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Antecedents or Effects of Being a Manager in the Nonprofit, Public, or Private Sector
Abstract
In this correspondence I postulate a complementary consideration to an article recently published in Nonprofit Management & Leadership: “Factors Attracting Individuals to Nonprofit Management over Public and Private Sector Management” (LeRoux and Feeney 2013). The aim of this correspondence is to provide avenues for further research based on an evaluation of the authors’ analysis and their embedded assumptions on causality and interdependency of the variables used. I perform an extended empirical analysis of the same data as used in LeRoux and Feeney (2013) in which inherent assumptions are adjusted based on available literature. Results show that their conclusions need nuancing, and that further research could focus on (1) a clearer distinction between antecedents and effects of sector of employment, and (2) the different relationships across sectors between work-related variables, such as job satisfaction, job flexibility, or job clarity.
... However, when exploring factors that account for a manager's choice of sector of employment, it is necessary to consider two important caveats, namely (1) assumptions of causality embedded in the research design, and (2) the interdependency of the variables used in the study (Willems, 2014). First, as there may be socialization and self-selection of managers in nonprofit, for-profit, and governmental organizations, it is difficult to attribute causality to the relationship between managers' personal values and organizational ownership type (Becker and Connor, 2005). ...
... First, as there may be socialization and self-selection of managers in nonprofit, for-profit, and governmental organizations, it is difficult to attribute causality to the relationship between managers' personal values and organizational ownership type (Becker and Connor, 2005). Factors that predict the choice of sector employment, such as performance pay, job discretion, job security, and job flexibility, may also be outcomes of choices already made to work and be a manager in one of the sectors (Willems, 2014). Second, when conducting logistic regression analyses with multiple independent variables to predict the sector of employment, methodological issues may arise because some workrelated variables may be predicted by a linear combination of the other independent variables (Cortina, 1993). ...
This paper presents a microeconomic model of self-selection into nonprofit management. First, we extend previous models by assuming that individuals are heterogeneous in multiple dimensions besides intrinsic motivation, including managerial ability, self-image concerns, and laziness at work. Second, we consider the public sector as an alternative to nonprofit sector employment, and assume that nonprofit, for-profit, and public sectors differ in the perceived level of red tape, and the potential levels of fixed pay and variable pay. We show that self-selection into nonprofit management is a complex process that depends on multiple factors, and formulate conditions that need to be fulfilled in order to have self-selection of heterogeneous individuals into nonprofit management. From this finding we derive a number of important avenues for future research.
... However, when exploring factors that account for a manager's choice of sector of employment, it is necessary to consider two important caveats, namely (1) assumptions of causality embedded in the research design, and (2) the interdependency of the variables used in the study (Willems, 2014). First, as there may be socialization and self-selection of managers in nonprofit, for-profit, and governmental organizations, it is difficult to attribute causality to the relationship between managers' personal values and organizational ownership type ( Becker and Connor, 2005). ...
... First, as there may be socialization and self-selection of managers in nonprofit, for-profit, and governmental organizations, it is difficult to attribute causality to the relationship between managers' personal values and organizational ownership type ( Becker and Connor, 2005). Factors that predict the choice of sector employment, such as performance pay, job discretion, job security, and job flexibility, may also be outcomes of choices already made to work and be a manager in one of the sectors (Willems, 2014). Second, when conducting logistic regression analyses with multiple independent variables to predict the sector of employment, methodological issues may arise because some work- related variables may be predicted by a linear combination of the other independent variables (Cortina, 1993). ...
... These results are consistent with findings that employees' value preferences, work motivations, and job satisfaction differ between the sectors (Heywood et al., 2002;Lee & Wilkins, 2011;Van der Wal et al., 2008). However, all of these results imply the studied characteristics and incentives neither have actually triggered sorting effects among those who already work in different sectors (Willems, 2014) nor that they will trigger such effects among future applicants. As long as application intentions and job choices remain unstated or unobserved, little is known about preferences for or against public sector employers vis-àvis competitors from other sectors. ...
Sector preferences in job choice have rarely been tested empirically across different administrative systems. We address this gap and apply a between-subject experimental design to examine the attractiveness of public, private, and nonprofit employers in two countries in different administrative traditions. Respondents (N = 362) from an Anglo-Saxon (i.e., the U.S.) and continental European country (i.e., Germany) were exposed to job advertisements that only differed in the employer’s sector affiliation, with other job attributes, such as payment and working hours, held constant. Contrary to expectations, and consistently across the two country samples, respondents evaluated public sector jobs more positively compared to vacancies in the private sector. In contrast, we found no such comparative advantage of public over nonprofit employers. By providing counterevidence to the prevalence of negative attitudes toward public organizations, our study warns against overgeneralizing previous findings on negativity biases to the context of employer attractiveness.
... For example, in the research area related to public service biases, attitude studies can add a substantial nuance by clarifying the extent to which certain individuals are more susceptible to such biases as compared to others. In addition, other streams in the field of public management can benefit from such tools, as attitudes potentially relate to the expectations and the cognitive processes in public performance evaluations Jilke 2017), the choice of being involved in citizen participation initiatives and co-production (Whitaker 1980;Irvin and Stansbury 2004 ;Clark and Jang 2013;Roberts 2004;Willems, 2017), as well as the decision to enter into public service careers (De Cooman et al. 2011;Becker and Connor 2005;Goulet and Frank 2002;Willems 2014). ...
This study reports the development and the validation of three related attitude scales that measure the attitudes of citizens towards the public sector, the public servants, and the politicians respectively. With three samples (n1 = 325, n2 = 320, n3 = 337), scale items were assessed based on item-scale correlations, internal consistency, and social desirability. Moreover, convergent and discriminant validity were verified, based on the relatedness of the three attitude scales with several focal constructs from the public management literature, including public service motivation and citizens’ trust in government. In addition, this study outlines the avenues for further research on how the use of these scales can advance the field of public management, and particularly behavioral public administration.
... In popular media and movies, public servants (who are not the protagonist of a story) are often represented as lazy, risk-averse and/or corrupt Particular traits of (groups of) public servants might be at the origin of stereotypical associations that citizens conceive about them. For example, a substantial body of literature comparing public servants with employees in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors has shown that public servants can differ substantially with respect to perceptions about job content, work-life balance, job performance, job satisfaction and motivation (Goulet and Frank 2002;Ben-Ner et al. 2011;Willems 2014). These differences from other sectors might be the result of self-selection by prosocial, motivated people in this sector, or by socialization when working with like-minded colleagues (Becker and Connor 2005;De Cooman et al. 2011). ...
As stereotypes strongly influence social interactions, this study explores the stereotypical associations about public servants, and about various professions in the public sector as well as the for‐profit and non‐profit sectors. This leads to a better understanding of the theoretical and practical challenges, such as citizen behavior towards public servants, attractiveness, and political decisions about public service jobs. With a mixed‐method analysis of cognitive associations (7,470 associations by 415 respondents for 12 professions), the defining epithets of public servants are clarified, along with their positive or negative connotation. Despite the strongest associations for public servants being positive (caring, helpful, and dedicated), as an overall category, it has a less positive connotation, compared to some specific professions typical in the public sector (nurse, firefighter, and police). However, cognitive associations are substantially more positive for public servants, compared to politicians, lawyers, and salesmen.
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... Third, paid staff and volunteers might have different formal functions and/or roles in an organization, making it hard to investigated differences related to the voluntary aspect rather than the functional aspect. However, these differences cannot be assumed to be only related to the aspect of remuneration, as motivation of paid staff in nonprofit organizations has been shown to be distinct from motivations of paid staff in other sectors (Willems, 2014). Schepers et al. (2005) show motivational differences for non-profit school teachers and nurses compared to workers of profit organizations. ...
In this literature review, we take advantage of analyzing nonprofit leadership teams rather than its components, such as the board, the executive management or specific committees. Within this perspective, we define the concept of ‘nonprofit leadership alignment’. We combine different bodies of literature which we structure under three headings: (1) functional alignment, (2) motivational alignment, and (3) practices alignment. For each of them we indicate important avenues for further research. Finally, we provide three methodological paths that could be used to investigate the avenues proposed.
... Second, a number of methodological aspects of DCEs and mixed logit models can further be improved upon, including good research practices for DCEs (Bridges et al., 2011), rationality of responses (San Miguel et al., 2005;Lancsar and Louviere, 2006), specification issues for mixed logit models (Hensher and Greene, 2003;Ghosh et al., 2013) and potential sources of unobserved variability (Louviere et al., 2002;Hensher and Greene, 2003). Third, as there may be socialization and/or self-selection of managers in nonprofit, for-profit and governmental organizations (Becker and Connor, 2005;Willems, 2014), it is difficult to attribute causality to the relationship between employees' objectives and nursing home ownership type. Fourth, the generalizability of our results to other countries may also be limited due to differences in health care markets and differences in attitudes of health care providers. ...
Does organizational ownership matter for employees? We conducted a discrete choice experiment to reveal employees’ objectives in for-profit, nonprofit and governmental nursing homes. The results indicate that differences in objectives among nursing home staff are at least partially related to differences in ownership type. More specifically, we find that employees of public nursing homes are less extrinsically motivated than their for-profit and nonprofit counterparts. However, the results also show that employees of for-profit, nonprofit and governmental nursing homes are trading off output quality and output quantity differently, in line with the view that public providers of elderly care are pursuing a supplier-of-last-resort objective function.
This article is the synopsis to my cumulative Habilitation dissertation in the field of Management (Submitted and defended at the Faculty of business, economic and social sciences of the University of Hamburg; Department of Social Economics). This Habilitation dissertation combines eleven published articles for which the overall content relates to three interrelated concepts: leadership, performance, and reputation. Therefore, in this synopsis, I shortly introduce these concepts, and I clarify the academic contributions made by this Habilitation for these three concepts. Moreover, I explain how the public and nonprofit sectors form the unique setting to study these three management concepts. Studying these concepts in the nonprofit and public context has at least two major advantages.
The field of nonprofit education is rapidly growing, but the nonprofit literature has a noticeable gap about the impact of nonprofit education degree programs on their graduates, the organizations that employ them, and the wider nonprofit sector. This article reports findings from a study investigating the profile and motivations of students completing these nonprofit-related degrees. A survey was deployed to alumni from three different nonprofit graduate programs (i.e., nonprofit management and philanthropic studies), and findings indicate that students are largely similar across schools and primarily drawn to the degree for its nonprofit nature. Differences are noted about the appeal of nonprofit graduate programs between in-service and pre-service students. These findings are rich with implications for students, researchers, and most of all the administrators and faculty of these graduate programs.
Academics and journalists have depicted government bureaucracies as particularly subject to administrative constraints, including the infamous red tape and personnel rules that sharply constrain pay, promotion, and dismissal and weaken their relations to performance. Research on these topics has often focused on public organizations alone or on comparisons of public and private organizations. The analysis reported here extends this research to include nonprofit organizations. Certain theoretical perspectives would predict sharp differences between public and nonprofit organizations, whereas others would predict no differences. Using survey data from managerial-level respondents in state government and nonprofit organizations in Georgia and Illinois, this analysis compares perceptions of red tape and personnel rule constraints in public and nonprofit organizations. We investigate whether or not public and nonprofit respondents differ in their perceptions about levels of organizational red tape and about whether formal rules enable or constrain managers in promoting and rewarding good employees and removing poor performers. The results indicate sharp public and nonprofit differences, with public managers reporting higher perceived organizational red tape and lower levels of personnel flexibility. In addition to public and nonprofit comparisons, the analysis takes into account other factors that might influence public and nonprofit managers' perceptions of red tape and personnel flexibility in their organizations, including individual motivations to choose the job, the respondent's state (Georgia or Illinois), and others.
Little research has sought to identify the distinct advantages that nonprofits offer employees, particularly managers. Drawing upon Weisbrod's theory of managerial sorting (1988), we test a series of hypotheses about the differences among nonprofit, public, and for-profit organizations that may explain the preference of managers to work in one sector over the other. We use pooled cross-sectional data from the General Social Survey to test managerial sorting. We find many similarities in the perceptions of managers in the nonprofit and public sectors as compared to the for-profit sector. However, when we examine the sorting of managers into nonprofit versus public sector jobs, we find differences in work environment. Compared to those working in the public sector, managers in nonprofits report greater freedom in deciding how to carry out their job functions, more control over their work schedules, and greater opportunities for pay increases. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the practice of nonprofit management.
The authors explore differences among for-profit, nonprofit, and local government organizations in wage levels and inequality. Based on the intrinsic-motivation perspective and agency theory, the authors hypothesize that compared to for-profit organizations, nonprofit and local government organizations (a) are less likely to provide financial incentives, (b) pay lower or higher compensation to their employees, depending on a host of factors, and (c) have less wage inequality. The authors use wage data for five narrowly defined industries in a single state (Minnesota) where all types of organization produce the same service, employ employees with similar job titles, compete in the same labor markets, and face similar regulations. They also employ detailed data from a survey administered in two of these industries. The empirical analyses lend support for the theoretical hypotheses. However, the differences across sectors are small in magnitude.
Exploiting a unique data set created in 1999 on a sample of 228 public, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations operating in the social service sector, and on 2,066 workers, the article tests whether workers' satisfaction and loyalty to the organization is influenced by workers' motivations and by the incentive mixes offered by different organizational forms. As for satisfaction, intrinsic and relational attitudes toward work exert the greatest influence, whereas workers motivated by economic interests are less satisfied. As for loyalty to the organization, satisfaction with economic and process-related aspects of the job appear to have the greatest impact. The behavior of nonprofit organizations, which form the largest part of the sample, is consistent with these results. The specific strength of their incentive mix is represented by worker involvement and other process-related aspects of the job. By contrast, workers in public bodies are the least satisfied, higher monetary incentives notwithstanding.
Four hypotheses have been advanced regarding the causal relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment: (a) satisfaction causes commitment, (b) commitment causes satisfaction, (c) satisfaction and commitment are reciprocally related, and (d) no causal relationship exists between the two constructs. These four hypotheses were represented by separate structural equation models in a longitudinal research design. Using a sample of management information systems professionals, the models were tested using a combination of pseudo-generalized least squares, and full information maximumlikelihood estimation procedures. The latter procedures controlled for the unmeasured causal variables problem characterizing past studies. Results supported the commitment-causes-satisfaction model.
This contribution examines differences in four motivation-related concepts between employees in not-for-profit and for-profit sector service organizations. Using regression analyses, 630 knowledge workers, employed in either the not-for-profit or the for-profit sector, were compared. The majority of the hypotheses were supported by the data. Even after the impact of gender, age, seniority, contract type, and task characteristics were controlled for, employees from both sectors differed significantly. Not-for-profit workers valued more social service, perceived a better person-organization fit, and were more motivated by identified and integrated regulation. Their for-profit counterparts valued more advancement and were more motivated by external regulation. These conclusions account for a broad range of activities within the service industry because a wide variety of organizations were included in the study.
This study examines organizational commitment of workers in three sectors: public, non-profit and for-profit. Previous work in this area has been limited to the study of organizational commitment in one sector, or a comparison between only two sectors. In order to examine organizational commitment across the three sectors, 228 employees in public sector, non-profit sector, and for-profit sector organizations were surveyed. The results indicate that for-profit workers were the most committed to their organizations, followed by non-profit employees. Workers with the lowest levels of organizational commitment were those in the public sector. Explanations for and the significance of these findings are discussed.
Economic theories suggest that work behavior of public and nonprofit employees should resemble one another closely, owing to the lack of profit incentives and managerial or owner oversight of work. However, empirical descriptions of public and nonprofit workers imply that these work forces differ in many ways. One easily conceptualized but nonetheless crucial test of possible differences is level of work activity in the respective organizational settings. This research compares work hours reported in state public and nonprofit organizations by asking: Are there differences between time spent working in public and nonprofit organizations and, if so, what are the determinants of managers' work hours? The study is based on questionnaire data from the National Administrative Studies Project-III. The analytical approach employs ordinary least squares regression. Factors examined in determining work hours include job histories, and perceptions of the organization and fellow employees. Results indicate that managers in the nonprofit sector tend to work longer hours compared to state managers and that work hours are mitigated by external organizational ties, perceptions, and work histories.
Using the socialization and attraction–selection–attrition (ASA) frameworks, this study examined the relation between employees’ work values and their organization’s values (person–organization fit). With a two year time interval, 140 respondents participated in a longitudinal study. After entry, socialization served to enhance homogeneity. The work values underwent small changes and the perception of fit with the organization grew. Despite high retention rates results confirmed the attrition effect. Results indicated that the lower the perceived match between own and organizational values at entry, the more likely it was that someone left the organization over time. We concluded that socialization as well as attrition mechanisms were present at the same time.
This article is a systematic effort to study a key theoretical question from the vantage point of public sector organizational
behavior. Most political science models, with a primary interest in democratic control of bureaucracy, study the political
influence on the bureaucracy from an agency theory perspective. Organization behavior literature, on the other hand, is focused
largely on the study of individual-level phenomena in private organizations and does not incorporate political context as
part of explanatory models. This article proposes a middle-range theory to “connect the dots,” beginning with disparate sources
in the polity influencing organizational goal ambiguity, which in turn is expected to increase managerial role ambiguity.
An empirical test, using data collected from a national survey of managers working in state human service agencies, supports
this theoretical model. We find that certain types of political influence have an impact on organizational goal ambiguity,
which in turn has a direct effect in increasing role ambiguity and also an indirect effect in increasing role ambiguity through
organizational structure.
This paper reports a meta-analytic literature review testing cognitive, affective, and contingency models of the effects of participation in decision making on employees' satisfaction and productivity. Contingency models received no support. Results from field studies provided some support for cognitive models, and strong support for affective models linking participative climate with worker satisfaction. Methodological variations such as research setting and type of participant were important moderators in subgroup analyses. We discuss the implications of such variations for task complexity.
The article discusses path analysis and relationships between variables in a causal model of organizational theory. Path analysis requires a clear model of relationships and longitudinal research to determine if there are one-way asymetrical relationships or jointly dependent variables—otherwise intervention and change cannot be accurately evaluated. Eight profiles are related to the recursiveness, linearity, and additivity of variables' relationships. The structural-contingency model of organization and individual or group within the organization profile—which have been used in research to explain organizational climate and job satisfaction—are mentioned, as well as three criteria for establishing the validity of a path-analytic approach.
There is an increasing interest in applying organization theory to public organizations as such, and a need for clarifying the distinction between public and private organizations. This quantitative case study compares questionnaire responses by middle managers in nonprofit public agencies and private profit-making corporations, to test hypotheses concerning differences in incentive structures, organizational goal clarity, and individual role characteristics. The public managers perceive a weaker relationship between performance and extrinsic rewards (weaker "expectancies'") and regard formal personnel procedures (e.g., civil service systems) as constraints on the administration of such rewards. They show higher scores on formalization scales, and are lower on certain dimensions of work satisfaction. There are no differences on scales of organizational goal clarity, role conflict, role ambiguity, and motivational variables.
The paper analyzes the impact of the inclusion of quadratic terms on the probability of type II error in testing for interaction in the pres ence of multicollinearity. The analysis focuses on two situations: (a) when the true model includes only linear and interaction terms; and (b) when the true model includes linear, interaction and quadratic terms. The implications of this analysis on the estimation of interaction in multiple regression are discussed.
An expost facto designed investigation compared employee affective and behavioral responses to four work schedules—a fixed-hour schedule and three variations of flexible working hours. Hypothesized systematic differences in employee responses reflecting increasing degrees of flexibility were not supported. However, employees generally responded more favorably to any of the flexible hour systems as contrasted with the fixed-hour work schedule.
Moderated hierarchical multiple regression (MHMR) typically is used to test for the presence of interactions. When an interaction term is composed of correlated variables, linearity and additivity become confounded. The result of this confounding is that an interaction term in MHMR may be statistically significant only because of its overlap with unmeasured nonlinear terms. The author recommends that squared terms be used as covariates in such situations and shows that the resulting loss of power with respect to the test of significance for the interaction term is limited to that associated with the loss of degrees of freedom and is therefore negligible, if it exists at all. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Investigates the relationships between employees’ perceptions of organisational culture and subculture, and job satisfaction and commitment. Questionnaires containing the above measures were distributed to nurses employed in seven large hospitals and a total of 251 responses were obtained. Measures of leadership style and employee demographics were also included in the questionnaire. Regression analysis was used to investigate the extent to which nurses’ job satisfaction and commitment to their wards are predicted by their perceptions of the hospitals’ cultures (or organisational culture), the cultures of their wards (or organisation subculture), the leadership styles of their ward managers, and several demographic characteristics including age, experience, education and job tenure. It was found that ward culture was more predictive of commitment than was hospital culture. Also, statistically controlling for job satisfaction did not substantially reduce the influence on commitment of any of the independent variables included in this study. The results suggest that managers may need to focus more on organizational subcultures in generating greater commitment among employees.
In a mailed-questionnaire study of 156 staff registered nurses, perceived role clarity was related negatively to voluntary turnover, propensity to leave, and job tension, and positively to work satisfaction. The correlations of role clarity with voluntary turnover, propensity to leave, and work satisfaction were nonsignificant for nurses classified as low on a need-for-clarity index; the correlations were significantly higher for nurses with a high need for clarity. The correlations between role clarity and job tension were significant for both subgroups. The concepts of role clarity, the rigidity of role specifications, and the conditions of role specificity, as opposed to the processes of role specification, were discussed with regard to organizational theory and organizational change.
In initial cross-section estimates using data from the 1991-94 British Household Panel Study, the authors find that union members had lower overall job satisfaction than non-union members, and public sector workers had higher satisfaction than private sector workers. Controlling for individual worker effects (sorting) using panel methods confirms the lower satisfaction of union members, but eliminates the higher satisfaction of public sector workers. These results suggest that unions do not simply attract the dissatisfied, as previously suggested. By contrast, the greater satisfaction expressed by public sector workers seems largely a consequence of sorting, with those who are more easily satisfied being drawn to the public sector. Additional analysis of particular aspects of satisfaction, including satisfaction with pay, the work itself, and relations with the boss, generally supports these conclusions. (Author's abstract.)
This paper brings together two streams of research. First, systematic differences have been observed when comparing private- and public-sector managers. Second, when such systematic differences are found as between members of different organizations or occupations, they may be ascribed either to self-selection or to socialization processes. Our research, which measures respondent values and is set in a cross-cultural context (Canada and Japan), suggests that the influence of socialization is dominant.
Causaliteit in sociologisch onderzoek. Een beoordeling van causale analysetechnieken in het licht van wijsgerige opvattingen over causaliteit [Causality in sociological research. An evaluation of causal research methods from the perspective of philosophical considerations on causality]
- J.J.A. Tacq
Een beoordeling van causale analysetechnieken in het licht van wijsgerige opvattingen over causaliteit [Causality in sociological research. An evaluation of causal research methods from the perspective of
- J J A Tacq
Tacq, J.J.A. 1984. Causaliteit in sociologisch onderzoek. Een beoordeling van causale analysetechnieken in het
licht van wijsgerige opvattingen over causaliteit [Causality in sociological research. An evaluation of causal
research methods from the perspective of philosophical considerations on causality].
Job Satisfaction and Worker Sorting: The Case of Union and Government Jobs
- Heywood