بازنگری ارتباط بین بیانیه ماموریت و عملکرد سازمانی در بخش غیر انتفاعی: اثر واسطه تعهد سازمانی   Revisiting the link between mission statements and organizational performance in the non-profit sector: The  mediating effect of organizational commitment

1. Introduction As a result of major financial and economic constraints induced by the greatest economic crisis in decades, non-profit organizations are increasingly compelled to develop strategies to improve their effectiveness and sustainability, in order to accomplish financial and performance goals (McDonald, 2007; Unerman & O’Dwyer, 2010; Weerawardena, Mcdonald, & Sullivan-Mort, 2010). Mainstream literature in Marketing and Strategic Management holds that the organizational mission is a powerful tool to deliver superior value to customers and other stakeholders while enhancing organizational performance. Consequently, to improve performance, organizations effectively need to make sense of their mission since it may act as a route leading to the achievement of long-term strategic objectives (Mullane, 2002; Siciliano, 2008). According to prior studies, key beneficial effects of a suitable mission on performance include, among other aspects, its role in facilitating strategy formulation and providing a framework for decision-making (Pearce & Robinson, 1991), its positive influence on staff and volunteer motivation, and its emphasis on reinforcing the organization’s legitimacy to its stakeholders (Forbes & Seena, 2006; Kirk & Nolan, 2010). However, although these widely prevailing assertions have gained an ubiquitous character, research has not firmly established a positive relationship between mission statements and performance. This is because while a positive link between mission statements and performance has been a dominant assumption in the management literature (Hirota, Kubo, Miyajima, Hong, & Park, 2010; Pearce & David, 1987), some studies have shown an inconclusive or even negative link (Bart, 2007a; Bart & Baetz, 1998; Bartkus & Glassman, 2008). Such inconsistencies call for further research, particularly in developing new conceptual frameworks and measurement models that better explain the mission statementeperformance relationship. Some authors have questioned the approach used in previous studies which have examined the direct relationship between mission statements and performance (Desmidt, Prinzie, & Decramer, 2011; Williams, Morrell, & Mullane, 2014). Accordingly, these authors claim that this relationship may be indirectly affected by other variables, so any effort to clarify the link between mission statements and performance requires assessing the potential mediating role of other key intervening variables. Therefore, the present study proposes a model in which the various interactionsamong mission, performance and organizational commitment are empirically tested. Specifically, it examines the extent to which mission statements have a direct effect on organizational performance and whether organizational commitment mediates the previous relationship. It is worth noting that relevant research on mission statements has mainly focused on for-profit organizations (e.g. Bart, Bontis, & Taggar, 2001; Bartkus, Glassman, & McAfee, 2006; Forehand, 2000; O’Gorman & Doran, 1999; Pearce & David, 1987; Sheaffer, Landau, & Drori, 2008; Sidhu, 2003; Williams et al., 2014) while the nonprofit sector has been less researched (e.g. Bart, 1999; Bart & Hupfer, 2004; Bart & Tabone, 1998; Forbes & Seena, 2006). Therefore, the need to empirically examine other organizational contexts justifies our focus on non-profit health care organizations. Within the nonprofit context, the definition and implementation of mission statements, viewed as a core strategic management tool (Forbes & Seena, 2006; McDonald; 2007) assume an even more prominent role than in for-profit firms (Oster, 1995). Furthermore, in a nonprofit setting, the ability to attract and secure financial resources is not only critical to the organization’s performance, but it is particularly important to assist an organization in becoming more resilient and achieving its purpose while accomplishing its mission (McDonald, 2007; Weerawardena et al., 2010).