Success Factors for Organizational Performance: Comparing Business Services, Health Care, And Education‪.‬

The relationship of the four manager-controlled, critical success factors (market orientation, learning orientation, entrepreneurial management style, and organizational flexibility) to performance in the manufacturing area has been thoroughly researched. But how these success factors affect nonprofits and for-profit service providers has been generally neglected. To gain a variety of perspectives, we submitted questionnaires to multiple respondents from organizations in three areas: business services, nonprofit health care (all hospitals), and nonprofit educational institutions, mostly higher education. Although all four factors were highly correlated with performance, the impact of the different factors on results in the different sectors varied widely. On the whole, education fared less well with respect to performance than the other two areas. Further research should help managers understand the roles of these critical factors. **********