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Article 1 
Understanding Collaboration Among Nonprofit Organizations: Combining Resource Dependency, Institutional, and Network Perspectives. 
Guo, C., Acar, M. (2005) 
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 34: 340–361.

Discussion Questions

• According to Murray (1998), what are the five different forms of collaboration? How many were used by the organizations in this study?
• Define and discuss the following types of collaboration: alliances, integrations, and joint venture.
• Discuss the significance (or nonsignificance) of resource dependency in nonprofit collaborations.

 

Article 2 
The Collaboration Decision in Nonprofit Organizations: Views from the Front Line. 
Sowa, J. (2009)  
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 38: 1003-1025.

Discussion Questions

• What characteristics would two nonprofit organizations need to have in common in order to create a successful collaboration? Why?
• How could nonprofit organizations benefit from collaboration in the area of program serve delivery? Why?
• What desired benefit of collaboration was achieved when resource instability or inadequacy was the driver? Why?
• How might service delivery collaboration contribute to the long-term survival of the nonprofit organizations? Why?

 

Article 3 
Why Not Partner with Local Government?: Nonprofit Managerial Perceptions of Collaborative Disadvantage. 
Gazley, B. (2008) 
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 39: 51-76. 

Discussion Questions

• How does Huxham (1993) describe the term “collaborative advantage” and how that impacts a manager’s decision to engage in joint service delivery or planning with other institutions?
• Discuss the internal and external factors that contribute to collaboration.
• What part does organizational capacity play in collaborations?

 

Article 4 
Evaluation Capacity and Nonprofit Organizations: Is the Glass Half-Empty or Half-Full? Carman, J., Fredericks, K. (2010) 
American Journal of Evaluation, 31: 84-104. 

Discussion Questions

• Discuss the similarities and/or differences in capacity evaluation among the three types of nonprofits in this study: social services, physical or developmental disabilities, and housing and community development.
• What challenges to evaluation were identified in these nonprofits? What contributed to those challenges?
• How were evaluations linked to broader management initiatives such as strategic management?

 

Article 5
Nonprofit-Public Collaborations: Understanding Governance Dynamics
Cornforth, C., Hayes, J., Vangen, S. (2015)
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 44(4): 775–795.

Discussion Questions

• What do the authors mean by the term “collaborative windows”? Explain.
• Describe what the authors have to say about the governance of networks.

 

Article 6
Hybridity and Nonprofit Organizations: The Research Agenda 
Smith, S. (2014) 
American Behavioral Scientist, 58(11): 1494–1508.

Discussion Questions

• According to Smith, what environmental factors are encouraging nonprofit organizations to consider merging?
• According to Smith, what are types of hybrid structures are nonprofit organizations considering in current times?