Designing an environmental NGO model with an effective leadership approach

Subject Areas : Food Security

Razieh Taghizadeh ¹ , Farajollah Rahnavard ² , Hamidreza Yazdani ³

1 - PhD Student, Department of Public Administration, Qazvin Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran.
2 - Associate Professor, Department of Management, Higher Institute of Management Education and Research and Planning, Tehran, Iran (Correspondence Officer)
3 - Assistant Professor, Department of Management, University of Tehran, Farabi Campus, Qom, Iran

Received: 2021-12-11 Accepted : 2022-02-07 Published : 2022-05-22

Keywords: Effective leadership, Environmental NGOs, Grounded Theory Strategy,

Abstract :

At present, non-governmental organizations play an important role in civic activities, especially in the context of environmental activities. Many NGOs face leadership challenges regarding human resources and organizational facilities in light of the inconsistency between their organizational structure and missions. Considering their different nature from other bureaucratic organizations, NGOs have a voluntary and flexible approach since if they do not adapt their structure, culture, and processes to their nature, they will not achieve their main goals. This study aims to design a model of environmental NGOs to effectively lead these organizations using a descriptive-exploratory method for a developmental purpose. Qualitative data collecting was done using interviews. Participants in this study include managers and officials of NGOs with a managerial background in environmental activities. The model was designed using a grounded theory strategy with the Glaser approach. Based on the open and theoretical coding results, the concepts of loop structure and communication, volunteering jobs evaluation, volunteer forces grading, and virtual networks management constitute the category of network organization. Also, the concepts of volunteer recruitment, training, performance evaluation, and service compensation are among the categories of volunteer human resource management. Furthermore, the concepts of participation and equality constitute the category of voluntary and participatory organizational culture. Meanwhile, effective leadership of environmental elements in the form of organizational charter includes the components of participatory, service-oriented, transformational, and legal-oriented. The concepts of voluntary public participation, sustainable development, and sustainable environmental development also constitute the category of environmentally sustainable development.