Constructing Effectiveness: Culture, Legitimacy, and Strategic Planning in Zoos and Aquariums

<p>Zoos and aquariums are complex organizations operating with multiple mandates—saving species, providing exceptional care to animals, connecting communities with nature, and inspiring environmental action—making “effectiveness” difficult to define. What counts as success depends on who is asked and which goals are foregrounded. This study investigated how stakeholders in Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)–accredited organizations conceptualize and operationalize effectiveness within strategic planning processes. Prior research on nonprofit and mission-driven organizations has shown effectiveness is multidimensional and often defined differently by various stakeholders. However, little has been known about how these definitions are <strong>negotiated through the practice of strategic planning</strong>, particularly in the zoo and aquarium sector where legitimacy, conservation impact, and public accountability intersect. Drawing on resource dependence theory, the competing values framework, and social constructionist perspectives on effectiveness, this mixed-methods study integrated survey and case study analysis. The quantitative phase examined patterns across 52 AZA-accredited organizations, capturing self-evaluations of effectiveness and coding leaders’ definitions of effectiveness and cultural orientations derived from open-ended responses. Results showed leaders expressing more complex and multidimensional definitions of effectiveness tended to rate their organizations as more effective, and market-oriented cultural frames—emphasizing measurable outcomes, competitiveness, and external recognition—were most strongly associated with high perceived effectiveness. The qualitative phase explored these dynamics through a single, theoretically selected case study of a large nonprofit AZA zoo. Using critical discourse analysis of planning documents, interviews, and focus group data, the study revealed how strategic planning practices not only reflect but also shape collective understandings of effectiveness. Four recurring orientations (i.e., concentrated authority, output-focused accountability, external validation, and mission fidelity) showed how particular governance and cultural logics dominate planning discourse and define what effectiveness means. Together, these findings suggest effectiveness in AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums is not an objectives condition measured solely through outcomes but a socially constructed and negotiated phenomenon, shaped through language, planning practices, and institutional norms. Strategic planning thus emerges as both a managerial tool and a cultural process—one that defines what success means, whose voices count, and how legitimacy is performed within the field.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD Leadership Studies

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation: Open Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Leadership Studies

Year dc:date.available

2026

Author dc:creator

• Keith, Robin

• zoos and aquariums
• organizational effectiveness
• strategic planning
• Leadership Studies
• Nonprofit Studies

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digital.sandiego.edu/dissertations/1090

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digital.sandiego.edu:dissertations-2102