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Article 1
A Comparison of CEO and Director Perceptions of Board Involvement in Strategy.
Siciliano, J. (2008)
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 37: 152-162.

Discussion Questions

• In what areas of management were the CEO and directors most efficient? Least efficient?
• How did boards rate their involvement in strategic planning initiative?
• What areas of strategic planning did the CEOs and directors reach consensus and how might that impact their ability to work together on future initiatives?

 

Article 2
Factors that Influence Monitoring and Resource Provision Among Nonprofit Board Members. 
Brown, W., Hillman, A., Morris, A. (2012) 
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 41: 145-156.

Discussion Questions

• What factors contributed to respondents’ confidence and participation in monitoring roles? How might those factors increase confidence?
• Was there a difference in the confidence and participation ratings between monitoring roles and resource roles? Differences between genders?
• How might a nonprofit use this research to increase levels of confidence and participation in board members roles?
• What role does experience play with regard to individual board members and their abilities to serve efficiently?
• What role might tenure play in the board performance?

 

Article 3 
Nonprofit Board Role Ambiguity: Investigating Its Prevalence, Antecedents, and Consequences. 
Wright, B., Millesen, J. (2008) 
The American Review of Public Administration, 38: 322-338.

Discussion Questions

• According to the authors’ research, how well did board volunteers understand their role and performance expectations in the organizations they governed?
• What role does the performance of a nonprofit board play in the overall performance of their nonprofit organization? How does a board member’s lack of understanding of his/her role play a part in that performance?
• What are some of the reasons that may contribute to a board member’s ambiguity about his/her role? What can the board and CEO do to alleviate or minimize that ambiguity?
• How did the executive directors’ responses align with those of the board member responses? What implications might that have in the board/executive director relationship?

 

Article 4 
The Governance of Nonprofit Organizations: Integrating Agency Theory With Stakeholder and Stewardship Theories. 
Puyvelde, S., Caers, R., DuBois, C., Jegers, M. (2012) 
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 41: 431-451.

Discussion Questions

• Define and describe the stakeholder theory and discuss how it differs from traditional management.
• Define internal and external stakeholders and discuss how governance applies to each one.
• Define agency theory and compare and contrast it with the stakeholder theory.
• Discuss the relationship of consumers, clients, and members to the nonprofit organization.

 

Article 5
Understanding the Behavior of Nonprofit Boards of Directors: A Theory-Based Approach.
Miller-Millesen, J.L. (2003)
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 32: 521–547.

Discussion Questions

• How do environmental and organizational factors impact the recruitment practices and composition of nonprofit boards?
• How might the recruitment practices and composition of a nonprofit board impact its effectiveness?
• What are some of the most common “best practices” for nonprofit boards and what can a nonprofit do to work toward achieving them?

 

Article 6
The Effect of an Online Self-Assessment Tool on Nonprofit Board Performance
Harrison, Y., Murray, V. (2015)
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 44(6): 1129-1151.

Discussion Questions

• What types of governance issues did the respondents perceive as most problematic in their boards?
• What changes in governance behavior and practices were reported by the survey respondents after they completed the assessment tools?

 

Article 7
Board Oversight of Patient Care Quality in Large Nonprofit Health Systems
Prybil, L., Bardach, D., Fardo, D. (2014)
American Journal of Medical Quality, 29(1): 39–43.

Discussion Question

• What do studies conducted by the Institute of Medicine, The Commonwealth Fund, and other authorities indicate about effective board governance?
• How did hospital boards address problems?