| Masking the Need for Cultural Change: The Influence of Emotion Work in a Nonprofit Organization |
| | Fabian, Jamie Callahan | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State U. | jfabian@vt.edu | (703)-538-8471 |
| | Emotion work is a phenomenon in which individuals attempt to control emotions to meet social guidelines. The phenomenon has been studied in a wide variety of for-profit organizations; however, due to the voluntary nature of nonprofits, it was important to understand the role of emotion work in the nonprofit setting. This qualitative case study of a nonprofit organization uses Hochschild's (1979) conception of emotion work and Parsons' (1951) social systems theory to highlight the influence of emotion work on organizational culture. Established in 1946, the organization that served as the research site is a volunteer-based professional association affiliated with aerospace and national defense. Volunteer leaders and professional staff formed the sample for the study (n=28). Interviews were the primary means of data collection; triangulation support included traditional and participant observations and document analyses. The study revealed that emotion work actions rooted in the organizational culture could be attributed to all four systems functions of Parsonian theory. Anger suppression was the dominant form of emotion work. The primary finding was that the organization faced an identity crisis in which emotion work conducted on issues related to age, gender, and organizational mission acted as a barrier to cultural change. |
| | Keywords: emotion work; nonprofit organization; social systems |
| Economics Research on Volunteers: Approaches, Findings, Links |
| | Govekar, Paul L. | Nova Southeastern U. | pgovekar@bright.net | (419)-675-2545 |
| | Govekar, Michele A. | Ohio Northern U. | m-govekar@onu.edu | (419)-772-2072 |
| | The literature on the determinants of volunteering for nonprofit organizations is highly complex and "related theories are so varied and contradictory that no single conceptual model has received general support" (Winniford et al., 1997). Researchers often cite the huge economic impact nonprofit organizations have on the economy as a whole (Hodgkinson and Weitzman, 1986a, Hodgkinson and Weitzman, 1988, Hodgkinson and Weitzman, 1992, Hodgkinson et. al., 1996). However, these same researchers seldom mention the small, but potentially important body of research on the determinants of the supply of volunteer labor that appears in the economics literature.
The economics literature is primarily interested in explaining the determinants of volunteering by applying economic theory to the endogenous determinants of the supply of volunteers. This literature is important to the study of the determinants of volunteering because it offers different insights than the sociological- and psychological-based literature. Further, it may provide additional support for the theories and concepts that are currently being discussed in this latter literature. The purpose of this paper is to outline many of the economic arguments used to explain the determinants of volunteering and point out some cases where these arguments may support other theories and concepts concerning the determinants of volunteering.
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| | Keywords: Economics; Volunteers; |
| The Effects of United Way Membership on Employee Pay in Nonprofit Organizations |
| | Werner, Steve | U. of Houston | swerner@uh.edu | (713)-743-4672 |
| | Konopaske, Robert | U. of Houston | robk@uh.edu | (713)-743-4668 |
| | Gemeinhardt, Gretchen | American Productivity & Quality Center | gretchg@uh.edu | (713)-743-4646 |
| | This research investigates the relationship between United Way membership and the compensation level of employees in nonprofit organizations. Agency theory and managerial capitalism suggest that nonprofit organizations that are not members of the United Way will have higher pay levels than nonprofit organizations that belong to the United Way. However, the United Way is a funding as well as a governance organization, suggesting that United Way members may have more funds for wages, resulting in higher employee pay. We found that employees of organizations belonging to the United Way receive pay premiums, suggesting that the funding from the United Way allows organizations to pay their employees more, perhaps countering any reduced agency problem effects. |
| | Keywords: compensation; nonprofit; agency |