February 21, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
NEW BOOKS
Making Critical Decisions: A Practical Guide for Nonprofit Organizations
by Roberta M. Snow and Paul H. Phillips
As thoroughly as many nonprofit groups plan for the future, inevitably they face big surprises — a financial windfall, a sudden budget cut, the abrupt departure of a beloved executive director. The authors of this book provide a framework to help organizations supplement a strategic plan by offering a way to deal with crises or sudden changes.
Roberta M. Snow, a professor of management at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, and Paul H. Phillips, a charity and business consultant, explain several types of decisions and decision-making processes, and the roles of decision makers within an organization.
They say groups need to find ways to focus on the key issues involved in setting a course for action: minimizing risk, maximizing results with the available resources, and ensuring sustainability. In addition, they offer ways to include many points of view in shaping decisions.
For example, the authors offer several sets of questions to help leaders decide whether staff or program cutbacks are necessary. A case study describes the decision-making process of a medical clinic that, because of budget shortfalls, had to choose between cutting a psychiatric nurse or an annual street fair.
The second section of the book is a step-by-step handbook on decision making that incorporates the ideas and tips that appear throughout the first section; these chapters provide templates for a decision-making matrix and an explanation of how to enter data and interpret the results.
Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 989 Market Street, San Francisco, Calif. 94103; (800) 956-7739; fax (317) 572-4002; http://www.josseybass.com; 237 pages; $40; ISBN 978-0-7879-7676-1.
