About the Book
The book examines the management of social purpose driven organizations in an Asian context, using the case study approach. It looks at these organizations during a period of major changes in the regulatory and governance environment for charities in Singapore. The focus is on how these changes impact the organizational and management issues confronting several charities and volunteer welfare organizations, an arts enterprise, a co-operative and a non-governmental organization in international disaster relief. Although diverse, the common denominator among these organizations is their commitment to a core social purpose. Issues examined include: organizational restructuring, crisis management, organizational change management, social entrepreneurship and organizational sustainability. The book adopts a systemic perspective in examining the challenges of managing organizations that are neither state-owned nor private enterprises, and in particular, the interrelationships between contexts, actions and outcomes and their impact on the organizations, their stakeholders and external environments.
Table of Contents:
1. Social Purpose Organizations: The Third Sector of the Economy
2. Crisis Management and Organizational Change: National Kidney Foundation
3. Implementing Organizational Change at a VWO: Asian Women’s Welfare Organization
4. From Social Enterprise to Public Sector Partner: Society for the Physically Disabled
5. Growth in a NGO Start-up: Mercy Relief
6. Building a Sustainable Twenty-first Century Arts Enterprise: Singapore Chinese Orchestra
7. Co-operatives and the Social Enterprise Ethos: NTUC Eldercare Co-operative
About the Author :
Wee Beng Geok was Associate Professor (Strategy, Management and Organization) at the Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University. In 2000, she set up the Asian Business Case Centre at the Nanyang Business School and was its Director for 15 years. She has held functional and general management positions in the corporate sector and served on the boards of several firms listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. An advocate of systemic thinking and management, she received her PhD in Management Systems and Sciences from the University of Hull.
Review :
‘There are critical differences between the management of profit-driven enterprises and those that prioritise social good, and yet there are few books that attempt to explicate them, particularly in the Asian context. This volume fills an important gap in the literature by making these differences clear. The case studies and associated commentaries provide important learning opportunities managers and students alike.’ — Jonathan E. Ramsay, Senior Lecturer at Singapore University of Social Sciences
‘The Social Service sector in Singapore is evolving to meet the changing needs of our society. Social Service organizations have to build capability and capacity to address increasing complexity of social issues. This implies not only being able to hire, retain and motivate the right people in adequate numbers. It also means that the organizations themselves, their policies, and even their boards, have to stay relevant to meet the needs of beneficiaries. This is, therefore, a timely book, as it aptly describes the current situation of Singapore's Not-for-Profit sector, and provides several illustrative cases of organizations that have been able to create impact in this environment. It should be read by all members of management and boards of the sector, as well as by leaders in the government areas related to non-profits, as a guide to accelerate the evolution of these organizations.’ — Fermin Diez, Deputy CEO and Group Director, National Council of Social Service, Human Capital Development Group
‘The rapid rise of third sector organizations (TSOs) across the globe deserves a book such as this to help us understand better the issues and challenges in managing non-profit organizations and NGOs. This book provides very interesting insights how TSOs engaged for-profit organizations, government agencies and the public to deliver the social agenda. The book is an interesting read as it reflects the complexities and realistic views in managing TSOs in a local context which are not easily found in management textbooks. The book uses the systems thinking approach which helps readers to appreciate the inter-connectivity of different parts of the organizations and the holistic view of the operating environment underpin TSOs. I highly recommend this book to people who are passionate about fulfilling the social purpose of TSO.’— Nigel Phang, Associate Professor, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
'The book covers well the breadth of context and history of the case organizations while at the same time clearly pointing out the key organizational concerns in each case. This combination of in-depth study and broad description of cases will help undergraduate students understand why and how SPDOs behave and/or strategize in the ways they do, and what the outcomes are… Although this book discusses the Singaporean context only, it provides a detailed overview of the country, such as Singapore becoming a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and presents such context as critical to the operations of SPDOs. Therefore, an understanding of how organizational behaviour and market conditions may change depending on the macro-international and national contexts can lead to lively debates and discussions…' — Academy of Management Learning & Education (doi: 10.5465/amle.2019.0039)
‘There are critical differences between the management of profit-driven enterprises and those that prioritise social good, and yet there are few books that attempt to explicate them, particularly in the Asian context. This volume fills an important gap in the literature by making these differences clear. The case studies and associated commentaries provide important learning opportunities managers and students alike.’ — Jonathan E. Ramsay, Senior Lecturer at Singapore University of Social Sciences
‘The Social Service sector in Singapore is evolving to meet the changing needs of our society. Social Service organizations have to build capability and capacity to address increasing complexity of social issues. This implies not only being able to hire, retain and motivate the right people in adequate numbers. It also means that the organizations themselves, their policies, and even their boards, have to stay relevant to meet the needs of beneficiaries. This is, therefore, a timely book, as it aptly describes the current situation of Singapore's Not-for-Profit sector, and provides several illustrative cases of organizations that have been able to create impact in this environment. It should be read by all members of management and boards of the sector, as well as by leaders in the government areas related to non-profits, as a guide to accelerate the evolution of these organizations.’ — Fermin Diez, Deputy CEO and Group Director, National Council of Social Service, Human Capital Development Group
‘The rapid rise of third sector organizations (TSOs) across the globe deserves a book such as this to help us understand better the issues and challenges in managing non-profit organizations and NGOs. This book provides very interesting insights how TSOs engaged for-profit organizations, government agencies and the public to deliver the social agenda. The book is an interesting read as it reflects the complexities and realistic views in managing TSOs in a local context which are not easily found in management textbooks. The book uses the systems thinking approach which helps readers to appreciate the inter-connectivity of different parts of the organizations and the holistic view of the operating environment underpin TSOs. I highly recommend this book to people who are passionate about fulfilling the social purpose of TSO.’— Nigel Phang, Associate Professor, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
'The book covers well the breadth of context and history of the case organizations while at the same time clearly pointing out the key organizational concerns in each case. This combination of in-depth study and broad description of cases will help undergraduate students understand why and how SPDOs behave and/or strategize in the ways they do, and what the outcomes are… Although this book discusses the Singaporean context only, it provides a detailed overview of the country, such as Singapore becoming a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and presents such context as critical to the operations of SPDOs. Therefore, an understanding of how organizational behaviour and market conditions may change depending on the macro-international and national contexts can lead to lively debates and discussions…' — Academy of Management Learning & Education (doi: 10.5465/amle.2019.0039)
