Decision making style and leadership patterns in nonprofit human service organizations

The authors report on the adaptation of twelve nonprofit human service organizations. This analysis is part of a research project that entailed a comprehensive study of both the fiscal patterns and policy patterns of nonprofit organizations. Through the use of interviews in an exploratory descriptive design, several major patterns were identified concerning organizational adaptation. Three categories of events effected the adaptation of these organizations: executive staff turnover, program/service structure change and financial issues. The three industrial subsectors studied demonstrated unique patterns in these events. A reactive decision making style was the overwhelming choice of these organizations. Leadership was a phenomenon shared by CEOs and Boards of Directors. Resource dependency theory offers some explanation for the change that occurs in this cluster of organizations.