INCOMMENSURABILITY OF ORGANISATIONAL VALUES IN A MARKETISED SERVICE DELIVERY CONTEXT

INCOMMENSURABILITY OF ORGANISATIONAL VALUES IN A MARKETISED SERVICE DELIVERY CONTEXT Managing social justice & economic values in the value plural operating context of not-for-profit social services

In the beginning • Nonprofit social services experiencing stress under marketised funding policies – past two decades. • Often framed as juggling act between: • delivering services and maintaining the organisation’s values and • addressing the economic imperatives imposed by funders that threaten the organsiation’s independence and core purpose.

Reason for research • Is there another way of understanding what is happening that could give direction for management? • Turned to the literature • Conducted a qualitative study using in-depth interviews of CEOs and Chairs of the Board

Values expressive Important • Staff • Service users • Donors • Volunteers • Community Lyons, 2001; Onyx, 1998

Organisational values & organisationalbehaviour Congruence: • Confidence • Trust • Organisational health Incongruence: • Doubt • Suspicion • Cynicism Seevers, 2000; Kouzes, 2003; Lenocioni, 2002

Marketised funding context • Quasi market changing the nature & culture of work with • Competitive tendering • Outputs based contracts • Compliance regimes • Stringent mico accountability Frumkin& Andre-Clark, 2000; Staples,2006

Result • Organisations experience: • urgent economic imperatives (largely contrived) • strong tensions with the social justice mission & purpose Pusey 2010

Neo-liberalism • Claim value neutral but • Values freedom • Free choice • Free exchange leading to efficient markets Van Staveren, 2001

Value pluralism • Political philosophy • Different values of equal merit and importance co-existing and operating in the same context. None taking precedence over any other. • However ultimately mutually exclusive so potential for irresolvable conflict or incommensurability Grey, 1996, 2000

Incommensurability To navigate effectively it requires: • Articulated general framework for crafting individual solutions • Practical wisdom – experience, understanding, recognition Crowder, 2002; Swanton, 2003

Study • What are the espoused organisational values currently operating in nonprofit social services? • What other values, espoused, implied and/or enacted, underpin priorities and decision making in these organisations ?

Methodology • Grounded theory • Selective sampling for size, type & location • 11 organisations • 22 in-depth interviews • CEOs & Chairs of Board

Findings • Social justice values • Explicit • Relate to the purpose of the organisation At the end of the day we raise the social expectations of all of us and the community Mark, CEO

Findings • Social justice values • Relate to staff They need to go on a bit of a journey about social change, not just running the best home care system Harry, CEO

Findings • Economic values • 2 groups aligned with interviewees background • Not-for-profit & government • For-profit business

Not-for-profit & government • Distributive justice • Sector collaboration The fact that you’ve only got just enough money to cover your debt in the bank is neither here nor there because we are never going to have anymore, ‘cos we’re not interested in profit Allison Chair

Not-for-profit & government I never closed a service where there were no other services for these people… the ability to find sustainable circumstances is the challenge... We’ve got a hundred different types of services and if we remove any single one of them for economic reasons we are diminishing what we are here for… So how do we construct a service framework that allows us that necessary diversity and is sustainable…that’s an ongoing challenge. Thomas, CEO

Not-for-profit & government The government might have put us into that competitive realm … but we have so much in common, we should have a shared vision and we need to look at how we can do this better, not compete with each other. Fredericka, Chair

For-profit • Market competition • Economic growth Unless a manager can run a charitable organisation in a commercial way, it would basically go out of business in due course. It would be inefficient… You have to have a commercial focus to see the wood from the trees. Stewart, Chair

For-profit So you do have this conflict sometimes between making a profit – which enables you to keep going and to put money back into the place – and the welfare. If you are only interested in the welfare then you end up going broke. You’ve also got to be hard in terms of business skills and commercial – because if you don’t you won’t have an organisation. Ian, Chair

For-profit In corporate speak, if it’s a competition… you need to be ahead of the game because others will copy you… and if you’re not careful, they’ll overtake you and then your competitive advantage disappears. Peter, Chair

Issues • Economic values exist and operate but are unespoused • No overarching organisational position that transcends personnel changes • No process for clarification & debate • No official guide for decision makers • No information for stakeholders • Risk of perceived incongruence between organisational values and behaviour

Not-for-profits behind the game For-profit organisations values that address: • Shareholders • Customers • Corporate social responsibility Governments values that address • Rights • Economics • Welfare • Society

Conclusion • Clarify, document, publicise • Link economic and social justice values & organisational mission • Transparency in decisions particularly if the values are incommensurable • Promote complex skill and knowledge sets required in management particularly: • Financial expertise • Values based decision making • Critically reflective judgment & practical wisdom

INCOMMENSURABILITY OF ORGANISATIONAL VALUES IN A MARKETISED SERVICE DELIVERY CONTEXT