Deck 3: Theories of the Nonprofit Sector and Nonprofit Organizations

Question 1

According to Lohmann, after private goods and public goods, what is the third category of goods?

A) Charitable goods
B) Common goods
C) Tax-exempt goods
D) Dry goods

Answer 1

B

Question 2

enables the system to adapt to changing circumstances.

A) Internal dynamics
B) External forces
C) Bureaucracies
D) Feedback

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The concept that maintains that organizations in the same field become more like each other as a result of facing similar influences from their environments is:

A) institutional theory.
B) goal displacement.
C) isomorphism.
D) task environment theory.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Salamon identifies nonprofits as:

A) self-governing.
B) controlled by the government.
C) controlled by individual owners.
D) controlled by corporate sponsors.

Question 5

This type of system is entirely self-sufficient and impervious to influences from its environment.

A) Nonprofit system
B) Open system
C) Closed system
D) A hybrid system

Question 6

One significant risk of resource dependency is actions taken by the nonprofit to alter its goals and activities to satisfy the contributor of funds. This is also called:

A) performance measurement.
B) goal displacement.
C) information asymmetry.
D) population ecology.

Question 7

refers to the tendency of organizations to mimic each other, specifically in models to be adopted.

A) Mimetic isomorphism
B) Coercive isomorphism
C) Normative isomorphism
D) Institutional isomorphism

Question 8

Normative isomorphism arises when organizations are influenced by the same standards of:

A) achievement.
B) professional practice.
C) bureaucracy.
D) mimicry.

Question 9

When individuals do not have complete information or lack the ability to understand or judge the quality of the good they seek to purchase, there is:

A) goal displacement.
B) resource dependency.
C) information asymmetry.
D) consumer ignorance.

Question 10

Nonprofits are driven by:

A) the need to maximize profit.
B) achievement of the missions for which they exist.
C) the need to meet the expectations of a majority.
D) the success of fund-raising campaigns.

Question 11

This theory explains the behavior of organizations in terms of their dependence on external constituencies.

A) Resource dependence theory
B) Institutional theory
C) Supply-side theory
D) Theory of the commons

Question 12

This theory attributes the existence of nonprofit organizations to the vision and initiative of individuals who have created and built them.

A) Failure theory
B) Supply side theory
C) Altruism theory
D) Entrepreneurship theory

Question 13

An approach taken by some sociologists to explain the birth and death of organizations, which analyzes organizations in terms of population density, is:

A) feedback.
B) isomorphism.
C) voluntary culture.
D) population ecology.

Question 14

One way to reduce dependency and thus maintain more autonomy is to:

A) use a single source of revenue.
B) lobby for more government assistance.
C) rewrite the mission statement.
D) diversify the sources of revenue.

Question 15

According to Edgar Schein, logos, ceremonies, and symbols belong to this defined category of culture.

A) Basic values
B) Basic assumptions
C) Voluntaristic values
D) Artifacts and creations

Question 16

The is a guide for actions taken by nonprofit organizations and the principal standard against which performance should be measured.

A) charter
B) business plan
C) mission statement
D) core of values

Question 17

The type of market failure in which a breakdown in the ideal or typical relationship between a buyer and seller occurs is called:

A) information asymmetry.
B) contract failure.
C) government failure.
D) demand heterogeneity.

Question 18

Those who benefit without paying are called:

A) free riders.
B) externalities.
C) consumers.
D) resource leeches.

Question 19

Sociologists describe nonprofits as:

A) the basis of a nation's economy.
B) the voice of the people.
C) organizations that engage in irrational acts.
D) mediating structures.

Question 20

Great companies that produce excellent results have:

A) strong cultures.
B) weak cultures.
C) flexible cultures.
D) relaxed cultures.

Question 21

_______ scientists study nonprofits organizations from the perspective of power relationships between citizens and government.

A) Behavioral
B) Business
C) Sociology
D) Political

Question 22

Excess revenues gained by a nonprofit must be reinvested in the organization.

Question 23

A nonprofit organization is decides to manufacture its own brand of aspirin to sell to its clients. The nonprofit is applying:

A) altruism.
B) market failure theory.
C) gap failure.
D) supply-side theory.

Question 24

A nonprofit organization replaced the windows and painting the building it occupies. The beautification enhanced the image of the organization and improved the property values of the residences located across the street. This is an example of a(an):

A) nominal externality
B) negative externality
C) positive externality
D) neutral externality.

Question 25

Control of the nonprofit lies with the executive director or CEO.

Question 26

The CEO of a nonprofit organization is preparing a data information system to monitor if organizational donations are meeting an organizational goal. The CEO is controlling his organization's performance through the use of:

A) input measures.
B) impact measures.
C) outcome measures.
D) mimetic measures.

Question 27

Nonprofits are not allowed to undertake experimentation with regard to research and development of new programs.

Question 28

Nonprofits may not receive any funding from the government.

Question 29

According to the "trust theory" of nonprofits, scholars believe the public trusts nonprofits because they believe nonprofit leaders are driven by altruistic motivations.

Question 30

Max Weber's idea of bureaucracy as an ideal model for managing organizations is known as:

A) an organizational artifact.
B) bureaucracy.
C) a learning organization.
D) a closed system.

Question 31

The organizational culture in a nonprofit refers to the unwritten rules determine "how things are done."

Question 32

Mary went grocery shopping for food to feed her family.Mary is buying:

A) public goods.
B) private goods.
C) personal goods.
D) external goods.

Question 33

Failure theories explain their role by what others do.

Question 34

Mary is writing strict organizational policies for a public sector organization. Mary is practicing:

A) bureaucracy.
B) open systems theory.
C) business sector practices.
D) experimentation.

Question 35

A nonprofit organization provides training sessions to encourage its volunteers to embrace the organization's vision, mission, and values. The nonprofit is applying:

A) market theory.
B) institutional theory.
C) open systems theory.
D) closed systems theory.

Question 36

Board members of a nonprofit organization are calculating the salary offer for a new CEO. The board wants to ensure the salary pays the new CEO fairly for the knowledge and skills he will provide the organization. The board members are practicing:

A) nonprofit distributing.
B) noncompulsory distributions.
C) open compensation.
D) closed competition.

Question 37

A majority of citizens in a community do not agree with a minority of citizens that the community needs a nonprofit organization to serve the needs of homeless citizens. This sentence is an example of:

A) demand heterogeneity.
B) government failure.
C) an externality.
D) an interdisciplinary perspective.

Question 38

The term "open systems" means that nonprofits are dependent on and interact with their external environment.

Question 39

The term "resource dependency" means that nonprofits are not dependent on external constituencies for revenue and other resources.

Question 40

Nonprofit functions differ from government in that they have more flexibility in responding to the interests and needs of diverse groups.

Question 41

Name and examine the four major functions identified by political scientists that nonprofits perform in relation to government.

Question 42

Demonstrate how can nonprofits act as gap fillers in the context of the failure theories?

Question 43

Sketch a simplistic model of a nonprofit organization operating as an open system. Label each part of the system.

Question 44

Write about the various circumstances in which government failure can occur.

Question 45

Choose and interpret three of the five common characteristics of nonprofit organizations.

Question 46

Analyze if religious worship is a private, public, or common good

Question 47

Produce an example for each of Edgar Schein's three categories of organizational culture a nonprofit organization could use.

Question 48

Explain the three types of isomorphism as defined by Powell and DiMaggio and provide an example of a nonprofit organization that demonstrates each type.