SAM's Main Book List

General Management / Voluntary Sector and Business perspectives

This is a small selection of general management books for the Voluntary (non-profit) and the business sectors that have proved useful to arts managers.

See also New Thinking, Organisations and Change and People Management sections for similar material

From the Voluntary/Non-Profit/Third Sector

Just About Managing: Effective management for voluntary organisations and community groups
by Sandy Adirondack
Pub: London Voluntary Services Council 1998 Third Edition ISBN 1 872582 80 X
Special Offer price £12.50 [£16.28 inc p&p] as new edition at £25 out soon.  While stocks last.
JAM as it is called by its publishers, has been providing support and ideas to managers of small voluntary and community organisations for years. It is jam packed full of wisdom, drawn from a wealth of personal experience, and some management theory. I find that I return to it again and again, and am always rewarded by finding timely reminders, useful checklists, new ideas or inspiration from it. Highly recommended.

Managing Without Profit: The Art of Managing Third Sector Organisations
by Mike Hudson
Pub: DSC 2nd edition 1999 £12.99 ISBN 0 14 023886 7
A serious management book for the voluntary sector in which the arts is visible. It is described by the author as a "how to" guide, but I found it just as interesting for its section on examining the shifting boundaries of the traditional three sectors (private, public and voluntary) and ideas on the role of the Board, and the relationship between Board and Chief Executive. It is particularly relevant to larger organisations. The second edition includes new chapters on change, and creating a learning organisation, building a strong senior management team and the role of the Chair. Review

Managing At The Leading Edge: New Challenges in Managing Nonprofit Organisations
By Mike Hudson
Pub Directory of Social Change 2003 ISBN 1903991439 £16.95 [£20.51 inc p&p]
Mike Hudson is author of the influential book Managing Without Profit and continues his valuable analysis of organisations and advice for managers of non-profit organisations with this new book. It is the result of recent research he undertook in the States where interviews with leaders of non-profit organisations identified cutting edge issues in management.
Chapters covers setting the context, building organisation capacity, managing performance, creating strategic alliances, exploiting changing patterns of funding, leading with integrity, strengthening governance, learning from each other. There is also a very useful list of suggestions for further reading from the non-profit sector in the States. Review

Managing and Measuring Social Enterprises
By Rob Paton
Pub Sage Publications 2003 ISBN 0761973656 £22.99 [£26.49 inc p&p]
This book looks at the challenges of running a social enterprise, ways to improve performance  and to measure success.  Rob Paton identifies the common threads of improving performance from within the private sector and how these can be applied equally to not-for-profit organisations.
Rob Paton examines what has actually happened when performance improvement techniques originating in the private sector have been applied in public and non-profit organizations.  He provides well grounded and theoretically informed guidance on the problem of performance management outside the private sector.  The Excellence Model, Quality and TQM, Best Practice, kite-marking, Balanced Scorecard, Dashboards and PQASSO are all covered.  Lots of food for thought. Particularly interesting to those studying non-profit or public management.

CPR for Nonprofits: Creative Strategies for Successful Fundraising, Marketing, Communications and Management
by Alvin H. Reiss
Pub: Jossey-Bass 2000 £17.95 ISBN 7879 5241 9
The author, Alvin H Reiss has been an influential pioneer in arts management in the USA. The book is based on case studies of American non-profit organisations, large and small, that have developed creative strategies for tackling real life challenges. The message for the reader is to adapt the concepts to their own circumstances. The CPR of the title is both cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and the format of the book itself – a Challenge is introduced, then the Plan used to meet it, followed by the Result of the plan; and then questions to ask and lessons learned. An easy read and almost guaranteed to prompt new ideas.

A Management Companion for Voluntary Organisations
by Tim Cook and Guy Braithwaite
Pub: Directory of Social Change £12.50 2000 ISBN 1 900360 67 5
This book developed out of monthly mentoring meetings over 20 years between the two authors and draws on experiences from other staff, directors, departmental heads, committee members and chairs in voluntary organisations.  Sections cover the Committee, the Director, the team, and outsiders.  The introduction includes useful reminders about the nature of voluntary organisations – they are “in effect a delicate ecosystem”, and “Unlike some commercial enterprises there is no profit motive or easily available measure of success.”  As well as interesting descriptions, there is also plenty of useful advice on the role of the chair, committee behaviour, changing direction, the role of the director, appointing a new director, and teamwork.
This book is particularly useful to anyone in the chair or director role but also all those concerned with voluntary organisations and their management. Review

Managing Britannia: Culture and Management in Modern Britain
By Robert Protherough and John Pick
Pub by Imprint Academic 2003 ISBN 0907845533 £12.95 [£16.32 inc p&p]
The core premise of this book is that the new orthodoxy labelled by the authors as “modern managerialism” far from solving problems is actually the cause of them. They refute the notion that ‘management’ exists, or that there are universal management skills, and believe that modern management practices have all but destroyed politics, education, culture and religion. Robert Protherough’s background is in education, and as a lay preacher and John Pick’s is in cultural policy-making and arts management. Chapters include The Cultures of Management, How Manager’s Behave, Management as an Academic Subject, Managing the Arts, Managing the Schools, Managing the Deity, Rebranding Britain, The Real World: Management in Literature and Bursting the Management Bubble.

Good Management Guide for the Voluntary Sector
By John Harris
Pub: NCVO 2002 ISBN 0719915899 £25 [£28.30 inc p&p] (not available from SAM’s Books)

The New Management Reader
Pub: International Thomson Business Press 1996 was £23.99 now £15 ISBN 1 86152 201 0
This reader - a collection of chapters or essays by leading management thinkers - was prepared as part of the Open University's graduate entry course, Foundations of Senior Management. It is a serious read but provides a fascinating journey through current management thinking. Issues include globalisation, information systems, management models, green and ethical issues, gender issues, and interdependence.

Charity Fair is the major annual trade fair for the voluntary sector with an impressive range of speakers, seminar sessions and enormous information fair including DSC and other bookstalls, agencies such as the Charity Commission, and everything from insurance brokers to merchandise manufacturers. Watch for the date and venue for the 2006 Charityfair. www.dsc.org.uk The key voluntary sector provides training of management, advice and guidance, events and conferences and publications are: Directory of Social Change www.dsc.org.uk The Directory of Social Change, set up in 1975, aims to be an internationally recognised independent source of information and support to voluntary and community sectors worldwide. DSC enables the community and voluntary sectors to achieve their aims through being an independent voice, providing training and information. DSC provides practical, challenging and affordable information and training to meet the current, emerging and future needs of the voluntary sector. Its main activities include: • providing practical training courses • running conferences, seminars and briefings on current issues affecting the sector • researching and publishing reference guides and handbooks, CD-ROMs and online information, and journals • organising Charityfair, the biggest annual forum for the sector • encouraging voluntary groups to network and share information • campaigning to promote the interests of the voluntary sector as a whole. DSC training courses and publications focus on fundraising, management, organisational and personal development, communication, finance and law. Free guides to training and publications are available on request. The Charity Centre, conveniently located beside Euston station, has multi-purpose rooms available for hire, including a large conference room. It also houses London’s largest charity bookshop and a reference library. NCVO  www.ncvo-vol.org.uk The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) is the umbrella body for the voluntary sector in England. It works to support the voluntary sector and to create an environment in which voluntary organisations can flourish. NCVO represents the views of the voluntary sector to policy makers and government and consults with the sector to inform its policy positions on issues generic to the sector. It also carry out in-depth research to promote a better understanding of the sector and its activities. Services offered by NCVO include a freephone helpdesk, policy briefings, information networks, events and a wide range of publications, including good practice information on everything from trusteeship to employment law, and a magazine Voluntary Sector. Ask NCVO the online best practice resource for the voluntary sector, providing a wealth of free advice on subjects from trusteeship to employment law. National Council for Voluntary Organisations www.ncvo-vol.org.uk  and its New online best practice resource www.askncvo.org.uk

From Business Management

Writing the New Economy: 50 Books that define the New Economy
By John Middleton
Wiley 2000 ISBN 184112 106 1 £15 [£18.66 inc p&p]
Just the job for busy people. Reviews of 50 books that explore various facets of the New Economy (globalisation, technology’s impact on organisations, successful e-business models and the changing nature of working life). All 50 of them challenge our thinking about and inform our understanding of the New Economy. Read it instead of the books themselves or as a guide to which ones to read cover to cover!

Creative Management
edited by Jane Henry
Pub: Sage Publications 2001 2^nd edition £21.99 ISBN 07619 661100
A powerful collection of essays written by some of the most influential management thinkers of our time on the need for creative thought in management. It looks at creativity from a range of viewpoints including the scientific, cognitive and psychodynamic as well as management perspectives. It looks at problem solving, mapping, networking, intuition, imaging and judgement. It also considers the relationship between personal management style and creative behaviour.

Business Link www.businesslink.gov.uk Business Link is an excellent site, and has far more to offer than is obvious from its name. In the Starting section, under legal structures, it covers the obvious business related ones – partnership, Limited Company, but then it also has the non-profit structures and covers charitable status as well. It is well written and well presented – well worth a look. All the starting a business section is useful, and is followed by finance and grants, taxes / returns and payroll, employing people, health and safety, premises, exploit your ideas, IT and commerce, sales and marketing, international trade, and grow your business. In the “In Your Sector” section – creative services and media – you can customise a list of permits and licences required for your business, or health and safety issues or copyright information. There are also sections on trade bodies and government contacts.

See also New Thinking / Ideas and Inspiration, Organisations and Change Management, People Management and Self-Development and Learning

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