Management is indeed a huge topic. Googling that word by itself reported 3.5 billion webpages that might be useful.
Leaders of nonprofit organizations need general management savvy as well as the skills to meet the challenges inherent in a public-benefit mission and knowledge of the special requirements that come with nonprofit status. Most of the resources at Idealist are focused on the nonprofit side of the topic. On this page we have listed a few of the many online resources that can help with an exploration of management more generally.
- A good place to start is the Wikipedia article on the subject, which has lots of links to more specialized topics and other discussions:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management
- Carter McNamara’s Free Management Library provides a carefully organized overview. A general explanation of the entire website is at http://managementhelp.org/. An introduction to the topic of management in general:
- http://managementhelp.org/
- Business schools and university libraries often offer well organized research tools. Often access is restricted, though, especially access to online databases and reference materials. For that reason, the best approach may be to seek out an on-campus ally who can help with gaining entry to the collections of a nearby library. A list of accredited business schools organized geographically on the website of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business:
- http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/AccreditedMembers.asp
- Some comprehensive university online offerings:
- California State University Fullerton has an online guide to researching business topics; some require user privileges at the CSU/Fullerton Library but can probably be accessed by users of other libraries as well.
- http://guides.library.fullerton.edu/business/
- The University of Delaware Library offers The Internet Guide to Business Administration:
- http://www2.lib.udel.edu/subj/buad/internet.htm
- The Kresge Business Administration Library at the University of Michigan:
- http://www.bus.umich.edu/KresgeLibrary/
- The Internet Public Library, a project of the Michigan School of Library Science, has a page of relevant resources:
- http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/bus11.00.00/
- The Management Information Exchange (MiX) is a free source of management information and expertise from the Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy at the New School University; it collects useful articles, reports, sample documents, and research from nonprofits, government agencies, and corporate sources:
- http://www.lcmmix.org/
- The WWW Virtual Library (created and maintained by Prof. Wayne A. Selcher of Elisabethtown University in Pennsylvania, USA) has a large selection of resources for International Business
- http://www2.etown.edu/vl/intlbus.html
- German National Library of Economics (ZBW) and the University and Municipal Library of Cologne (USB Cologne) in Germany offer the Virtual Library for Economics and Business Studies (it’s also available in German):
- http://www.econbiz.de/
- BetterManagement.Com offers free resources on a wide variety of topics, with selections for managers in several regions of the globe:
- http://www.bettermanagement.com
- About.Com is a commercial site with a lot of advertising – and a lot of content:
- http://management.about.com/
- US Small Business Administration (SBA) website of resources:
- http://www.business.gov/
- Many Chambers of Commerce (local associations of businesses) provide management resources for their members. A list of Chambers of Commerce that includes many countries and other areas around the world
- http://online-chamber.com/National.html
- In the US, the National Federation of Independent Businesses and its local chapters advocate for small business interests; some nonprofits are members:
- http://www.nfib.com
- The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and its local chapters brings together many leaders of business and nonprofit associations and offers a wide range of supporting materials and programs:
- http://www.asaecenter.org
- The American Management Association is a resource for managers in larger organizations with an active program of training sessions and publications:
- http://www.amanet.org/
- Business publications often have websites with useful content (and of course, many nonprofit leaders subscribe to business magazines to keep up with the latest ideas and buzz). Publications that are specifically designed for nonprofit readers are listed at http://www.nonprofits.org/npofaq/16/19.html. On the for-profit side, try:
Be sure to review the many resources specifically for nonprofit leaders and managers offered by Idealist. The starting point is http://www.idealist.org/info/VolunteerMgmt
Posted May 26,2006 -- PB |