The Modern Church as Not-for-Profit Organisation: Is it not Time for the Church to Become More Strategic?

Kgaugelo Sammy Boya; Germinah Evelyn  Chiloane-Phetla

doi:10.25159/2412-4265/10581

Authors

Kgaugelo Sammy Boya University of South Africa
Germinah Evelyn Chiloane-Phetla University of South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/10581

Keywords:

churches, not-for-profit organisations, South Africa, strategic planning, strategic planning process tools

Abstract

For many centuries, churches have continued to play critical roles in society’s spiritual and social lives. As is the case across the globe, millions of Christians throughout South Africa continue to seek spiritual upliftment in churches. For this research, a qualitative research method was employed by means of semi-structured interviews. The research was conducted among churches within the Gauteng province of South Africa. Data were analysed through the use of the ATLAS.ti software. The findings suggest that innumerable benefits can be realised by modern churches if proper strategic planning process tools are in place. Productivity and a clear sense of direction are the leading attributes. The study recommended that more research and advocacy work still need to be done to heighten the significance of using strategic planning process tools in church management settings. This may enable the preservation of the rich history of the church.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Ansoff, H. Igor. 1957. “Strategies for Diversification.” Harvard Business Review 35, no. 5: 113–124.

Antonites, Alex, Wentzel J. Schoeman, and Willem F. J. van Deventer. 2019. “A Critical Analysis of Social Innovation: A Qualitative Exploration of a Religious Organisation.” HTS: Theological Studies 75 (4): 1–12. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v75i4.5282. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v75i4.5282

Asamoah-Gyadu, J. Kwabena, Kirsteen Kim, William Kay, Andrew Davies, Emmanuel Anim, Ruth Wall, and Amos Yong. 2017. “The Spirit in the Letter: Pentecostalism and Theological Education.” Pentecost Journal of Theology and Mission 2 (1).

Baker, S. E., R. Edwards, and M. Doidge. 2012. “How Many Qualitative Interviews Are Enough? Expert Voices and Early Career Reflections on Sampling and Cases in Qualitative Research.” Working Paper. Southampton, GB. National Centre for Research Methods. http://eprints.brighton.ac.uk/11632/.

Baloyi, M. Elijah. 2014. “A Pastoral Examination of the Christian Church’s Response to Fears of and Reactions to Witchcraft amongst African People in the Limpopo Province of South Africa.” HTS: Theological Studies 70 (2): 1–9. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v70i2.1317. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v70i2.1317

Bible Gateway. 2005. “New Living Translation.” https://www.biblegateway.com/.

Brown, Callum G. 1987. “The Costs of Pew-renting: Church Management, Church-going and Social Class in Nineteenth-century Glasgow.” The Journal of Ecclesiastical History 38 (3): 347–361. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022046900024957. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022046900024957

Bryson, John M. 2018. Strategic Planning for Public and Non-profit Organizations: A Guide to Strengthening and Sustaining Organizational Achievement. John Wiley & Sons.

Budde, Michael L. 2008. “The Rational Shepherd: Corporate Practices and the Church.” Studies in Christian Ethics 21 (1): 96–116. https://doi.org/10.1177/0953946808089729. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0953946808089729

Chan, Daniel. 2010. “The Emergence of Pentecostalism and the Afro-Surinamese Worldview.” Tyndale Theological Seminary.

Davis, Gerald F., and Theodore DeWitt. 2021. “Organization Theory and the Resource-based View of the Firm: The Great Divide.” Journal of Management. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206320982650. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206320982650

Doherty, Alison, Katie Misener, and Graham Cuskelly. 2014. “Toward a Multidimensional Framework of Capacity in Community Sports Clubs.” Non-profit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 43 (2 suppl.): 124S–142S. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764013509892. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764013509892

Drif, Mokrani Mohamed. 2017. “Religion Distribution and Economic Growth: A Reviewing Theoretical and Empirical Literatures.” Journal of Islamic 2 (6): 217–222.

Enderle, Georges. 2015. “Exploring and Conceptualizing International Business Ethics.” Journal of Business Ethics 127 (4): 723–735. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2182-z. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2182-z

Ferrell, O. C., Dana E. Harrison, Linda Ferrell, and Joe F. Hair. 2019. “Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Brand Attitudes: An Exploratory Study.” Journal of Business Research 95: 491–501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.07.039. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.07.039

Gathogo, J. 2011. “The Challenge of Money and Wealth in some East African Pentecostal Churches.” Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 37 (2): 133–151.

Grant, Robert M. 2003. “Strategic Planning in a Turbulent Environment: Evidence from the oil Majors.” Strategic Management Journal 24 (6): 491–517. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.314. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.314

Grant, Robert M. 2021. Contemporary Strategy Analysis. John Wiley & Sons.

Gratton, Paul C. 2018. “Organization Development and Strategic Planning for Non-profit Organizations.” Organization Development Journal 36 (2).

Guest, Greg, Arwen Bunce, and Laura Johnson. 2006. “How many Interviews Are Enough? An Experiment with Data Saturation and Variability.” Field Methods 18 (1): 59–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X05279903. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X05279903

Hansen, Jesper Rosenberg, and Ewan Ferlie. 2016. “Applying Strategic Management Theories in Public Sector Organizations: Developing a Typology.” Public Management Review 18 (1): 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2014.957339. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2014.957339

Hansen, Jesper Rosenberg, and Christian Botcher Jacobsen. 2014. “Changing Strategy Processes and Strategy Content in Public Sector Organizations? A Longitudinal Case Study of NPM Reforms’ Influence on Strategic Management.” British Journal of Management 27 (2: 373–389. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12157. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12157

Kagermann, Henning, William Kinney, and Karlheinz Kuting. 2021. Internal Audit Handbook Management with the SAP-Audit Roadmap. Springer.

Kaufman, Bruce E. 2010. “The Theoretical Foundation of Industrial Relations and its Implications for Labor Economics and Human Resource Management.” ILR Review 64 (1): 74–108. https://doi.org/10.1177/001979391006400104. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/001979391006400104

King, I. V. 2016. “Report on Governance for South Africa, and the Draft Code of Governance Principles.” Institute of Directors Southern Africa, Pretoria.

Kirchherr, Julian, and Katrina Charles. 2018. “Enhancing the Sample Diversity of Snowball Samples: Recommendations from a Research Project on Anti-dam Movements in Southeast Asia.” PloS one 13 (8): e0201710. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0201710 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0201710

Kong, Eric. 2008." The Development of Strategic Management in the Non-profit Context: Intellectual Capital in Social Service Non-profit Organizations.” International Journal of Management Reviews 10 (3): 281–299. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2007.00224.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2007.00224.x

Kumar, Raghawendra, Meghna Chhabra, and Rajat Gera. 2020. “Cultural Congruence and Shared Mindset Creating a Strategic Fit in Mergers and Acquisitions.” In Performance Management, 91–102. CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003089308-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003089308-7

Leitner, Karl-Heinz, and Stefan Güldenberg. 2010. “Generic Strategies and Firm Performance in SMEs: A Longitudinal Study of Austrian SMEs.” Small Business Economics 35 (2): 169–189. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-009-9239-x. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-009-9239-x

Lowe, Andrew, Anthony C. Norris, A. Jane Farris, and Duncan R. Babbage. 2018. “Quantifying Thematic Saturation in Qualitative Data Analysis.” Field Methods 30 (3): 191–207. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X17749386. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X17749386

Lynch, Richard. 2019. “Towards an Innovation Link between Dynamic Capabilities and Sustainability Strategy: Options for Emerging Market Companies.” International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management 16 (4): 1940003. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219877019400030. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219877019400030

Madhok, Anoop, and Rogerio Marques. 2014. “Towards an Action-based Perspective on Firm Competitiveness.” BRQ Business Research Quarterly 17 (2): 77–81. www.elsevier.es/brq. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brq.2014.03.002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brq.2014.03.002

Mahlangu, Qedani. 2012. “Keynote Address by the MEC for the Gauteng Department of Economic Development, Ms Qedani Mahlangu on the Symbolic Ribbon Cutting of the Solar Electrification Project Ceremony in Winterveldt Sports Ground, Pretoria.” Gauteng Department of Economic Development.

Marren, Ingrid Vorwerk. 2021. “Survival Strategies of Non-profitable Organisations in South Africa: A Qualitative Multiple-case Study.” PhD thesis. University of South Africa.

Millar, Patti, and Alison Doherty. 2016. “Capacity Building in Non-profit Sports Organizations: Development of a Process Model.” Sport Management Review 19 (4): 365–377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2016.01.002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2016.01.002

New Living Translation (NLT). 2005. Proverbs 31; Acts 6 and 1 Timothy 3. BibleGateway. Accessed October 28, 2021. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+2%3A+5&version=NLT

Nutt, Paul C., and Robert W. Backoff. 1993. “Organizational Publicness and its Implications for Strategic Management.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 3 (2): 209–231.

Offutt, Stephen, LiErin Probasco, and Brandon Vaidyanathan. 2016. “Religion, Poverty, and Development.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 55 (2): 207–215. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12270. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12270

Okereke, Chukwumerije, Olusegun Vincent, and Chima Mordi. 2018. “Determinants of Nigerian Managers’ Environmental Attitude: Africa’s Ubuntu Ethics versus Global Capitalism.” Thunderbird International Business Review 60 (4): 577–590. https://doi.org/10.1002/tie.21974. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/tie.21974

Porter, Michael E. 1979. “Forces Affecting Competitive Intensity. How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy.” Harvard Business Review 57 (2): 137–145.

Rainey, Hal G. 2009. Understanding and Managing Public Organizations. John Wiley & Sons. www.wiley.com/college/rainey.

Ramabulana, Makhado S. 2019. Church Mafia: Captured by Secret Power: An Untold African Narrative. Khado & Sons Publishers, 1–149.

Ring, Peter Smith, and James L. Perry. 1985. “Strategic Management in Public and Private Organizations: Implications of Distinctive Contexts and Constraints.” Academy of Management Review 10 (2): 276–286. https://doi.org/10.2307/257969; https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1985.4278197. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1985.4278197

Robinson, Craig V., and John E. L. Simmons. 2018. “Organising Environmental Scanning: Exploring Information Source, Mode and the Impact of Firm Size.” Long Range Planning 51 (4): 526–539. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2017.10.004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2017.10.004

Sánchez, Víctor Lafuente, María Devesa Fernández, and José Ángel Sanz Lara. 2017. “Economic Impact of a Religious and Tourist Event: A Holy Week Celebration.” Tourism Economics 23 (6): 1255–1274. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354816616675996. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1354816616675996

Schwenger, Daniel, Thomas Straub, and Stefano Borzillo. 2014. “Non-governmental Organizations: Strategic Management for a Competitive World.” Journal of Business Strategy. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBS-11-2013-0105. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JBS-11-2013-0105

Shange, Nombulelo. 2015. “Commission to Probe Church Practices and Finances.” News24, 20 August.

Siems, Erik, and Stefan Seuring. 2021. “Stakeholder Management in Sustainable Supply Chains: A Case Study of the Bioenergy Industry.” Business Strategy and the Environment. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2792. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2792

Slavik, Jan, Anna Putnova, and Andrea Cebakova. 2015. “Leadership as a Tool of Strategic Management.” Procedia Economics and Finance 26: 1159–1163. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(15)00946-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(15)00946-6

South African Council of Churches [SACC]. 2007. The Constitution of the South African Council of Churches. Adopted by the National Conference on 17 July 2007. http://sacc.org.za/.

Tassabehji, Rana, and Andrew Isherwood. 2014. "Management Use of Strategic Tools for Innovating during Turbulent Times.” Strategic Change 23 (1-2): 63–80. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsc.1960. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jsc.1960

Tracy, Sarah J. 2019. Qualitative Research Methods: Collecting Evidence, Crafting Analysis, Communicating Impact. John Wiley & Sons.

Vaidyanathan, A. 2018. “Pursuit of Sustainable and Equitable Growth in the Era of Globalisation: An Indian Perspective.” Review of Development and Change 23 (1): 5–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0972266120180102 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0972266120180102

Van de Kamp, Linda. 2017. “The Transnational Infrastructures of Luso-Pentecostal Mega-cities.” New Diversities 19 (1): 1–17.

Vasileva, Elka. 2018. “Application of the Pest Analysis for Strategic Planning of Regional Development.” In 49th International Scientific Conference Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis in Economics, 223–229.

Venter, Peet. 2019. Practising Strategy: A South African Context, 2nd edition. Cape Town: Juta.

Vishnevskiy, Konstantin, Oleg Karasev, and Dirk Meissner. 2016. “Integrated Roadmaps for Strategic Management and Planning.” Technological Forecasting and Social Change 110: 153–166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2015.10.020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2015.10.020

Wach, Krzysztof. 2015. “Role of Culture in International Business: A Synthetic Review.” International Entrepreneurship 1 (2): 49–60.

Woodward, Mark. 2013. Posts Tagged “Porter’s Five Forces”: Is Your Church Viable? Part. 2. Christian Missions, Culture, and the Word. Mark’s Blog.