Value Congruence in a Canadian Nonprofit Sport Organisation: A Case Study

At a time when company ethics and accountability continue to affect organisations, it is important for managers to understand the values held by their employees (Abbott, White, & Charles, 2005). Consequently, researchers focussing on the communications, manufacturing and academic settings have acknowledged the need for increased investigation of values and value congruence (cf. Abbott et al., 2005; Finegan, 2000; Jung & Avolio, 2000). The purpose of this study was to examine the level of value congruence between employees and their nonprofit sport organisation. A single case study design using qualitative and quantitative approaches (i.e., document analysis, observations, surveys and interviews) was adopted. The results of the study indicated congruent and incongruent terminal and instrumental value levels between employees and those stated or perceived as the organisation’s values. Congruent terminal values included self-respect, social recognition, freedom and inner harmony, while incongruent values included accomplishment, wisdom, equality and family security. Congruent instrumental values included ambitious, courageous, forgiven, and honest, while incongruent values included self-controlled, helpful, logical and capable. The authors discuss the implications of their findings and provide recommendations for future use of mixed methods and longitudinal research design to further understand the role of employee values and value congruence within organisations.