Few topics have perhaps vexed public and nonprofit management scholars more than the
question of what constitutes organizational performance or effectiveness. Numerous
scholars throughout the development of organization theory have focused on developing
the best way to define and/or measure organizational performance. The explosion of
research has unfortunately left the field with numerous and often conflicting models of
organizational performance (Likert 1967; Miles 1980; Pfeffer 1982; Quinn and Rohrbaugh
1981, 1983; Rainey and Steinbauer 1999). Overall, the knowledge base is far from clear
about what the most important explanatory factors for assessing and measuring the
performance of public and nonprofit organizations are (Likert 1967; Miles 1980; Pfeffer
1982; Quinn and Rohrbaugh 1981, 1983; Rainey and Steinbauer 1999). In recent years,
some scholars have placed their focus on advocating for and developing m