ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a number of general factors affecting the way small human service/not-for-profit organisations need to be managed to ensure their survival. It discusses the general political and economic environment, including attitudes towards management relationship between management and leadership, organisational and community relationships. The traditional welfare state phase resulted in the expectation that most welfare services were to be provided by the state and such voluntary 'agencies' that existed were small, personal, not funded by the state and rarely used paid or professional staff. The large non-government agencies usually retained committees, voting and elections, and the community participation patterns created some confusion around issues such as organisational governance. The influence of 'business' and the concept that management is a generic quality, no matter what is 'managed', is another aspect of 'managerialism' which has caused concern to the non-government sector. The complexity of interorganisational relationships often surprises new members of a small agency.
