Katherine Sugars

Recruiting and retaining volunteers, especially a diverse representation of volunteers, is an ongoing and problematic task for P&C committee members.

The challenge of finding volunteers and increasing the diversity of volunteers is not unique to the P&C setting nor to Australia.

Volunteering—as we know it—is in decline, with COVID-19 causing further disruption to volunteering initiatives and community building in general. Volunteering, and the decline in volunteering, are well researched but not in a P&C context, which has some unique features compared to other nonprofit and volunteer-led organisations. The most obvious disadvantage is that parents tend to move on from the P&C when their children leave the school, so length of service is limited, but a large advantage is that parents are highly motivated to be involved in their children’s lives.

We were retained by WACSSO to research the perennial question of how to maintain a diverse team of volunteers to organise, support, and engage in P&C initiatives. We have drawn on collective experience and knowledge to identify a practical and versatile framework for building a base of volunteers. We identified areas where knowledge can be shared, as well as where expertise is more sparsely distributed and knowledge-building is warranted.

Analysis of data from 238 surveys and 14 in-depth interviews using mixed methods approach, in conjunction with knowledge from literature, suggests the following:

P&Cs operate in a wide range of schools throughout Western Australia, with complex, situational challenges requiring flexible approaches.

Approaches to increasing volunteer numbers and diversity are inseparable from approaches to developing any aspect of P&C functioning and community building.

P&C situational analysis, ideation, planning, activities, and operations can be improved using a four-dimensional model developed from emerging research themes.

The model, or framework, is based on four findings:

P&Cs that embed foundational principles of nonprofit and volunteer-led organising—identified in this research as volunteering, community, purpose, objectives, culture, process, and leadership—more readily attract and retain volunteers.

Positive change occurs when individuals and groups in the community reflect on and make sense of their current situation, create options, find agency, resources and support, and act.

Initiatives by planners, doers, and relaters can all be successful, as can teamwork combining different styles.

People are drawn to and stay in P&Cs where they feel belonging, purpose, and enjoyment.

Schism is a widespread phenomenon of social groups which has persisted over centuries. An intense form of factionalised conflict, schism can be distressing for people to experience and challenging for groups to navigate. Schism research has roots in anthropology, organisation studies, and social psychology, and has been studied in societies, religions, social movements, political parties, nonprofit organisations, and other contexts. Despite broad and enduring relevance to social organising, schism research is surprisingly scant. Across disciplines and contexts, findings are disjointed and contradictory. No widely accepted definition or theory of schism was found in the literature.

The aim of the current research was to gain insight into the social dynamics powering the incidence, progression, and lived experience of schism. The goal was to increase human agency and control in schism based on emerging theoretical knowledge, and thereby improve experiences and outcomes for people and organisations.

A qualitative study of schism in nonprofit organisations in Western Australia was undertaken using an exploratory qualitative research design and a lived experience lens. Participant-centred interviews were conducted, typically of 1 hour, with 41 people who described schisms in 24 organisations. Sampling was initially by convenience then purposive snowball sampling, enabling a range of organisations, roles, and experiences to be represented. Interviews were transcribed to form a rich primary data set. Systematic coding and thematic analysis complemented immersion in individual stories. Data collection, data analysis, and theory development were iterative and interdependent. Emerging themes forced problematisation of prior knowledge. The ongoing process of theory construction employed both inductive and abductive reasoning.

A novel conceptualisation of schism emerged from this research project, representing schism as a complex social construction in an open system rather than a linear process in a bounded system, and privileging the human experience over the organisation as the entity of concern. A new definition of schism is proposed which provides a foundation for the lived experience theory of schism (LETS) presented in this thesis. Together, the definition and theory contribute to knowledge of schism in organisations and other social systems, and provide a foundation for future schism research. Findings from this project have implications for nonprofit sector policy and practice, especially in group leadership and governance.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to advance the debate on "cosmopolitanism or globalization" by approaching this rich literature from cultural, ethical and governance angles, and by introducing key notions from the work that has taken place in the natural sciences, around the Anthropocene.

Design/methodology/approach - This paper is based on analytical tactics that draw on a literature review and thematic analysis.

Findings - The composite analytical "lens" is introduced here (crafted around cultural, ethical and governance angles) to approach the debate on "cosmopolitanism or globalization" plus the engagement with the literature on the Anthropocene, allow us to engage with current understandings of the global and the "planetary" that are at the heart of cosmopolitanism.
Research limitations/implications - The paper deals with and merges two complex streams of literature ("cosmopolitanism or globalization" and the Anthropocene), and as such, needs to be seen as part of an initial, exploratory scholarly effort.

Practical implications - The analytical "lens" described here shall be of further use to develop current trends re-claiming cosmopolitanism for the study of organizations.
Social implications - This work can help nurture a cosmopolitan sensitivity which celebrates difference, highlights expanded concerns for the "distant other" and fosters involvement in new forms of governance.

Originality/value - The approaches introduced here bring new angles to continue thinking about the planet as the "cosmos" of cosmopolitanism, and to explore new understandings around organizations and (global) responsibility.

The crystal structures of the isomorphous compounds [NH4]6[XMo9O32]·6H2O, (X = Ni or Mn) which crystallize in the rhombohedral space group R32, Z= 1 with a= 10.084(2)Å, α= 104.31(2)° for X = Mn and a= 10.087(4)Å, α= 104.35(3)° for X = Ni have been determined. The stereochemistry of the oxyanions is similar to that described previously for the manganese(IV) compound, with the Mn–O bond length [1.897(3)Å] being slightly longer than the Ni–O distance [1.872(2)Å], and both metal ions conforming to a crystallographic 32 ligand co-ordination geometry. The low-temperature polarized electronic spectra have been recorded, that of the manganese(IV) compound suggesting a ligand-field splitting parameter Δ= 22 500 cm–1, with the 4T2 excited state exhibiting only a small trigonal splitting. The Racah interelectron repulsion parameter B is substantially reduced from the free-ion value, implying considerable covalence in the MnIV–O bonding. Although the spin-forbidden transitions cannot be fitted accurately using a single Racah parameter C, it is apparent that this undergoes only a modest reduction from the free-ion value. The electronic spectrum of the nickel(IV) compound is poorly resolved and suggests a ligand-field splitting parameter Δ≈ 21 000 cm–1.

The absolute configuration of the title compound has been established from a single-crystal room temperature X-ray structure determination of its dibromo derivative, C24H28Br2O8. Crystals of the latter are orthorhombic, space group P21212, a l6.696(5), b l5.660(3), c 4.713(1) Å, Z 2; 1452 independent 'observed' reflections yielded R 0.033 following full-matrix least-squares refinement. The molecule lies on a crystallographic 2 axis. The occurrence of lignans in Eremophila species is summarized.