Transformational leadership,organizational culture,and innovativeness in nonprofit organizations

This is an exploratory study of leadership, organizational culture, and organizational innovativeness in a sample of nonprofit human service organizations: Associations of Retarded Citizens. Although leadership has been held out as one of the most important predictors of innovation, this study found it was not correlated with organizational innovativeness. Examination of the relationships between leadership and cultural variables provided some alternative explanations for this finding. Positive relationships among transformational leadership, organizational values, and cultural consensus (degree of agreement among employees on those values) indicate that leadership practices employed in this sample created strong cultural consensus around values that may inhibit innovation. These findings suggest that examining the link between leadership and organizational culture is important for understanding how leadership and innovation are related. This article sets out practical implications, based on the results of the study, that may help nonprofit managers create workplaces supportive of innovation.     

Tuning into performance and satisfaction in nonprofit orchestras: One link between transformational leadership and satisfaction is through reduction in conflict

In this study, we tested hypotheses concerning volunteers' not‐for‐profit work, specifically the relations of transformational leadership with performance and satisfaction as well as the question of how task and relationship conflict fit into these relations. We argue that conflicts are detrimental to satisfaction and performance and that the frequency of conflict can be reduced through transformational leadership. We analyzed data from a large sample of lay orchestra musicians (N = 1,535) and found that musicians' perceptions of their conductors' transformational leadership style were positively related to both the performance and satisfaction of the musicians. Furthermore, we found that conflict mediated the relation between transformational leadership and satisfaction to some extent. The mediation occurred via the frequencies of both task and relationship conflicts even though the frequency of conflict was quite low in this sample in general.     

Transformational leadership behavior,emotions, and outcomes: Health psychology perspective in the workplace

The purpose of this study is to empirically evaluate the transformational leadership styles, emotions, and organizational outcomes among different professionals in different sectors. The transformational leadership and emotions theories were utilized and tested in a sample of 128 leaders in Sweden. The main objectives of the study are (1) to determine which of the transformational leadership styles (TLS) are best at predicting effective outcomes (OUT) of extra effort by employees (EXE), leader effectiveness (EFE) and job satisfaction (SAT) and (2) to examine which TLS predict significant positive emotions (TEMO). Results of the study reveal that TLS and most of the outcome scales (SAT, EXE, SAT) are positively and significantly correlated. Charisma (C) and idealized influence (II) are not correlated with EFE. The results further supported that inspirational motivation leaders behavior could produce greater amounts of SAT (r?=?.54**), EXE (r?=?.41**). Individualized consideration (IC) also generates great SAT, r?=?.42. The study also found that only inspirational motivation (I) and intellectual stimulator leadership styles made a significance for TEMO such as being enthusiastic, hopeful, proud, happy, attentive, and inspiring with β?=?26 and β?=?17, respectively. Inspirational transformational leaders’ behavior and emotions are the most capable in increasing the organizational overall outcomes by boosting employees’ job satisfaction, additional effort, and effectiveness. Hence, these improve and enhance the mental and psychological health inside and outside the workplace.     

Inclusion and commitment as key pathways between leadership and nonprofit performance

Given the projected growth of workforce diversity in the United States and the fact that heterogeneous workforces result in both positive (increased retention and performance) and negative (increased conflict and turnover) organizational outcomes, nonprofit leaders are faced with the challenge of effectively managing their workforces. Findings ways to ensure positive workplace outcomes, such as employee commitment (an emotional attachment to the organization) and performance, is especially critical for the overall functioning of nonprofit organizations. Using longitudinal multilevel path analyses, this study examined whether transformational leadership influenced work group performance through both creating a climate for inclusion and increasing employee affective commitment in a diverse nonprofit health care organization. Results indicate that transformational leaders help increase perceptions of inclusion, which improves employee commitment to the organization, and ultimately enhances perceived work group performance. This suggests inclusion and affective commitment as key factors for how leaders can increase nonprofit performance.     

Transformational leadership and follower proactivity in a volunteer workforce

This study explored how transformational leaders can enhance volunteers’ proactive behavior in an all‐volunteer nonprofit organization. Based on Parker, Bindl, and Strauss’s model of motivation, it was hypothesized that role breadth self‐efficacy, work values (self‐direction/stimulation and universalism/benevolence), and positive affect would mediate the transformational leadership—proactive behavior relationship. Data came from 141 volunteers in Brazilian chapters of an international not‐for‐profit organization. The model was tested using structural equation modeling, with mediation hypotheses tested by estimating the indirect effects using bias‐corrected intervals. Comparative fit index (.97) and standardized root mean square residual (.05) fit statistics indicate the model is plausible. These findings contribute to the understanding of the role that leaders play in increasing followers’ proactive behavior in volunteer organizations.     

Exploring a model of servant leadership,empowerment, and commitment in nonprofit organizations

This study examined a model of servant leadership's relationship to organizational commitment through structural and psychological empowerment, focusing on leader–follower dyads in a nonprofit organization. Survey data was collected from 128 employees of a nonprofit organization in a northeastern U.S. city. After model re‐specification, a well‐fitting model emerged, indicating that structural empowerment mediates the relationship between servant leadership and organizational commitment. Moreover, the model suggests that structural empowerment's effect on organizational commitment is both direct and indirect—the latter occurring through the meaning dimension of psychological empowerment. This study provides initial support for structural empowerment being a mechanism through which servant leadership impacts organizational commitment in nonprofits. In addition, the role of meaningful work is highlighted as an antecedent to organizational commitment for nonprofit employees. Servant leaders are suggested to create structurally empowering working environments, which support employees' stronger commitment to the organization.     

Culture and human resources management: Selecting leadership in a nonprofit organization

This article examines the influence of culture in a nonprofit organization on a major human resources management decision: the selection of a new leader. Specifically, this article investigates the recent selection of the national executive vice president (known as EVP, the highest-ranking, paid staff member) in the American Cancer Society and details how three particular aspects of the culture influenced the structure, process, and outcome of the selection decision.     

Human resource management,employee engagement,and nonprofit hospital performance

Human resource management (HRM) has been shown to impact organizational performance, but more research is needed on particular human resource (HR) practices in nonprofits and their effect on performance. In this article, we explore one HRM practice argued to influence performance, employee engagement in decision‐making, examining whether involving staff at different levels of a nonprofit affects nonprofit organizational performance. Drawing on data from a 2011 study of nonprofit hospitals, we find employee engagement has a positive influence on managerial and stakeholder perceptions of organizational performance. Employee engagement in decision‐making is also related to objective nonprofit performance measures, although the effects are less consistent. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for nonprofit research and practice.     

Emotions and leadership. Reasons and impact of emotions in organizational context

Emotions as reasons for dissatisfaction, decreasing job performance or physical and mental strain at work are becoming more and more important. Especially psycho-social interactions with conflicts between employees and managers, caused by leadership behavior, as a source of negative emotions are relevant in this context. Which relevance emotions can have in order to influence human behavior and in order to influence work climate will be demonstrated by two qualitative field surveys in the automotive and the energy sector. The study in the energy sector will explain which leadership behavior fosters an improved employee behavior concerning occupational health and safety. A second study in the automotive industry shows that leadership behavior which causes positive emotions is essential for successful teamwork.     

The relationship between formal planning and performance in nonprofit organizations

A study of 240 YMCA organizations revealed that regardless of organization size, those organizations that used a formal approach to strategic planning had higher levels of financial and social performance than those with less formal processes. The better performers also assigned the responsibility for planning to a strategic planning subcommittee of the board rather than to the board's executive committee or to an outside consultant.     

Board performance and organizational effectiveness in nonprofit social services organizations

This article examines the tasks and responsibilities of nonprofit boards of directors and explores the relationship between board performance and organizational effectiveness. Thirty-three activities in nine areas of board responsibility were examined through questionnaires and interviews with board members and chief executive officers of sixteen nonprofit organizations serving developmentally disabled adults. Rankings of organizational effectiveness were determined using external evaluators and accreditation surveys. A significant relationship between board performance and organizational effectiveness was found, and the board activities most strongly correlated with organizational effectiveness are reported, including policy formation, strategic planning, program monitoring, financial planning and control, resource development, board development, and dispute resolution.     

Sex differences in the encoding and decoding of negative facial emotions

To study the effects of gender on ability to recognize facial expressions of emotion, two separate samples of male and female undergraduates (727 in Study 1, 399 in Study 2) judged 120 color photographs of people posing one of four negative emotions: anger, disgust, fear, and sadness. Overall, females exceeded males in their ability to recognize emotions whether expressed by males or by females. As an exception, males were superior to females in recognizing male anger. The findings are discussed in terms of social sex-roles.Portions of this paper were presented at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, New York: August, 1987.     

Exploring the association between board and organizational performance in nonprofit organizations

Note: This study investigated six dimensions of effective board performance, as suggested by Chait, Holland, and Taylor (1991), in relation to three theoretical explanations (agency theory, resource dependency theory, and group/decision process theory) of how board governance activities potentially influence organizational performance. Survey research findings revealed that strategic contributions from the board are more robust in organizations with higher financial performance. In addition, organizations that are judged to be higher performing also reported having high‐performing boards across all dimensions. In particular, the interpersonal dimension provided a unique explanation of judgments of organizational performance.     

Role ambiguity and volunteer board member performance in nonprofit sport organizations

We explore the relationship between multidimensional role ambiguity and individual board member performance within nonprofit voluntary sport organizations. Role ambiguity accounted for 29 percent of the variance in perceived board member performance, and ambiguity about one's responsibilities was the strongest predictor. These findings extend our understanding of the drivers of individual board member performance within voluntary sport organizations and the multidimensional nature of role ambiguity. The study supports previous arguments that knowing what to do is fundamental to one's performance, and more critical than knowing how to do it, and what difference it makes.     

Female leaders and board performance in member‐serving nonprofit organizations

Despite an active stream of “good governance” research, there is not yet much nonprofit scholarship examining how the gender composition of a board or its leadership relates to board performance. This article helps to fill this gap, focusing on the governance practices of US‐based nonprofits serving a domestic or international membership. A structural equation model finds that the presence of female leaders relates to the performance of nonprofit boards both directly and indirectly through these leaders' presumed influence on board characteristics and operation. This research advances the field by empirically testing a longstanding theory that board performance is both multidimensional and contingent on the market and labor environment, organizational capacity and other characteristics—in this case, gender dynamics. We find there are some positive relationships between female board leadership and clearly defined measures of board performance. These findings also suggest that a strategy to balance a board's gender may serve many nonprofits, but gender representation works in tandem with other board characteristics.     

Languages,ideologies, and cultures in nonprofit boards

This exploratory study identifies three language domains within the boards of directors of nonprofit human services agencies: mission, operations, and manners languages. These languages are connected to values and express ideology. Findings suggest that operations concerns tend to displace mission considerations, with manners language facilitating this displacement.     

The merton thesis: Oetinger and German Pietism,a significant negative case

The Merton thesis identifies two movements — English Puritanism and German Pietism — as causally significant in the development of the scientific revolution of the 17th and 18th centuries. It attributes this connection to a strong compatibility between the values of ascetic Protestantism and those associated with modern science. This article questions Merton's conclusion regarding one of these movements, German Pietism, by arguing that the Pietist ethos stood in sharp conflict with what Merton has called the normative structure of science. One manifestation of this conflict involves Friedrich Oetinger's articulation of a contending religious-mystical conception of science, which assigned a central place to feeling, intuition, the role of the divine, and a qualitative approach to nature. This conception of science, it is argued, provides the clearest indication of the conceptual and valuative distance that tended to separate Pietists from the new science of the 17th and 18th centuries.An earlier version of this article was presented at the 1990 meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, in Virginia Beach.     

Classroom approach for managing dietary restraint, negative eating styles, and body image concerns among college women

OBJECTIVE: In this exploratory study, the authors evaluated the impact of an elective college course on dieting levels, eating styles, and body image among college women. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were a convenience sample of 29 self-selected female students at a western university who were mostly white, normal-weight seniors with significant dieting experience. METHODS: The authors used valid and reliable instruments to collect data both before and after testing. An instructor conducted the program in an undergraduate course that met twice weekly for 15 weeks. Theory-based lessons focused on resisting media pressure, modifying dietary restraint, eating in response to hunger (intrinsic eating), and achieving healthy body image. Dependent variables included intrinsic eating, dieting involvement, emotional eating, body image, and self-esteem. RESULTS: A comparison of pretest and posttest scores identified significant improvements for most measures. CONCLUSIONS: A theory-driven elective course implemented within a college setting may improve women's eating styles and body image.     

Ethical leadership,intrapreneurship, service innovation performance and work engagement in chambers of commerce and industry

ABSTRACT

The main purpose of this study which examines how it can be more effective in terms of organizational and managerial aspects with chambers of commerce and industry affiliated to The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey is to analyze the relationships between ethical leadership, work engagement, intrapreneurship, and service innovation behavior. In addition, it is to determine the role of mediation of work engagement effecting on intrapreneurship and service innovation behavior. For this purpose, quantitative analysis methods have been adopted. The data collected from 568 employees who were employed in chambers of commerce and industry operating in Turkey were analyzed. For the validity and reliability of the measurement tools, confirmatory factor analysis, the model’s good fit values and the AMOS Structural Equation Model were used. It was found that ethical leadership had statistically significant effect on employee engagement, intrapreneurship and the subscales of service innovation behavior (employee service innovation behavior and new service development). The results showed that work engagement partially mediated with ethical leadership effecting on intrapreneurship, ethical leadership effecting on the subscales of service innovation behavior. It is thought that the study is important in terms of providing empirical contributions to the ethical leadership, service innovation, intrapreneurship and work engagement literature. Finally, there are some limitations of the study and some suggestions are offered for future studies.