utilized the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to establish the validity and reliability of the measurement model and test the relationships. The response rate of the current study is 64.66%.

Findings

The study findings have shown mixed results as one of the organizational characteristics, namely, resource and time availability is an insignificant determinate of entrepreneurial orientation among the manufacturing industry employees in Punjab province of Pakistan. Whereas management support, rewards, work discretion, and knowledge process capabilities appear as significant determinates of employees' entrepreneurial orientation. The results indicated that knowledge process capabilities have a mediating role in the relationship between organizational characteristics and employees' entrepreneurial orientation. Moreover, psychological factors, namely, propensity to take risk and locus of control have a significant moderating role on the relationship of management support, rewards, and work discretion with employees' entrepreneurial orientation.

Practical implications

The empirical insights on the study are valuable for policymakers and managers in manufacturing sectors of developing countries, such as Pakistan, to enrich their work performance through the understanding impact of organizational characteristics and knowledge process capabilities on the entrepreneurial orientation with moderating role of psychological factors.

Originality and value

Studies on the mediating impact of knowledge process capabilities on the linkage between organizational characteristics and entrepreneurial orientation with the moderating role of psychological factors remain limited. This study is one of the earliest studies that investigate these inter-relationships.

Innovative ways of illustrating the present, imagining the future and analysing themes: A collage-elicited interview study

Mammalian predators are threatening New Zealand’s endemic species with extinction. Community-led predator control may contribute to a predator-free nation by 2050. An individual’s present and future thoughts about, and subsequent actions for, conservation rely on their current and projected motivations and concerns. Innovative approaches to conservation action theme elicitation and analysis were developed through this visual arts based qualitative study to better understand how people feel about the present and future and their place within. Twenty-five males and females from New Zealand’s rural and urban communities, aged between 12 and 75 years, from primary, secondary and tertiary student, environmental education and community conservation backgrounds, each created two collages of themselves situated in today’s and a future world. Interviewer-led open-ended laddering questions elicited participant responses to their collages. A further open-ended question elicited actions participants would take to move from their perceived present to a projected future world. Trello, a web-based list-making application, facilitated reflexive thematic analysis of the interview transcripts. The following six common themes resulted: connectivity, commitment, learning cycle, practical actions, unconditional belief and group action. These themes, presented as eight-point Likert-type scale items in a Qualtrics digital survey, contributed to the quantitative aspect of this mixed-methods study and may facilitate understanding of future New Zealand volunteer community conservation participation.

From social network to firm performance

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop a structural equation model to explain the complex relationship between social network and firm performance by introducing the mediating role of trust, selling capability and pricing capability.

Design/methodology/approach

The research model with hypothesis development was derived based on the literature. To provide empirical evidence, this study carried out a survey in which the data were equated with a list of questionnaires with a random survey of 380 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Indonesian context.

Findings

This study indicates that the use of social media in management process will not affect the increasing firm performance, unless the firms build trust upon social networks. The social network with trust allows the firms to gain a pricing capability and a selling capability, which brings a positive impact on firm performance. The results also show that the selling and the pricing capabilities become essential following the utilizing the social media, which concerns on trust building.

Research limitations/implications

This study focused on the small-to-medium context, which has conventionally provided an exemplary site for the development of social capital theory but raises issues of generalizability across different contexts.

Practical implications

To the managers, it is advisable to encourage their employees to consciously exploit the selling capability by enhancing the business networks via social media to achieve the firm performance.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the social capital theory by explaining the mediating role of trust in the complex relationship between social network and firm performance. This study provides evidence that trust plays a pivotal role in social networks, which enable the observed firms to achieve the performance.

Knowledge centricity and organizational performance: an empirical study of the performing arts

Purpose

This paper explores the concepts of knowledge-centric organizations in the performing arts sector to understand how specific organizational practices relate to measures of financial and operational performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative analysis of 368 small and mid-sized nonprofit performing arts organizations in the USA was undertaken via primary data on organizational practices and secondary data on performance metrics. Structural equation modeling was used to validate the latent construct of knowledge centricity and to test hypotheses on how knowledge centricity impacts financial and operational performance, and is influenced by firm-level demographic variables.

Findings

Results show several distinct performance metrics that are statistically associated with knowledge-centric practices of the organizations analyzed.

Research limitations/implications

This article investigates the knowledge centricity of organizations, a relatively nascent theoretical concept, which is of significant relevance in today’s knowledge-driven economy. The findings can serve as a basis to further investigate strategic approaches that arts organizations can undertake to remain sustainable and operate effectively in a knowledge-driven society.

Practical/implications

It provides critical insights into management practices and approaches that can be instituted to drive improved organizational performance.

Originality/value

Building on the extant literature, this article develops a conceptual framework of knowledge centricity and defines a knowledge-centric organization. It thoroughly investigates the latent construct of knowledge centricity, identifies how knowledge centricity impacts financial and operational performance of nonprofit performing arts organizations, and provides grounding for future studies.