Emerging Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations: Myths, Meaning and Motivations

This report contributes to the understanding of, and conversation about, how to develop emerging leaders in the nonprofit sector. It provides recommendations for various stakeholders of the sector, including funders. A bibliography is included

The Roles of Person-Environment Fit, Fairness, and Job Design in Understanding Employee Reactions to Work (Affect, Motivation).

The primary objective of this study is to compare three approaches traditionally used to explain employee reactions to work: the person-environment fit approach, the fairness approach, and the job characteristics approach. The person-environment fit point of view suggests that compatibility between an employee and the work environment is a determinant of work-related attitudes and behaviors. The fairness perspective proposes that perceptions of fair treatment influence motivational and emotional responses to work. The job characteristics research suggests that there are certain task characteristics which influence levels of motivation, performance, and job satisfaction. Although these frameworks are used to explain overlapping sets of variables, they diverge considerably in focus and in recommended strategies for improving person-organization relationships. This research investigates the separate, combined, and relative power of these approaches to predict two specific reactions to work, affective responses and energy level. A model incorporating all three approaches is developed. The model is evaluated with data from 2,822 federal government employees. Estimation of the coefficients of the variables is done with the use of maximum likelihood estimation procedures. Eight models representing various combinations of the three sets of predictor variables are reviewed in terms of their ability to predict affective responses to work and energy level for work. The results suggest person-environment fit was unrelated to both affective responses and energy level, although there is reason to believe that this finding may be a function of an imprecise measure of fit. Fairness was related only to feelings of affect and job challenge was related to both affective responses and energy level. These findings suggest that both fairness and job design considerations are important to an understanding of emotional and motivational responses to work. Interventions designed to enhance these responses should consider the importance of both job and fairness variables.Ph.D.Occupational psychologyUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/160713/1/8520967.pd

Driven to Work and Enjoyment of Work: Effects on Managers’ Outcomes

The authors examined the effects of two types of motivation, driven to work and enjoyment of work, on managers’ (N = 346) performance, career satisfaction, and psychological strain. Performance was assessed using 360-degree performance ratings. The authors also tested the effects of self-esteem on the two motives. They found that the enjoyment motive was positively related to career satisfaction and performance and negatively related to strain. Driven to work had no main effects but appeared to interact with enjoyment of work to influence performance and strain. When enjoyment of work was high, driven to work was unrelated to performance or strain. When enjoyment of work was low, increases in driven to work were associated with increases in both performance and strain. Self-esteem was positively related to enjoyment of work and negatively related to driven to work. Overall, the authors’ findings suggest that being motivated by enjoyment of work facilitates both effectiveness and well-being