Strategic responses to Performance Measurement in Nonprofit ...

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The identified roles for nonprofits are, of course, ideal-types which can always be criticized
for that organisational behaviour is in reality much more complex. The rule observer confirms
with external pressures for performance measurement. Most likely such a nonprofit will see
performance measurement as an externally imposed burden which is of no or very little use
for internal improvement processes. Therefore decoupling is most likely and if at all, the
information gathered will we used for internal operative monitoring processes. The purpose to
use a performance measurement system for implementing the nonprofit‟s strategy can be
ruled out, as the externally accountability obligations are not tailored to the nonprofits specific
critical success factors nor to the nonprofit‟s strategy. With respect to the performance
measures one would expect to some extent indicators which monitor the appropriate use of
financial resources. These performance measures may be augmented by not too complicated
output indicators and indicators which characterize a nonprofit organisation with respect to
basic organisations input factors (e.g. qualification of the personnel employed, amount of
personnel, technical infrastructure). Whether we find outcome indicators depends on the
relevance the funders attach to them. Quite certain the indicators are not designed as a
communication tool for demonstrating the specific social value of the reporting nonprofit
organisation. More likely the focus will be in that extent a much more selective one by
concentration on measures the funders will need for their reporting obligations. Process
indicators are less likely as they are more in line with internal managerial information
requirements; also performance measures with a focus on innovative processes are not likely
to play an important role. Performance indicators with measure the ecological or society
performance in a non-decoupled way can also be not expected. The three sub-options Oliver
identifies within the acquiesce-strategy can be translated in the anticipatory rule observer, the
isomorphistic rule observer and the passive-reacting rule observer.
In the second option the respective nonprofit starts at least to question some of the externally
opposed accountability obligations. We still find a high compliance rate with externally