Managing for results in the U.S. not-for-profit sector: applying complementary approaches of knowledge production at the Center for Employment Opportunities

Abstract This chapter investigates the case of the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing immediate and comprehensive employment services to persons with criminal convictions. CEO prepares returning prisoners for the workforce with strong employment-retention outcomes and proven impacts (in a randomized control trial by MDRC) showing significant reduction in recidivism. In this chapter the authors survey how CEO manages its performance through the use of both performance measurement and monitoring and evaluation. Also, the authors argue that performance measurement and evaluation must be seen as complementary forms of knowledge production and that both need to be integral to performance management. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc., and the American Evaluation Association.