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Successful without profits: personal factors that affect performance in NPOs

Andreas Reinhardt (Faculty of Economics, Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany)
Susanne Enke (Faculty of Economics, Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany)

Employee Relations

ISSN: 0142-5455

Article publication date: 4 April 2020

Issue publication date: 29 June 2020

1248

Abstract

Purpose

Studies on personal characteristics that influence managers' performance in their jobs and their ability to innovate focus mainly on for-profit organizations. We argue that non-profit organizations (NPOs) differ substantially from for-profit organizations in their organizational set-up and processes, so the skills they demand from their managers and employees also differ. We undertake this research to explore the personal factors that could be particularly relevant to managers' performance and innovativeness in the non-profit sector.

Design/methodology/approach

We conduct a qualitative, model-building study to derive the personal factors that influence managers' intention to perform and to innovate and their behavior in that regard. The base of our analysis is 15 interviews with knowledgeable informants who either work in NPOs, provide services to them or perform research about them.

Findings

We derive 14 personal factors that can be aggregated into four categories—experience, virtues and vices, interpersonal skills and management skills—each of which affect NPO managers' individual performance and/or individual innovativeness.

Originality/value

This study adds to existing research on Ajzen's (1985) Theory of Planned Behavior by extending it to the nonprofit context, so it contributes to the literature on individuals' behavioral intentions.

Keywords

Citation

Reinhardt, A. and Enke, S. (2020), "Successful without profits: personal factors that affect performance in NPOs", Employee Relations, Vol. 42 No. 5, pp. 1135-1158. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-04-2019-0173

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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