The board‐executive relationship in nonprofit organizations: Partnership or power struggle?

The interactional dynamics of the board‐executive relationship in the typical nonprofit agency are not well understood. This article first examines conflicting viewpoints in the literature and then describes an in‐depth study of the board‐executive dyad at four nonprofit organizations, using decision making as the focus. The data suggest that, in noncrisis situations, internal factors and the nature of the issue under consideration influence which pattern will be adopted and that the stability arising from this kind of leadership accommodation strongly contributes to organizational effectiveness.