Keywords

ethics, nonprofit, management, outcomes, performance measurement

Abstract

Nonprofit programs deliver key social services to millions of people across the country everyday, however, little is known about the ethical practices of these programs. This research examines the relationship between a nonprofit program's ethical practices and the programs' measurable outcomes, such as changes in knowledge, attitudes, values, skills, behavior, condition, or status of the participant as a result of their involvement with nonprofit programs. An assumption of the study is that the achievement of the measurable outcomes found in a nonprofit program is directly related to the extent that ethical practices are utilized within that program. Ethical practices include role modeling, ethics development, ethics enforcement and review, stewardship, transparency, and empowerment. This study demonstrates that the ethical strategy Transparency influences the achievement of program performance outcomes. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis, this study attempts to illustrate the impact of transparency as well as determine how it is incorporated in nonprofit programs based on interviews with nonprofit program managers/directors. Additionally, this study demonstrates that the capacity of a program's processes is negatively associated with the achievement of program performance outcomes. This finding suggests the need for a greater level of transparency in program planning and performance outcome measure development in order to ensure the program is mission driven and its performance outcomes are meeting the needs of the community it serves.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2007

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Feldheim, Mary Ann

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Health and Public Affairs

Department

Public Administration

Degree Program

Public Affairs

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0001816

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0001816

Language

English

Release Date

September 2007

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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