Understanding the Meaning of the Nonprofit Organizational Mission through Informal Learning in the Workplace: An Interpretive Case Study

Date
2016-02-05
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Abstract
The purpose of this research is to examine how employees working at two nonprofit organizations negotiate their understanding and conceptualize the meaning of the organizational mission through informal learning in their day-to-day interactions and practices. A qualitative interpretive case study was employed as methodology. Symbolic interactionism, a theory that studies the process of interaction in the formation of meaning for individuals (Blumer, 1969), provided a theoretical lens through which to interpret and analyse the data. Semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis were the chosen methods for data collection. Three major themes with sub-themes emerged from this study. The findings of the study show that: (1) informal learning played a key role in how participant learned, negotiated and conceptualized the meaning of the mission; (2) there is evidence of a strong presence for a client-centered mission in a nonprofit organization that is reproduced through employees’ interactions and actions; (3) specific management practices can support a client-centered mission; (4) leaders should rethink the elements the mission statement to include and define employee behaviour. This study is the attempt to provide leaders and managers with ideas to improve and enhance nonprofit organizations ability to be mission-focused.
Description
Keywords
Education--Adult and Continuing
Citation
Henning, B. (2016). Understanding the Meaning of the Nonprofit Organizational Mission through Informal Learning in the Workplace: An Interpretive Case Study (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/28570