Leading a non-governmental development organization (NGDO) to meet both day-to-day operational needs and vision requires the involvement of many important stakeholders. It requires a delicate balance of power between executive management and a governing body (i.e., board of directors or other committee entrusted with oversight of the organization). Yet, how that balance is shared varies widely. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast management and governance functions for NGDOs. In particular, this essay will critically examine how the success of a NGDO depends upon an effective balance of leadership in the forms of management and governance. Examples of the core functions of management and governance will also be used to illustrate
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Managers and governing bodies are both concerned with the NGDOs ability to manage its programs so that it effectively meets its mission while using resources responsibly (Fowler, 2013). For example, suppose an NGDO working in a developing nation hopes to reduce hunger in the country it serves by providing food products with a USD$100,000 operational budget. Food products can be very broadly defined. Both managers and governing bodies should be concerned with how to best use the operational budget to meet its mission. For instance, the organization could decide to hire primarily warehouse staff and to spend most of its operational budget on packaged food goods. It might also decide, however, that a more effective use of resources would be to hire agricultural experts and to spend most of its resources on increasing the capacity of the community to grow its own food. It may decide to invest most of its resources on seeds and soil rather than packaged food items. In this instance, both managers and governing bodies would have an acute interest in increasing the NGDOs output, including perhaps number of individuals/families served and number of pounds of food grown. In the long-term, both managers and governing bodies may look to national or international statistics about hunger, including number of deaths attributed to starvation, measures of malnutrition in children, or other hunger-related measures for the country and for …show more content…
Managers play the important role of managing day-to-day affairs while Boards and other stakeholders oversee the results of those affairs. As Edwards (1999) notes, when collaboration occurs between organization management, with boards of directors and other outside stakeholders filling a supportive and/or technical advisory role, the organization has accountability and yet the freedom to go about its day-to-day affairs. Collaboration, however, can only occur when each party has the ability to make its vision known. Success depends upon a delicate balance of control. A manager that is too controlling while not deferring to the governance decisions of the board may find herself or himself lacking the support needed to run existing programs and to fund new programs. On the other hand, Boards that fail to recognize the day-to-day expertise of the management team that they hire can undermine the organization from meeting its mission. Oversight with a healthy amount of management trust is needed for a successfully run
Managers and governing bodies are both concerned with the NGDOs ability to manage its programs so that it effectively meets its mission while using resources responsibly (Fowler, 2013). For example, suppose an NGDO working in a developing nation hopes to reduce hunger in the country it serves by providing food products with a USD$100,000 operational budget. Food products can be very broadly defined. Both managers and governing bodies should be concerned with how to best use the operational budget to meet its mission. For instance, the organization could decide to hire primarily warehouse staff and to spend most of its operational budget on packaged food goods. It might also decide, however, that a more effective use of resources would be to hire agricultural experts and to spend most of its resources on increasing the capacity of the community to grow its own food. It may decide to invest most of its resources on seeds and soil rather than packaged food items. In this instance, both managers and governing bodies would have an acute interest in increasing the NGDOs output, including perhaps number of individuals/families served and number of pounds of food grown. In the long-term, both managers and governing bodies may look to national or international statistics about hunger, including number of deaths attributed to starvation, measures of malnutrition in children, or other hunger-related measures for the country and for …show more content…
Managers play the important role of managing day-to-day affairs while Boards and other stakeholders oversee the results of those affairs. As Edwards (1999) notes, when collaboration occurs between organization management, with boards of directors and other outside stakeholders filling a supportive and/or technical advisory role, the organization has accountability and yet the freedom to go about its day-to-day affairs. Collaboration, however, can only occur when each party has the ability to make its vision known. Success depends upon a delicate balance of control. A manager that is too controlling while not deferring to the governance decisions of the board may find herself or himself lacking the support needed to run existing programs and to fund new programs. On the other hand, Boards that fail to recognize the day-to-day expertise of the management team that they hire can undermine the organization from meeting its mission. Oversight with a healthy amount of management trust is needed for a successfully run