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In Search of Strategy
Author(s) -
Hager Mark A.,
Brudney Jeffrey L.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
nonprofit management and leadership
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.844
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1542-7854
pISSN - 1048-6682
DOI - 10.1002/nml.21123
Subject(s) - contingency , context (archaeology) , business , best practice , test (biology) , human resource management , contingency theory , resource (disambiguation) , knowledge management , administration (probate law) , organizational structure , public relations , human resources , management , political science , economics , computer science , law , paleontology , computer network , philosophy , linguistics , biology
The canon of volunteer administration contends that adoption of specified practices separates effective from ineffective programs. Alternatively, structural contingency and strategic human resource management theories suggest that managers make adoption decisions based on how organizational circumstances dictate the applicability or efficacy of particular practices. We test propositions that universalistic adoption of “best practices,” contingent adoption of practices, and configurational adoption of bundles of practices are associated with program outcomes of recruitment ease, retention of volunteers, and the net benefits that volunteers bring to organizational operations. With all sets of tests garnering limited empirical support, we conclude that human resource practice in volunteer administration is loosely coupled with outcomes, but that some organizations do—and many more should—manage according to the singular context of their institutional and external environments.