This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Burt, E. Articles by Taylor, J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

New Technologies, Embedded Values, and Strategic Change: Evidence From the U.K. Voluntary Sector

University of St Andrews, United Kingdom

John Taylor

Glasgow Caledonian University, United Kingdom

Advanced information and communication technologies (ICTs) have the capability to support strategic innovation within voluntary organizations as they seek to respond to shifts in their environments. Evidence from this study of two U.K. voluntary organizations demonstrates that they are using ICTs to reconfigure key information flows in support of enhanced campaigning and more effective user services. The study also reveals that adherence to embedded values and relationships tempers the extent to which the organizations are able to exploit opportunities for radical shifts in organizational arrangements that the transformational potential of the technologies makes possible. This article describes the way in which emergent tensions have been reconciled as both organizations seek to exploit the transformational capability of ICTs in ways that accommodate, and largely sustain, their organizational values.

Key Words: information and communication technologies • voluntary organizations • innovation

References

• Beckley, R., Elliott, M.A., & Prickett, J.M. (1996). Closing the gap: Information technology and the nonprofit sector. Nonprofit World, 14(1), 36-44.
• Bellamy, C., & Taylor, J.A. (1998). Governing in the information age. Buckingham, UK: Oxford University Press.
• Berlinger, R., & Te’eni, D. (1999). Leaders’ attitudes and computer use in religious organisations. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 9(4), 399-412.[CrossRef]
• Burt, E., & Taylor, J.A. (1997). Information and communication technologies: Reshaping the voluntary sector in the information age?Glasgow, UK: Glasgow Caledonian University, Centre for the Study of Telematics and Governance.
• Burt, E., & Taylor, J.A. (2000). Information and communication technologies: Reshaping voluntary organisations?Journal of Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 11(2), 131-143.[CrossRef]
• Burt, E., & Taylor, J.A. (2001). Managing advanced network technologies in the UK voluntary sector. Voluntas, 12(4), 313-326.[CrossRef]
• Castells, M. (2000). The rise of the network society. Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell.
• Corder, K. (2001). Acquiring new technology: Comparing nonprofit and public sector agencies. Administration & Society, 33(2), 194-219.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Darke, P., Shanks, G., & Broadbent, M. (1998). Successfully completing case study research: Combining rigour, relevance, and pragmatism. Information Systems Journal, 8, 273-289.[CrossRef][Web of Science]
• Dutton, W.H. (1999). Society on the line: Information politics in the digital age. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Fulk, J., & DeSanctis, G. (1999). Articulation of information technology and organizational form. In J. Fulk and G. DeSanctis (Eds.), Shaping organization form: Communication, connection, and community (chap. 1, pp. 5-32). London: Sage.
• Gordon, L. (1998). Tech wise: Nonprofits join the revolution. Nonprofit World, 16(5), 37-41.
• McNutt, J.G., & Boland, M.B. (1999). Electronic advocacy by nonprofit organizations in social welfare policy. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 28(4), 432-451.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• North, D. (1990). Institutions, institutional change, and economic performance. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
• Yin, R.K. (1989). Case study research: Design and methods. London: Sage.

Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Vol. 32, No. 1, 115-127 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0899764002250009


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Burt, E. Articles by Taylor, J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?