It is common for non-profit organizations to fall into oblivion when talking about business management. This fact is surely due to the fact that most of the definitions link the concept of company to that of economic activity, leaving aside the rest of the organizations, which having similar objectives and a staff that performs certain tasks to achieve them, do not have the benefit economic as a reason for their activity.
However, from a management point of view, there are numerous parallels between both types of organizations. By studying in detail the similarities and differences between them, we can see how non-profit organizations normally have exhaustive control over certain aspects that traditional companies tend to leave out more and vice versa.
In several studies carried out by esyges, you can contrast something that was already intuited, non-profit organizations tend to have a much more advanced management of the administrative bodies than any other type of company. This may be because the statutes of this type of companies and / or associations have a much more influential regulatory nature in the activity than that of commercial companies.
On the other hand, the degree of control of the aspects related to the economic-financial area of the organization stands out surprisingly. Surely, the fact that many non-profit organizations depend on subsidies, and that their activity is audited from an economic point of view, means that they have much more rigorous control of their economic activity than that of companies, with several million Billing euros, they do not have a cost structure for their business.
But not everything is going to be outdone commercial companies, on the contrary, non-profit organizations have a much less developed management than these in terms of both marketing tasks and those related to commercial management.
Some people may think that it is normal, since there is no profit, they do not need to develop this type of management, since, as their own definition says, they are not dedicated to selling. However, this is not entirely true, since although they are not engaged in selling, this does not mean that they should not give value to their services, promote themselves, or simply take actions aimed at attracting associates and / or sympathizers.
Another point of interest is the management of human resources. Here it is difficult to establish a general rule, although some contrast characteristics can be intuited. It so happens that many social entities have workers on staff at a lower cost than that of a commercial company. Some associations argue that this is because when it comes to attracting people to work they do not compete with money, but with values.
On the other hand, and relying on the previous element, it is observed that these non-profit organizations can drop issues such as professional development, training, etc… which does not mean that all commercial organizations promote it.
As common elements, both in non-profit organizations and commercial companies, among other aspects, customer service, service provision and the design of new products and services stand out. This last aspect is striking, since companies usually see non-profit organizations as static, little innovative organizations. However, if we consider that all innovations do not have to be technological, the degree of innovation of a non-profit organization may be much higher than that of a commercial society.
On the other hand, both types of organizations share aspects of improvement such as the delegation of functions, the organizational structure or the analysis of the environment. Both traditional companies and non-profit organizations are more reactive than proactive regarding the influence of the environment, in the sense that in general they are not aware of social, cultural and / or economic changes, more than when they must react to them because they have already occurred.
There are many more points of comparison, but ultimately, and by way of conclusion, it can be said that both non-profit entities and commercial companies are organizations, in which resources must be managed to achieve certain objectives, whether economic or not. Therefore, they share many aspects related to management and perhaps some could learn from others.
However, from a management point of view, there are numerous parallels between both types of organizations. By studying in detail the similarities and differences between them, we can see how non-profit organizations normally have exhaustive control over certain aspects that traditional companies tend to leave out more and vice versa.
In several studies carried out by esyges, you can contrast something that was already intuited, non-profit organizations tend to have a much more advanced management of the administrative bodies than any other type of company. This may be due to the fact that the statutes of this type of companies and / or associations have a much more influential regulatory nature in the activity than that of commercial companies.
On the other hand, the degree of control of the aspects related to the economic-financial area of the organization stands out in a surprising way. Surely, the fact that many non-profit organizations depend on subsidies, and that their activity is audited from an economic point of view, means that they have much more rigorous control of their economic activity than that of companies, with several million Billing euros, they do not have a cost structure for their business.
But not everything is going to be outdone commercial companies, on the contrary, non-profit organizations have a much less developed management than these in terms of both marketing tasks and those related to commercial management.
Some people may think that it is normal, since there is no profit, they do not need to develop this type of management, since, as their own definition says, they are not dedicated to selling. However, this is not entirely true, since although they are not engaged in selling, this does not mean that they should not give value to their services, promote themselves, or simply take actions aimed at attracting associates and / or sympathizers.
Another point of interest is the management of human resources. Here it is difficult to establish a general rule, although some contrast characteristics can be intuited. It so happens that many social entities have workers on staff at a lower cost than that of a commercial company. Some associations argue that this is because when it comes to attracting people to work they do not compete with money, but with values.
On the other hand, and relying on the previous element, it is observed that these non-profit organizations can drop issues such as professional development, training, etc… which does not mean that all commercial organizations promote it.
As common elements, both in non-profit organizations and commercial companies, among other aspects, customer service, service provision and the design of new products and services stand out. This last aspect is striking, since companies usually see non-profit organizations as static, little innovative organizations. However, if we consider that all innovations do not have to be technological, the degree of innovation of a non-profit organization may be much higher than that of a commercial society.
On the other hand, both types of organizations share aspects of improvement such as the delegation of functions, the organizational structure or the analysis of the environment. Both traditional companies and non-profit organizations are more reactive than proactive regarding the influence of the environment, in the sense that in general they are not aware of social, cultural and / or economic changes, more than when they must react to them because they have already occurred.
There are many more points of comparison, but ultimately, and by way of conclusion, it can be said that both non-profit entities and commercial companies are organizations, in which resources must be managed to achieve certain objectives, whether economic or not. Therefore, they share many aspects related to management and perhaps some could learn from others.
