Evaluation of decision-making process for make-or-buy decisions in a non-profit organisation
Mäkelä, Salla (2025)
2025
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025091424676
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025091424676
Tiivistelmä
The thesis examined the decision-making process for make-or-buy decisions in a non-profit organisation. The objective was to evaluate the current practices and identify ways to improve the process to better support strategic goals and to ensure efficient operations in an increasingly competitive business environment. The study focused on a Finnish non-profit organisation engaged in fundraising for international humanitarian operations.
The research was conducted as a qualitative case study using an embedded single-case design. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The theoretical framework combined transaction cost theory and the resource-based view. A process framework was chosen to analyse three make or buy decisions in the case organisation: donor service, video production, and IT support service.
The findings indicate that while elements of the chosen framework were present in all cases, the decision-making processes were often informal, reactive, and lacked structured follow-up implying gaps in service processes monitoring. Strategic alignment and internal capacity were the primary decision drivers, while cost analysis, and service scope definition varied in depth and benchmarking was rarely used. The conclusions suggest that adopting a structured decision-making protocol, improving both service process and supplier performance monitoring practices, and clarifying roles in supplier management have the potential to enhance the quality and consistency of make-or-buy decisions in the non-profit case organisation.
The research was conducted as a qualitative case study using an embedded single-case design. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The theoretical framework combined transaction cost theory and the resource-based view. A process framework was chosen to analyse three make or buy decisions in the case organisation: donor service, video production, and IT support service.
The findings indicate that while elements of the chosen framework were present in all cases, the decision-making processes were often informal, reactive, and lacked structured follow-up implying gaps in service processes monitoring. Strategic alignment and internal capacity were the primary decision drivers, while cost analysis, and service scope definition varied in depth and benchmarking was rarely used. The conclusions suggest that adopting a structured decision-making protocol, improving both service process and supplier performance monitoring practices, and clarifying roles in supplier management have the potential to enhance the quality and consistency of make-or-buy decisions in the non-profit case organisation.