Brent Never

1
Coming off the Juice Service Delivery in Tough
Economic Times

• Brent Never
• University of Illinois at Springfield
• bneve2_at_uis.edu

2
Central Question

• What options do voluntary and community
  organizations have when facing tough economic
  times?

3
Background

• US and UK have wholeheartedly embraced voluntary
  sector as service delivery mechanism
• We are facing a global recession that has created
  great dynamism in demands for services as well as
  the supply of resources
• By modeling potential responses to contraction in
  resources, better able to aid organizations in
  reacting to resource environment

4
Theories at play

• Selection theories population ecology and
  institutional theories
• Adaptation theories strategic management and
  resource dependency theories
• A synthesis Oliver (1991) considers a range of
  possible organizational tactics acquiesce,
  compromise, avoid, defy, and manipulate

5
Question

• What types of orgs will choose what tactics?
• Consider three factors resource niche density,
  composition, and champions

6
Application Northern Ireland

• 2 sub-sectors Community Development and Youth
• 2 largest sub-sectors but derive resources from
  very different places

7
Community Development

• Most deprived urban wards
• Legacy of sectarianism
• Resources from EU PEACE funding and NI government
  grants
• Parity
• Result Potential active manipulation of
  institutional environment, particularly in most
  deprived Protestant communities

8
Youth Organizations

• Depend for half of resources from contracts for
  services and fees for services
• Strong professional norms
• Less ability to actively manipulate pressures,
  more likely to conform

9
Conclusions

• In these 2 sub-sectors, less hard hit in
  immediate future
• Confounding idea maybe those orgs that have been
  good at conforming as a survival mechanism may be
  the hardest hit in the near future