Faculty of Business: Management
Credit points: 6 cp

Subject level: Postgraduate

Result Type: Grade and marks

Handbook description

This subject introduces some of the ways of thinking about the third sector and the community sector within it. Students study a growing body of knowledge about the third sector, its origins, dimensions and contribution to society, the economy and polity of Australia and selected other countries. It also introduces ways of thinking about the dynamic interaction between third sector organisations and the social, economic and political systems in which they are embedded.

Subject objectives/outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should:

1. be familiar with the diversity of the third sector in Australia and internationally and the major bodies of theory which have been developed to explain the existence and contributions of the third sector
2. apply knowledge in dynamic environments through a conceptual understanding in nonprofit community management
3. critically analyse and provide solutions to practical problems in the specialist area of nonprofit community management
4. demonstrate knowledge of ethical and legal considerations in the specialist area of nonprofit community sector organisations.

Contribution to graduate profile

Third Sector: Theory and Context introduces students to the characteristics of third sector organisations and some of the theory about them. It is these characteristics of third sector organisations that provide special challenges to their managers and which are the focus of subsequent subjects. Students working in the third sector have an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the work by placing it within a wider national and international context and within the growing field of third sector theory.

Teaching and learning strategies

The Learning Guide contains readings, activities, issues and key questions. Students may also access information via UTS Online. The Learning Guide will help students manage their own learning, with aid from learning partners and academics.

Content

• Australia's third sector organisations: differences and similarities
• The third sector in a wider context: relationships with business, government and relevant legal and ethical issues
• The contribution of the third sector
• International perspectives on the third sector.

Assessment

Assessment Task 1 - Three third sector organisations	30%
Research Task – undertake a survey of each of the three organisations chosen. Writing task – using information gained in the survey, write a general description of each of the three organisations; compare and contrast the three organisations; and answer the question 'is it possible to speak of a single third sector?'
Assessment Task 2 - The third sector environments	30%
Students are required to conduct interviews with CEOs in three non-profit organisations. The interviews cover the relationship of each CEOs' organisation with government and business and some of the ethical and legal considerations that relate to developing these relationships. Students are then required to prepare a written report analysing the findings of these interviews and discussing how they relate to relevant areas of theory on the Third Sector.
Assessment Task 3 - Major Essay	40%
Students are required to bring together information and concepts from the readings with their own experience and complete a written assignment that either: discusses the literature on the contributions and weaknesses of the third sector or compares and contrasts Australia's third sector with the two sectors internationally.

All assignments will be made secure through a combination of updating of assessment tasks across semesters, requiring students to draw on their own organisational experience and/or with the use of plagiarism detection software.

Recommended text(s)

Mark Lyons (2001) Third Sector: the contribution of nonprofit and co-operative enterprises in Australia, Allen and Unwin.

Reading Guide: Third Sector: Theory and Context.

Indicative references

Borzaga, C. and J. Defourny eds. (2001) The Emergence of Social Enterprise, Routledge: London.

Anheier, H. and A. Ben Ner, (2003) The Study of Nonprofit Enterprise: Theories and Approaches, Plenum Pub Corp.

Hansman, H. (1996) The Organization of Enterprise, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA.

Putnam, R. (2000) Bowling Alone: the Collapse and Revival of American Community

Salamon, L. (1999) Global civil Society: Dimensions of the Nonprofit Sector, The Johns Hopkins Centre for Civil Society Studies, Baltimore MD.

Warren, M. (2001) Democracy and Association, Princeton University Press, Princeton: NJ.