Communalities and Distinctions in the Measurement of Organizational Performance and Effectiveness Across For-Profit and Nonprofit Sectors

Abstract

The article analyzes the way academic scholarly works measure organizational outcomes, commonly reported as either organizational effectiveness or organizational performance (OEP). From the analysis of 149 scholarly publications published in the past decade, focusing on business organizations (100), on nonprofit organizations (21), and a mix of both (28), a set of criteria emerged. Overlapping common ground issues found for all the sectors include (a) efficiency and/or productivity, (b) growth and/ormarket share, (c) customer orientation, and (d) quality. Further measures (e.g., public image and/or reputation, social performance) fit specific sectors. A multivariate analysis showed three and two configurations of criteria for business and not-for-profit research, respectively. Results suggest a set of accepted, multidimensional, and universal criteria for measuring OEP. In choosing criteria for future studies, we recommend adopting such common ground, backed up by specific criteria when a certain sector is unique, to reflect convergence and divergence in OEP research.