To read this content please select one of the options below:

Reframing positive leadership within the context of Australian not-for-profit organisations

Michael K. Muchiri (School of Management, College of Business and Law, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia)
Ancy Gamage (Victoria University Business School, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia)
Ataus Samad (School of Business, Western Sydney University – Parramatta City Campus, Parramatta, Australia)

International Journal of Organizational Analysis

ISSN: 1934-8835

Article publication date: 5 April 2022

Issue publication date: 7 November 2023

509

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to integrate the extant literature on the impact of positive leadership on organisational outcomes within the Australian not-for-profit (NFP) organisations, identifies existing gaps in the literature and proposes a framework capturing feasible pathways for future research on positive leadership in NFP organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a systematic review of the existing literature on positive leadership and external/environmental factors and organisational values as applied to Australian NFP organisations mainly based on journal articles.

Findings

This paper proposes a plausible conceptual framework postulating how Australian NFP organisations could attain superior performance outcomes when there is a perfect alignment between positive forms of leadership, external/environmental factors and organisational values. We explain the conceptual framework through testable research propositions explaining interrelationships between positive leadership, external/environmental factors, organisational values and organisational performance.

Research limitations/implications

The review focused on two positive forms of leadership (i.e. transformational and servant) and could benefit by including other closely related leadership styles and behaviours (like authentic and ethical leadership). In addition to the positivist paradigm and quantitative approach adopted by this paper, interpretative and critical paradigms and related qualitative approaches may also lend themselves well to exposing pertinent issues and relationships that have not been imagined before in the under-researched NFP sector.

Practical implications

Leaders within NFP organisations need to understand when and how to align positive forms of leadership, external/environmental factors and organisational values to maximise limited resources available to Australian NFP organisations.

Originality/value

This systematic review adds to the limited literature exploring the impact of positive forms of leadership within Australian NFP organisations. The proposed framework offers unique insights into the relationships between positive forms of leadership, external/environmental factors, organisational values and organisational performance.

Keywords

Citation

Muchiri, M.K., Gamage, A. and Samad, A. (2023), "Reframing positive leadership within the context of Australian not-for-profit organisations", International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. 31 No. 6, pp. 2465-2480. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-11-2021-3024

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles