In turbulent economic, political, and social times executives of nonprofit organizations must take appropriate organizational measures to ensure the continued longevity of their organizations. This case study chronicles leadership and change in response to fluctutating external conditions of a community-based, nonprofit organization with a twenty-five year history. Executive leadership transformed the organization by implementing strategic organizational changes. Our case study suggests that leadership is important, drives the organization, and is an essential and vital component for organizational development and longevity in highly turbulent times. We also suggest that leadership begin to challenge followers to assume their own brand of organizational leadership.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Agle, B.R. & Sonnenfeld, J.A. (1993). Charismatic chief executive officers: Are they more effective? A test of charismatic leadership theory. Working Paper, Emory University, Atlanta, GA.
2.
Belasco, J.A. (1990). Teaching the elephant to dance. New York: Plume.
3.
Bielefeld, W. (1994). What affects nonprofit survival?Nonprofit Management & Leadership5(1): 19-32.
4.
Boje, D.M. and Ulrich, D. (1985). The qualitative side of leadership. In R. Tannenbaum, N. Margulies, F. Massarik, & Associates Human systems development (302-318). San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.
5.
Bryman, A. (1986). Leadership and organizations. London: Routledge.
6.
Bryman, A. (1992). Charisma and leadership in organizations. London, Sage.
7.
Bryman, A. (1995). Qualitative methods in leadership research: Introduction . Leadership Quarterly6(4): 491-493.
8.
Bryman, A., Bresen, M.Beardworth, A., & Keil, T.1988. Qualitative research and the study of leadership. Human Relations41 (1): 13-30.
9.
Champy, J. (1995). Reengineering management: The mandate for new leadership. NY: HarperBusiness.
10.
Conger, J.A. (1989). Leadership: the art of empowering others, Academy of Management Executive, 3(1): 17-24.
11.
Drucker, P. (1969). The age of discontinuity. NY: Harper & Row.
12.
Edstrom, A. (1986). Leadership and strategic change. Human Resource Management25 (4): 581-606.
13.
Glynn, M.A. & Slepian ( 1990). An organization by any other name: An examination of institutionalization and adaption over time. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, San Francisco.
14.
Hammer, M., & Champy, J. (1993). Reengineering the Corporation. NY: HarperBusiness.
15.
Hesselbein, F., Goldsmith, M., & Beckhard, R. (1996). The leader of the future. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
16.
Holusha, J. (1994). Xerox's new strategy will not copy the past. New York Times, Sunday, December 18: F5.
17.
Horsky, D., & Swyngedvow, P. (1987). Does it pay to change your company's name? A stock market perspective. MarketScience6(4): 320-335.
18.
Kanter, R.M., Stein, B.A., & Jick, T.D. (1992). The challenge of organizational change: How companies experience it and leaders guide it. NY: Free Press.
19.
Kotter, J.P. (1995). Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail . Harvard Business Review (Mar./Apr.): 59-67.
20.
Manz, C.C. and Manz, Jr., H.P. (1989). SuperLeadership. New York: Prentice Hall Press.
21.
McQuade, W. (1984). Cosmetic surgery for the company name. Fortune, April 30: 249-250.
22.
Miller, D. (1991). Stale in the saddle: CEO tenure and the match between organization and environment. Management Science37(1): 34-52.
