An Exploratory Study to Understand Nonprofit Organizations’ Crisis Leadership Competencies: A Portuguese Analysis on COVID-19

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that affect the Nonprofit Organization’s (NPO) competencies and leadership in a crisis situation, specifically in the Portuguese NPOs during COVID-19. Adopting an interdisciplinary perspective, this article integrates crisis management literature with leadership literature. Highlighting the leadership perspective of both intermediate employees (technical director) and top management (executive director), this research aims to advance knowledge on the main organizational leadership competencies that NPOs need to have to better cope with crises. One hundred and seventy-four (174) NPOs representatives voluntarily participated in the study which involved a survey questionnaire based on a five-point Likert scale for 23 items included in the questionnaire. Principal component analysis using varimax rotation was applied to reduce the number of variables. Reliability tests were performed to assess the items included in the questionnaire. Tests included test-retest reliability, Cronbach alpha, and split-half reliability coefficients. Results show that the most important factors that improve the capability of a NPO to cope with a crisis are: respond to all stakeholders through accountability, plan based on identification of vulnerabilities, and build a foundation of trust through communication. Additionally, it is possible to suggest that staff and top management perceive crisis and leadership competencies differently. It is possible to conclude, that these factors can be used as important lines of action to structure the sustainable development and planning of NPOs’ strategies of other similar crisis to come in the future. Findings, the implications of this work, and avenues for future NPOs crisis management and leadership research are addressed.

Nonprofit governance in times of Covid-19: should organizations change their practices and strategy in the middle of a crisis?

“…the retention of stakeholder commitment, trust and satisfaction (in line with COP and Esteves et al , 2023; Plaisance, 2022a);…”

“…The concept of viability is also discussed in this study. It is contextual (Stötzer et al , 2022), while the definition of Prestby and Wandersman (1985) would benefit from being enriched by: the retention of stakeholder commitment, trust and satisfaction (in line with COP and Esteves et al , 2023; Plaisance, 2022a); the collective nature of governance (in line with GOV); and the capacity to adapt and evolve (in line with REF and NUM) …”

“…The board indeed has the capacity to collectively make decisions and drive strategy (Shumate et al , 2017). The adopted strategies are then a priori more appropriate for the NPO, since they were adapted to the crisis context by its leaders (Esteves et al , 2023; Stötzer et al , 2022). More specifically, the literature review highlighted societal orientation as a specific strategy, useful in difficult or extreme contexts (such as a pandemic).…”

“…Stötzer et al (2022) expand on this by framing leaders and governance as resilience mechanisms. More recently, Esteves et al (2023) explore the role of "crisis leadership competencies" in developing strategies to ensure the viability and sustainability of NPOs. The present study builds on these references, while proposing to go beyond the resilience approach to study strategies that could develop viability after the crisis.…”

“…Over and above the financial stakes, NPOs then had to manage the other effects of the crisis, particularly on their activities and their human resources (Plaisance, 2022a; Searing et al , 2021). There is a consensus in the recent literature that governance is one of the first levers to be activated to manage these issues and be able to rebound (Esteves et al , 2023; Huang, 2022; McMullin and Raggo, 2020). We already know that governance matters in crisis management (Marx and Davis, 2012) and, in the case of the pandemic, good governance leads to flexibility and adaptability (Plaisance, 2022a; Stötzer et al , 2022).…”