IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jmgtgv/v23y2019i1d10.1007_s10997-018-9439-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From governance to organizational effectiveness: the role of organizational identity and volunteers’ commitment

Author

Listed:
  • Lamberto Zollo

    (University of Florence)

  • Maria Carmen Laudano

    (University of Florence)

  • Andrea Boccardi

    (University of Florence)

  • Cristiano Ciappei

    (University of Florence)

Abstract

The present study unpacks the relationship between non-profit organizations’ (NPOs) governance and organizational effectiveness by investigating the mediating role of volunteers’ organizational identity (OI) and their organizational commitment. While management scholars have traditionally focused on for-profit organizations to investigate the mechanisms underlying governance related issues, noteworthy insights may be derived from the analysis of NPOs due to the emerging societal importance of the Third Sector. Stakeholders are progressively requiring a better definition and implementation of NPOs’ governance, to ensure their effective and long-term sustainability at the service of the community. However, the extant literature has mainly focused on NPOs’ board mechanisms, thus neglecting the critical stakeholders that play a crucial role in the governance of these organizations, such as volunteers. Building on an “enlightened” stakeholder theory perspective, this study proposes and empirically tests a conceptual model that explains the linkages between NPOs’ governance effectiveness and organizational effectiveness. Specifically, volunteers’ OI and commitment to the NPO are hypothesized as the underlying mechanisms explaining such a relationship. Bootstrapped multi-mediation analysis was used on a sample of 300 respondents who volunteered in NPOs located in 10 Italian provinces. Results confirmed the role of OI and volunteers’ commitment as partially mediating variables on the relationship between NPOs’ governance effectiveness and organizational effectiveness. Both theoretical and practical implications for NPOs’ managers are provided, along with suggestions for future research by stressing the importance of the NPO governance phenomenon and the significant role played by volunteers.

Suggested Citation

  • Lamberto Zollo & Maria Carmen Laudano & Andrea Boccardi & Cristiano Ciappei, 2019. "From governance to organizational effectiveness: the role of organizational identity and volunteers’ commitment," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 23(1), pages 111-137, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jmgtgv:v:23:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s10997-018-9439-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10997-018-9439-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10997-018-9439-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10997-018-9439-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Armstrong, J. Scott & Overton, Terry S., 1977. "Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys," MPRA Paper 81694, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Michael C. Jensen, 2010. "Value Maximization, Stakeholder Theory, and the Corporate Objective Function," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(1), pages 32-42, January.
    3. Graham Cuskelly & Tracy Taylor & Russell Hoye & Simon Darcy, 2006. "Volunteer Management Practices and Volunteer Retention: A Human Resource Management Approach," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2), pages 141-163, May.
    4. Cuskelly, Graham & Taylor, Tracy & Hoye, Russell & Darcy, Simon, 2006. "Volunteer Management Practices and Volunteer Retention: A Human Resource Management Approach," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 141-163, September.
    5. Wellens, Lore & Jegers, Marc, 2014. "Effective governance in nonprofit organizations: A literature based multiple stakeholder approach," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 223-243.
    6. Chris Low, 2006. "A framework for the governance of social enterprise," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 33(5/6), pages 376-385, May.
    7. Karen Golden-Biddle & Hayagreeva Rao, 1997. "Breaches in the Boardroom: Organizational Identity and Conflicts of Commitment in a Nonprofit Organization," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(6), pages 593-611, December.
    8. Chris Cornforth, 2001. "What Makes Boards Effective? An examination of the relationships between board inputs, structures, processes and effectiveness in non‐profit organisations," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(3), pages 217-227, July.
    9. Jangwoo Lee & Danny Miller, 1999. "People matter: commitment to employees, strategy and performance in Korean firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(6), pages 579-593, June.
    10. Stijn Van Puyvelde & Ralf Caers & Cind Du Bois & Marc Jegers, 2016. "Managerial Objectives and the Governance of Public and Non-Profit Organizations," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 221-237, February.
    11. Zannie Giraud Voss & Daniel M. Cable & Glenn B. Voss, 2006. "Organizational Identity and Firm Performance: What Happens When Leaders Disagree About “Who We Are?”," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(6), pages 741-755, December.
    12. Costa, Carla A. & Chalip, Laurence & Christine Green, B. & Simes, Caet, 2006. "Reconsidering the Role of Training in Event Volunteers' Satisfaction," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 165-182, September.
    13. Adalbert Evers & Jean-Louis Laville, 2004. "Defining the third sector in Europe," Chapters, in: Adalbert Evers & Jean-Louis Laville (ed.), The Third Sector in Europe, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Pasquale Arena, 2009. "Patrick S. Renz, Project Governance: Implementing Corporate Governance and Business Ethics in Nonprofit Organizations," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 13(4), pages 355-363, November.
    15. William Starbuck, 2004. "Methodological Challenges Posed by Measures of Performance," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 8(4), pages 337-343, October.
    16. Francesco Gangi & Carmen Trotta, 2015. "The ethical finance as a response to the financial crises: an empirical survey of European SRFs performance," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 19(2), pages 371-394, May.
    17. Cristiana Parisi, 2013. "The impact of organisational alignment on the effectiveness of firms’ sustainability strategic performance measurement systems: an empirical analysis," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 17(1), pages 71-97, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chatterjee, Sheshadri & Chaudhuri, Ranjan & Vrontis, Demetris & Thrassou, Alkis & Ghosh, Soumya Kanti, 2021. "Adoption of artificial intelligence-integrated CRM systems in agile organizations in India," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    2. Stefano Di Lauro & Aizhan Tursunbayeva & Gilda Antonelli & Marcello Martinez, 2021. "Organizational and Corporate Identity on Social Media: A Literature Review," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 15(4), pages 1-53, July.
    3. Wasswa Asaph Senoga, 2024. "The Impact of Strategic leadership and Committee practices, Ethics Training, and Whistleblowing on Fraud Prevention in Churches," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(4), pages 2934-2956, April.
    4. Virginia Navajas-Romero & Lorena Caridad y López del Río & Nuria Ceular-Villamandos, 2020. "Analysis of Wellbeing in Nongovernmental Organizations’ Workplace in a Developed Area Context," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-21, August.
    5. Zahid Yousaf & Magdalena Radulescu & Crenguta Sinisi & Abdelmohsen A. Nassani & Mohamed Haffar, 2022. "How Do Firms Achieve Green Innovation? Investigating the Influential Factors among the Energy Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-14, March.
    6. Araceli Galiano-Coronil & Juan José MierTerán-Franco, 2019. "The Use of Social Digital Networks by NGDO from a Social Marketing Perspective," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-23, June.
    7. Xia Tao & Stavros Sindakis & Charles Chen & Panagiotis Theodorou & Saloome Showkat, 2024. "Validation Analysis of Charitable Organizations and Media Monitoring Using an Evolutionary Model in China," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(2), pages 5539-5570, June.
    8. A. A. Gorsky, 2023. "Adaptation of corporate management and human resource management in non–profit organizations," Entrepreneur’s Guide, JSC “Publishing Agency “Science and Educationâ€, vol. 16(3).
    9. Rialti, Riccardo & Zollo, Lamberto & Ferraris, Alberto & Alon, Ilan, 2019. "Big data analytics capabilities and performance: Evidence from a moderated multi-mediation model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    10. Zollo, Lamberto & Filieri, Raffaele & Rialti, Riccardo & Yoon, Sukki, 2020. "Unpacking the relationship between social media marketing and brand equity: The mediating role of consumers’ benefits and experience," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 256-267.
    11. Lamberto Zollo & Massimiliano M. Pellegrini & Gugliemo Faldetta & Riccardo Rialti, 2023. "How to combine multiple identities and gaining stakeholders legitimacy in hybrid organizations? An organizational design response," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 27(4), pages 1189-1222, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang Zhigang & Liu Yingfei & Zhang Jinyao & Liu Xintao & Duan Hongyan & Zhang Lei, 2022. "How Sports Event Volunteer Management Affects Volunteers’ Satisfaction and Engagement: The Mediating Role of Social Capital," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, June.
    2. Shaw, Sally, 2009. ""It was all 'smile for Dunedin!"': Event Volunteer Experiences at the 2006 New Zealand Masters Games," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 26-33, February.
    3. Wellens, Lore & Jegers, Marc, 2014. "Effective governance in nonprofit organizations: A literature based multiple stakeholder approach," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 223-243.
    4. Lee, Younghan & Kim, Milyang & Koo, Jakeun, 2016. "The impact of social interaction and team member exchange on sport event volunteer management," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 550-562.
    5. Hoeber, Larena, 2010. "Experiences of volunteering in sport: Views from Aboriginal individuals," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 345-354, November.
    6. Daehwan Kim & Chanmin Park & Hany Kim & Jeeyoon Kim, 2019. "Determinants and Outcomes of Volunteer Satisfaction in Mega Sports Events," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-18, March.
    7. Pawan V. Bhansing & Mark A. A. M. Leenders & Nachoem M. Wijnberg, 2016. "Selection system orientations as an explanation for the differences between dual leaders of the same organization in their perception of organizational performance," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 20(4), pages 907-933, December.
    8. Wicker, Pamela, 2017. "Volunteerism and volunteer management in sport," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 325-337.
    9. Robin Stevens & Nathalie Moray & Johan Bruneel, 2015. "The Social and Economic Mission of Social Enterprises: Dimensions, Measurement, Validation, and Relation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(5), pages 1051-1082, September.
    10. Schlesinger, T. & Klenk, C. & Nagel, S., 2015. "How do sport clubs recruit volunteers? Analyzing and developing a typology of decision-making processes on recruiting volunteers in sport clubs," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 193-206.
    11. Parent, Milena M., 2016. "Stakeholder perceptions on the democratic governance of major sports events," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 402-416.
    12. Jones, Gareth J. & Edwards, Michael B. & Bocarro, Jason N. & Bunds, Kyle S. & Smith, Jordan W., 2018. "Leveraging community sport organizations to promote community capacity: Strategic outcomes, challenges, and theoretical considerations," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 279-292.
    13. Lock, Daniel & Filo, Kevin & Kunkel, Thilo & Skinner, James, 2013. "Thinking about the same things differently: Examining perceptions of a non-profit community sport organisation," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 438-450.
    14. Queen Emwenkeke Usadolo & Yvonne Brunetto & Silvia Nelson & Patrick Gillett, 2022. "Connecting the Dots: Perceived Organization Support, Motive Fulfilment, Job Satisfaction, and Affective Commitment Among Volunteers," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(3), pages 21582440221, August.
    15. Francesco Gangi & Jérôme Méric & Rémi Jardat & Lucia Michela Daniele, 2019. "Business for society," Post-Print hal-02382307, HAL.
    16. Hyungjo Hur & Kwang Bin Bae, 2021. "Does Discrepancy Between Job Choice Motivation and Satisfaction and Education–Job Mismatch Affect Turnover Intention of Nonprofit Employees?," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 577-593, September.
    17. Corliss N. Bean & Michelle Fortier & Courtney Post & Karam Chima, 2014. "Understanding How Organized Youth Sport May Be Harming Individual Players within the Family Unit: A Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-43, October.
    18. Laura Berardi & Laurie Mook & Michele A. Rea, 2021. "Third sector accounting reform and integrated social accounting for Italian social economy organizations," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(suppl. 2), pages 165-188.
    19. Misener, Katie & Doherty, Alison, 2014. "In support of sport: Examining the relationship between community sport organizations and sponsors," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 493-506.
    20. Thomson, Alana & Darcy, Simon & Pearce, Sonya, 2010. "Ganma theory and third-sector sport-development programmes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth: Implications for sports management," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 313-330, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jmgtgv:v:23:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s10997-018-9439-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.